If David Cameron wants to execute prisons accountable for their performance,they are going to need much better data[br]The prime minister’s vision of autonomous prisons is ambitious. He has called for prisons to “be held to account with genuine transparency over outcomes”. But the current metrics for prisons are a long way off doing that. It will require a step change in how performance is measured, but getting it lawful has the potential to transform the prison estate.
Official performance measures at the moment focus on evaluating what goes on inside prison walls, and but fail to focus on the long-term outcomes that really matter,such as reoffending or sustained employment. Whilst the Prison Service’s mission statement says that it should relieve offenders “lead law-abiding and useful lives … after release”, no accountability system has been build in place to execute sure this is realised.
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Source: theguardian.com