Prison officials in Jersey call for changes to how reoffending rates are recorded
Prison officials are calling for changes to how reoffending rates are recorded in Jersey.
Currently the island's government do not track or record reoffending data like they do in the UK.
Head of Reducing Reoffending at HM Prison La Moye, Gemma Lofthouse, believes the figures would allow officers to better understand whether what they are doing is working.
She said: "It would be good to have something to compare with. It would let the prison know that what we're doing is right because the reducing reoffending rate would be zero, in an ideal world.
"Right now we don't know. We don't have the evidence to say that we are 100% reducing reoffending."
The most recent figures on reoffending are from 2020 and they show the five-year average rate for Jersey was around 4 in 10.
The issue around reoffending data is something that is on the radar of Jersey's new Justice and Home Affairs Minister, Deputy Mary Le Hegarat.
She says she is committed to making a change and will employ two analysts to assess the number of people reoffending after leaving prison.
The Deputy explained: "I think it's important that we are able to look at the data and see whether what we do is the right thing.
"The only way we can prevent people from going back into the system is by giving them as much help as we possibly can, for when they're actually released."
To help stop reoffending, La Moye offers courses and workshops so prisoners can learn useful skills for when they are released.
Most recently some have been working towards qualifing as a barber, in partnership with Highlands College Jersey.
One prisoner told ITV News the courses can provide a lifeline: "When you're in an environment like this, you do need that piece of ‘outside life’.
"Getting your haircut is part of that life, going to the gym is part of that life so definitely, after I get out of jail I will be looking at doing it. Why not give people like us a chance?"
Tina Fernandes from Highland College is teaching the course and has been impressed by the dedication shown by those at La Moye.
She explained: "Some of these guys haven't had the opportunity in life so we're giving them those opportunities.
"What people don't realise is that these guys aren't just up here playing with hair and clippers, they're learning communication skills, health and safety. They're developing their England and Maths too.
"They are learning a skill that they can go out and get a job with, or work for themselves or just be sole traders."