Out of sight, out of mind - the traditional British approach to prisons.

It may surprise some people, but I never got much satisfaction from seeing anyone jailed. For me, it was the least rewarding part of the job. I know, of course, that locking someone up is sometimes the only way to reform them and protect their fellow citizens. I also know it is a hugely expensive and frequently ineffective way of dealing with offenders. Within two years, more than half the people sent to jail re-offend. For 18 to 20 year-olds the figure is nearer 75 per cent. The cost, £11bn a year.

That's why we have valuable lessons to learn from a conference held in Middlesbrough this week. Organised by the council and the International Centre for Prison Studies based at Kings College, London, it focused on prisons as a resource for their local communities.

This is a difficult subject. The words "Support your local jail" don't exactly trip off the tongue. But we have to accept one stark fact. The vast majority of men - and women - in that prison close to us won't be there for ever. One day they'll be walking the same streets as us, perhaps living next door to us. We have to live with this fact, and with them.

In Middlesbrough last year, with the help of the centre and the Northern Rock Foundation, we began a restorative justice project. It involved offenders in local prisons working to restore Albert Park, making furniture for the caf, decorations for the visitor centre and for events, restoring railings and making boats. They are putting something back.

"I've helped improve something my family will use for years." The words of one of the prisoners taking part. Words, which seem to be those of someone who wants to make his peace with the community he has wronged. Think of how much misery we can avoid, how much expense we can spare if we instil that attitude in all prison leavers.

This year in Middlesbrough we increased the number of restorative projects. The South Tees Youth Offending Team has projects going with young people who have had their first brush with the legal system. They've been set to clean up open spaces. Hopefully, this will divert them from crime and give them the sense they've put something back into the community.

I know how deeply people in this region feel about crime, how the activities of a small minority have eaten away at neighbourhoods, sapping their vitality and self-confidence. I know that at times it seems that there are large numbers of people in our community who are irredeemable.

We must never go soft on crime; but we must break the dismal cycle of reoffending and retribution on which the current system seems to be based. Instead we need one in which the imperatives of deterrence and punishment are balanced by elements which allow for the diversion and rehabilitation of offenders.

Giving offenders the chance to make reparation to individual victims or the wider community should be the first clause in a fresh contract between them and society. At the moment I feel that we are throwing away the key to reducing crime - in more ways than one.

Published: 11/07/2003