Paul Cavadino, Chief Executive of Nacro, the crime reduction charity says: “It is vital for the reduction of reoffending that prison officers should be involved fully in the rehabilitation of offenders. If prisons are stretched and overcrowded, their time will inevitably be spent on basic prison functions rather than rehabilitative relationships.

“We need to determine measures to reduce the use of prisons and cut overcrowding need to go hand in hand with developing more training and opportunities for prison officers to engage in offenders resettlement.”