Many prisoners end up back inside, despite training programmes

Each jail has been asked to reduce its spending by five per cent, the Justice 1 Committee was told during an inquiry.

In their report, the MSPs conclude that work programmes should be expanded, not reduced as part of efficiency measures.

The committee also called for an urgent rethink of services for short-term prisoners, who were being "neglected".

The report challenges the view that little or nothing can be done with prisoners serving short periods in custody.

Prisoner literacy

It recommends focusing resources on addressing lifestyle issues such as housing, benefits, family matters and literacy and numeracy.

"In particular, the definition of 'short-term sentence' demands attention, as the issues facing a prisoner serving a term of four years differ greatly from the issues facing a prisoner serving one year, six months or six weeks and so on," the report said.

The committee said more information should be made available about the money being spent on rehabilitation programmes.

Without this, spending on rehabilitation may not be protected from budget cuts.

The prison service insisted that record levels of investment were going into prisons and their facilities and the MSPs' report and their recommendations were "in line" with the way the service was going.

A spokeswoman said: "The savings that have been requested will be reinvested to help fund things such as improving the conditions of the estate as well as areas that the report covered, such as rehabilitation and inclusion."

Watchdog report

Last month, Audit Scotland said that there was no evidence to suggest that the �30m spent by the Scottish Prison Service in 2003/04 on trying to change prisoners' behaviour was working.

When inmates are released from prison there is a 50% chance they will be back within two years, the public service spending watchdog said.

Deputy Auditor General Caroline Gardner said: "The provision of education, vocational training and behaviour management programmes has increased, but more information is needed about their effectiveness and value."