Charities should be deployed to bolster work in prisons around rehabilitation and to help prisoners adjust to life in the community when they are released, says campaigner Lord Farmer.

The move would be key to reducing reoffending and reduce pressure on prison places, according to the peer.

His comments were made during a debate in the House of Lords last week on prison capacity following the Labour government’s decision to release thousands of prisoners early due to an overcrowding crisis that emerged under the previous Conservative government.

The Conservative peer is a vocal campaigner for prison reform and has carried out two Ministry of Justice reviews into the importance of supporting prisoners’ relationships with their family and in the community to reduce reoffending.

Support from charities is especially needed for prisoners who do not have “family on the outside or friends to help them go straight”, he said, adding they particularly benefit from well-supervised peer support in prison.

“I recommended that prisons be extrovert and draw in local charities and other organisations to expose men to opportunities on the outside,” said Lord Farmer, who said charities organising community days in prison could be particularly effective.

“Community days in prisons ensure that those who never see the visits hall can learn there about work and volunteering, including from former prisoners," he said.

“One revolving-door prisoner attending his first community day was very doubtful but said, ‘for the first time I found myself thinking about what comes next. Now I never want to come back in again’.”

Responding to Lord Farmer, prisons minister Lord Timpson, who is a former chair of charity the Prison Reform Trust, said: “I thank the noble Lord, Lord Farmer, for his continued and considered commitment to supporting the important work on strengthening offenders’ positive ties with their friends, family and peers, and for our recent meeting.

“Phone calls, visits and temporary release from prison help prevent offenders returning to crime when they leave prison, by providing the opportunity to build these crucial ties. I want to be inspired by the best practice demonstrated by the impressive visit centres that I have seen, and the community days that I have been a part of are inspirational.

“Holding establishments to account by means of the family ties performance measure has led to a continued improvement in this vital contribution to reducing reoffending.”

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