Lord Falconer wants sentences that ensure public safety

"For too long the debate has focussed on community sentences versus custody," Home Office Minister Lord Falconer said on Wednesday.

"What we are saying is that the key to protecting our communities is to reduce re-offending - which can be achieved in a variety of ways."

He was attending a seminar in London held in partnership with crime-fighting charity Nacro.

"We are unequivocal that prison is the right response for those offenders who are dangerous sexual and violent offenders and that they should be in custody for as long as public protection requires.

"Serious offenders, and offenders who have been given every opportunity to get away from crime but who seriously persist in crime should also expect to go to prison," said Lord Falconer, who has responsibility for criminal justice, sentencing and law reform.

But the minister also said the justice system should move away from custodial sentences for less serious offences.

And it should make more use of community service to try and tackle crime.

Lord Falconer said the most important goal was to stop people re-offending.

Prison charities say sentences are not always the answer

He said the Correctional Services wanted to cut the level of re-offending by 5% by the start of 2004.

"Prison will always be the right response for some offences, and some offenders. But it is the wrong response for many other offences and offenders," Nacro's Chief Executive Paul Calvadino said.

The organisation believes community programmes were proving much more effective in reducing re-offending for crimes such as burglary.

"We have found that things such as drug treatment and testing orders [DTTOs] are twice as effective as prison," a Nacro spokesman said.

"The re-offending rate of burglars that have been to prison is 80%, which is too high."

The re-offending rates for those who used DTTOs was only 40%, he added.

The Criminal Justice Bill, introduced last November, has listed crime prevention as the second most important goal after punishment.