 | Paedophile and murderer Frank Parker with a child |
Home Secretary John Reid has ordered a full inquiry into a BBC investigation which found criminals were not properly monitored at hostels after release. It follows his request on Tuesday for a review of the alleged breaches.
Mr Reid also said action had been taken to send back to prison people who had been found breaking bail conditions.
He said he had received the Chief Inspector of Probation's initial review and was confident there was enough evidence to merit a full inquiry.
Allegations against two Bristol hostels were made in a Panorama programme.
|  This government takes public protection matters very seriously |
Watchdog Andrew Bridges is to head an urgent inquiry into the Ashley House and Brigstocke Road bail hostels in Bristol.
"This government takes public protection matters very seriously and action has already been taken to recall to prison those people featured in the programme who have breached their licence conditions," said Mr Reid.
Photo taken
Undercover Panorama filming in bail hostels found a convicted paedophile and child-killer who befriended children.
The filming shows Frank Parker, 61, befriending children and speaking of taking a photo of a semi-naked teenager who he invited up to his Brigstocke Road hostel room.
It is not yet clear whether Parker and another paedophile, Kevin Rogers, have been taken back into custody.
 Paedophile Kevin Rogers in a Bristol shopping centre |
Rogers was filmed standing outside public toilets at a Bristol shopping centre and secretly taking pictures nearby. Panorama also went undercover at a second bail hostel in Bristol - Ashley House - which, like Brigstocke Road, had a case of an offender killing a member of the public last year.
Ashley House predominantly provides accommodation for people who have committed drug-related crimes. But staff are not allowed to search them for drugs.
On Tuesday, Mr Reid said: "We've had shortcomings.
"If we don't face up to the fact we've got a problem we are never going to help you."
Too much money is being spent on report-writing and not enough on practical help, the home secretary added. The level of reoffending was "unacceptably high".
Mr Reid said he wanted to introduce new legislation to allow private companies and groups to carry out some probation services
He said he wanted as much as �250m of the service's �800m annual budget made available for private contractors from April 2008.
Exposed: The Bail Hostel Scandal will be broadcast on Wednesday at 2100 on BBC One and bbc.co.uk/panorama.
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