Prison Sentences and Reoffenders: Costs

The process of recalling an offender to custody, whether for a fixed-term or in an emergency, involves activity and administration on the part of the Probation Service (which requests recall); officials in HM Prison and Probation Service (who revoke the offender’s licence), local police forces (which are responsible for returning the offender to prison custody) and then prisons’ reception and screening services. The costs to the bodies involved are not collated centrally. Consequently, there is no reliable basis on which to work out the average costs for either type of recall.