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Rehabilitation of Prisoners

: I think that the hon. Gentleman has been reading my notes because I was just about to say that we need to ensure that the general public are made aware of the benefits that community sentences can bring. The hon. Gentleman will note that conclusion 11 states:"““To ensure confidence in the new sentencing regime, there must be public education about the new sentencing measures, and publicity about actual sentences imposed, to demonstrate that they are robust and legitimate alternatives to prison in terms of punishment, public protection and rehabilitation.””" In that respect, I commend the work of SmartJustice, a representative of which I met the other day. SmartJustice is a five-year campaign supported by the Network for Social Change and run under the auspices of the Prison Reform Trust. It is involved in increasing public awareness of alternatives to custody and working with the popular press to take a less punitive and more rational approach to crime. It gives talks on crime and punishment throughout the country to a wide variety of groups, including community and civic groups, such as rotary clubs, faith groups and schools. SmartJustice for Women is a targeted campaign that was launched at Holloway prison on 27 July. I believe that the Minister was present on that occasion. SmartJustice says that it is involving women's groups in the campaign, including Soroptimist, the townswomen's guilds, the National Federation of Women's Institutes, the Mothers Union, Maternity Alliance and the National Council of Women. I hope that those involved will be instrumental in raising public awareness of the alternatives to prison. I hope also that, through better sentencing and rehabilitation of prisoners, more treatment for drugs, improved education and, in the long term, through tackling the root causes through early education and tackling deprivation, we can at least stabilise the prison population.