To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his most recent assessment is of the effect of employment on release from prison upon reoffending rates. (113608)

There is currently no published information detailing the effect of employment on release from prison upon re-offending rates in the UK. The Home Office is currently undertaking a reconviction study based on information collected in three resettlement surveys undertaken in 2001, 2003 and 2004. The chief objective of the research is to increase understanding of links between criminal history, demographics, interventions, resettlement factors (including employment) and reconviction.