Tories plan prison rehab rewards

The idea forms part of a package of criminal justice reforms which would also see prison places in England and Wales raised above 100,000 for the first time; a sell-off of old Victorian jails in city centres; an end to automatic early release of prisoners after half their full term; and inmates paying into a fund to compensate victims.

The proposals, set out in a Tory green paper, come days after the prison population hit a record 82,180, topping the official maximum operating capacity.

Conservative leader David Cameron said the prisons were "in crisis", but Justice Secretary Jack Straw - who last week pleaded with magistrates to use non-custodial sentences - denied he was losing sleep over the issue.

"Am I exercised about the prison population? I am," Mr Straw told reporters. "Am I losing sleep over it? No... Lying awake at night is completely useless, so I don't do it."

He said he could not rule out any extension of his early release programme for prisoners nearing the end of their term to ease pressure on places over the coming months, but hoped it would not be necessary.

Launching the Tory proposals in London, Mr Cameron said they were designed to "deliver justice for victims and to ensure that prisoners both make restitution to society for their crimes and leave prison with better skills and prospects than they had when they entered".

But Mr Straw dismissed the package, telling reporters: "This is a long and very thin document. Most of the sensible bits reheat what we are already doing, and the rest of it is either incomprehensible or uncosted or both."

Mr Cameron said the Tory plans would end overcrowding by 2016 by increasing prison capacity by 5,000 over and above the Government's plans, while transforming prisons from "warehouses" to "places of education, hard work, rehabilitation and restoration".

An "honesty in sentencing" policy would require judges and magistrates to hand down prison sentences carrying a minimum and maximum term, with convicts earning early release through good behaviour, work and rehabilitation behind bars rather than automatically qualifying after half their time.