Jail's the wrong place for burglars, say our new justice minister

The newly-created Secretary of State for Justice, Lord Falconer, also announced that criminals - including rapists and murderers - who reoffend after being freed early will receive more lenient treatment.

The Conservatives last night described the measures as an 'insult to victims'.

In the most controversial move, Lord Falconer said too many 'acquisitive' criminals, such as burglars and thieves, were being imprisoned by the courts.

He has ordered the judiciary to carry out a review of all sentences of under a year given to non-violent offenders.

And he left the Sentencing Guidelines Council in no doubt that he expects the majority of these convicts should be given community punishments instead of prison terms.

An estimated 60,000 to 70,000 criminals each year are given up to 12 months in jail.

Wrestling with a prison population which has soared to an all-time high, Lord Falconer also unveiled a dramatic softening in the punishment given to convicts who reoffend after being released from jail early on licence.

Under the present rules, anybody who breaches the terms of their release can be returned to jail until the original sentence is complete.

With the vast majority of inmates freed at the halfway point, this can amount to years.

Lord Falconer said the law would be changed so that, if the new offence is non-violent, convicts can only be returned to jail for a maximum of 28 days.

Controversially, this will apply even where the original crime was a violent one such as rape or murder.

Lord Falconer also plans to stop courts handing down suspended custodial sentences for so-called 'summary' crimes - such as criminal damage or drink-driving.

He said he had not worked out exactly how many criminals would be spared jail as a direct result of the changes.

But critics said it was clear that thousands of criminals who should be behind bars would be let off.

Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said, "The only reason these proposals are being considered is because of the Government's failure to address the chronic lack of capacity in our prisons.

"The solution, however, is to build more prisons, not look for any and all reasons to avoid sending offenders to jail.

"It would be an insult to victims if perpetrators of serious violent crime were punished with just 28 days for breaching their parole, not to mention the threat to pubic safety. This would not provide any rehabilitation - let alone be a deterrent."

The measures are designed to combat an overcrowding crisis inherited from Home Secretary John Reid, who was desperate to shift responsibility for prisons away from the beleaguered Home Office.

He attempted to deal with the chaos by begging the judiciary to send only the worst criminals to jail, which led to judges claiming their independence was being undermined.

Those who escaped custody included at least two paedophiles.

Despite the desperate nature of the measures, experts questioned whether they will be sufficient.

The prison population has fallen slightly from the record high of Tuesday evening but remains only 700 short of capacity.

Lord Falconer yesterday ruled out the early release of up to 3,500 convicts - which was considered to be 'career suicide'.

But the measures require a change in the law or a lengthy review by judges, so they will take months to have any impact.

Lord Falconer has insisted that he will find other ways of coping until then.

But Charles Bushell, of the Prison Governors' Association, said it would be a 'high-risk strategy'.

He said prisons would have to cram three prisoners into cells built for two if Lord Falconer wanted to avoid early releases.

It was also announced that Government troubleshooter Lord Carter will review the prison building programme.

The idea of selling off older Victorian jails in town and city centres - where land prices are high - has been floated on several previous occasions by the Home Office, but has never come to fruition.

And the cost of setting up the new Ministry of Justice is already £1.5million, Government figures revealed. The final bill is expected to be far higher.

>Mr Reid's decision to split the Home Office - then walk away - leaves two vacancies at the heart of Government.

Jack Straw is the favourite to take over as Home Secretary, with Westminster sources suggesting he is seen as a 'safe pair of hands' after the turbulent tenures of Mr Reid and Charles Clarke.

David Miliband is also being touted for the job, which would be a huge promotion from his current role as Environment Secretary.

It had previously been thought Lord Falconer would step down as Minister for Justice within months, to be replaced with a Brownite loyalist such as Harriet Harman.

However, he has indicated that he is keen to stay in the job.