BLAIR TO UNVEIL PLAN FOR MORE PRISON PLACES

Tony Blair is to announce 2,500 extra prison places - the equivalent of
several new jails or wings - on Monday as part of a 10-year plan to tackle
crime and disorder.

The prime minister will put tougher sentences for persistent offenders,
coupled with programmes to address drug abuse and improve skills and job
prospects, at the heart of his strategy for a second term. This follows
long-term plans for health, transport and secondary education.

Publishing the plan is part of Labour's build-up to a general election
expected in May. It involves a Pounds 700m increase in the prison budget
over the next few years, one-third of which is to be spent on preventing
re-offending.

The government's effort is focused on 100,000 hardcore offenders who are
thought responsible for about half the crime toll. Of these, 60 per cent
serve sentences of 12 months or less and the bulk of them re-offend.

The plan will require legislation allowing courts to make early release
conditional on offenders attending courses to treat drug dependency or
improve skills.

"Review courts" would be set up to monitor compliance. The courts would be
able to impose tougher sentences on those who re-offended.

"Large numbers of them have exactly the same profile - drugs, abuse when
young, no life chances, poor education at school, often excluded from
schools, playing truant. And what we do when we put them in for a short
sentence and then put them back out on the street again is just put the
problem back in the laps of the police," a senior member of the cabinet said.

The plan will cover all parts of the criminal justice system, including the
prosecution service and courts. However, Lord Justice Auld has warned
ministers against pre-empting his government-commissioned review of the system.