Prison overcrowding caused by failed sentencing laws, say MPs

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The Justice Select Committee says plans to make more use of community punishments instead of jail for minor offenders have been a flop.

Instead, more offenders are being locked up for short periods, often making them more likely to commit more crime.

The report says more offenders are being locked up for short periods

The committee's chairman, Lib-Dem Alan Beith, said: 'There is a contradiction in stating that prison should be reserved for serious offenders while not providing the resources necessary to fund more appropriate options for other offenders who then end up back in prison.'

The MPs gave a withering assessment of the Government's ambitious £2.3billion programme to build 'Titan' super-prisons, saying it was based on 'wholly inadequate' evidence and a 'deeply unimpressive' official review.