Hartlepool had '˜among country's highest reoffending rates' '“ but '˜excellent work' set to bring it down

The figures were discussed by the Safer Hartlepool Partnership.

Figures show that, between October and December 2015 – the most recent data released by the Ministry of Justice – 374 people in the town committed a crime.

Of those, 39% – 147 of them – went on to commit a proven reoffence within the following 12 months, with an average of five reoffences each.

The data was discussed at the latest meeting of the Safer Hartlepool Partnership.

Lisa Oldroyd, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Cleveland’s officer for crime, offending and justice, explained that much work had been undertaken since 2015.

She said that the Reducing Reoffending Group for Cleveland and Durham was “working to bring positive outcomes for victims and people who offend” and that a number of areas were being developed to bring reoffending rates down.

Talking about the 2015 figures, she said: “Hartlepool and Middlesbrough had the highest reoffending rates across the Cleveland area in that period, and among the highest in the country.

“The highest proportion of people who reoffended were males aged between 30 and 39, but much work is ongoing to divert people away from the criminal justice system.

“There is some excellent work going on to bring the reoffending rates down.”

Meanwhile, in the Cleveland area as a whole, about 2,000 adults were given a custodial sentence or were released from custody between October and December 2015, the meeting heard.

More than 800 of them – 40.2% – went on to commit a proven reoffence within the following 12 months.

Mrs Oldroyd explained some of the work which is ongoing to bring those rates down across Cleveland.

She said efforts were being made to find pathways out of offending, reach out to female offenders who typically committed less violent crimes, and to look into the benefits of restorative justice.

She also revealed that a large number of offenders from Hartlepool had enrolled on drug treatment services, and that it had helped to bring the number of offences they had committed down.