A PRISON is giving inmates a route back to life on the outside as part of a national drive to tackle high rates of re-offending.

The prisoners' passport project at Holme House, Stockton, Teesside, will see inmates given one-to-one advice by Jobcentre and Citizens Advice Bureau staff to help them prepare for release.

They will then leave prison with a "passport" - a document with details of appointments to discuss housing and benefits, and details of their responsibilities.

Holme House's initiative is one of many nationally that have been set up in response to a blueprint for tackling re-offending published by the Government's social exclusion unit.

Its report, called Reducing Re-offending by Ex-prisoners, revealed that ex-prisoners account for an estimated one million crimes each year, costing the country about £11bn annually.

A raft of measures recommended by the report include Going Straight contracts for 18 to 20-year-olds, which includes rehabilitation programmes, reparation for crime victims and release supervision.

Home Office minister Lord Falconer, who announced the findings, said: "I welcome this important report. We are determined to stop the revolving door through which prisoners leave custody and go on to re-offend.

"The statistics, which have remained constant for 15 years, are shocking - about 58 per cent of prisoners are reconvicted within two years.

"We are drawing up an action plan to ensure prison is used to effectively punish offenders and tackle the causes of their criminality to put them back on the straight and narrow."