A "super ministry" to replace the Home Office and Lord Chancellor's Department is needed to help co-ordinate the fight against crime, according to Britain's most senior police officer.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens said there should be a single umbrella organisation to avoid the fragmentation of the criminal justice system which led to offenders being passed around "almost like a game of pass the parcel".

We may need to look at the feasibility of having a single umbrella for criminal justice under one ministry.

Sir John Stevens

He told a conference on law and order in London the effectiveness of the existing system was questionable.

Sir John said: ""Once the police have arrested the perpetrator of a crime and gathered the necessary evidence, he or she is handed over into the courts system.

'Scandalous' delays

"Once there, when guilt has been established and the decision to punish has been taken, the offender is then handed over to another agency for sentence to be carried out.

"After that the police, the courts and for that matter even the victim, take no further interest in the offender until he or she comes again."

He described the tactics used to delay or frustrate criminal trials as "scandalous".

He said: "At the moment, criminal justice is within the remit of the Home Office, the Lord Chancellor's Department and the Attorney General.

"We may need to look at the feasibility of having a single umbrella for criminal justice under one ministry.

'Culture change'

He also criticised the prison services record on rehabilitating offenders.

Sir John: "People leave prison with no means, no home, no job and no future.

"In all probability all they will come out with is an addiction to hard drugs."

His comments came after Home Office Minister Lord Falconer said a "culture change" was needed among lawyers in England and Wales to stop them delaying criminal cases.

A new white paper on the criminal justice system will be unveiled next month.

It will be based on the recommendations of Lord Justice Auld's report on how the courts system should get a thorough overhaul.