Is tough talk is missing the point?

More prisons.  More police on our streets.  Locking people up for longer.

All of these solutions have a place but only address one side of the issue.

The recent election debates have produced depressingly limited fresh thinking from any of the main leaders on how to tackle the problems of crime and re-offending in Britain today.  Little emphasis has been made in any of the three manifestos on rehabilitation and helping offenders to rebuild their lives.

All of the three main parties know of St Giles Trust and their home and justice ministers have been to visit us and learn about our approach.

People who commit crimes deserve to be punished - that is without question.  But currently, around 84,000 people are locked up in UK prisons and all but around 50 of them will released one day. If we fail to help people change their lives, we will simply maintain our current high re-offending rates and overcrowded prisons - a hugely costly and counterproductive solution.

St Giles Trust is calling for all three main political parties to put rehabilitation at the heart of their criminal justice policies and help those who want to change have the very best chance of turning their lives around.  We firmly believe we have a solution to offer by putting offenders who want to change at the heart of the solution, using their credibility and skills to become positive role models and skilled caseworkers to others wishing to reform.

Our political leaders owe it to all of us to ensure that the current re-offending rates are reduced, offenders are given the right opportunities to change and - most importantly - there are fewer victims in the future.

Email us at info@stgilestrust.org.uk or visit our Facebook and Twitter pages to give us your views.

Rob Owen, Chief Executive, St Giles Trust