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Chris Grayling, Justice Secretary: "You have a cycle of re-offending which does none of us any favours"
Every prisoner released in England and Wales should have their own mentor to help them get their lives back on track, the justice secretary is to say.
The plan would be co-ordinated by private and voluntary sector groups who would be paid if re-offending was reduced, Chris Grayling will say.
The mentors would help with finding housing and training opportunities.
Probation officers welcomed the idea, but expressed doubt about whether enough mentors could be found.
Mr Grayling is also expected to outline changes to the probation service, in his first major policy speech in the post.
Almost half of adult prisoners are re-convicted within a year of release and, like his predecessor Ken Clarke, Mr Grayling has made tackling reoffending a priority as justice secretary.
Prison gatesIn his speech he is expected to say that when an offender leaves jail they should be met by a mentor who would help them find a place to live and arrange training or rehabilitation from drug or alcohol issues.
Having a mentor meant that when I got released I knew I had someone to talk to and tell how I felt. He was an ex-prisoner a long time ago, so he has been through the system himself. He knows what it's like and he knows the struggles that we have.
If you do anything under a year you get released with £40. Having someone can show a way to avoid stepping back into the old cycle of going back to committing crimes. It can be really tempting. When you come out there are two roads - the proper road, where you will struggle at first, or you can commit crimes. If you get away with crimes you can afford food and housing. If you don't get away with it you'll get those things supplied anyway because you'll be in prison.
The mentor can be that rock that you need. Someone in the background saying 'No, don't do that' and consider avenues to pursue.
It definitely made a difference for me because I looked at my mentor's life, saw how good their life was and thought that if I took their advice my life could be similar. I have become a mentor myself.
Only those who are jailed for more than a year are currently given rehabilitation, but the prime minister wants all but a small number of high-risk prisoners to be supported by the end of 2015.
Mr Grayling will say everyone has a vested interest in "an enlightened approach to reducing reoffending" as "we can't just keep recycling people round and round the system".
He will say: "I want [released prisoners] to be met at the prison gate, to have a place to live sorted out, to have rehab or training lined up, and above all someone who knows where they are, what they are doing, and can be a wise friend to prevent them from reoffending.
"Often it will be the former offender gone straight who is best placed to steer the young prisoner back onto the straight and narrow - the former gang member best placed to prevent younger members from rushing straight back to rejoin the gang on the streets.
"There are some really good examples out there of organisations making good use of the old lags in stopping the new ones. We need more of that for the future."
'Army of volunteers'Harry Fletcher, of the National Association of Probation Officers, said the idea of mentors was "excellent" but he thought it would never happen because so many prisoners were released every year.
Some 87,000 were released in the 12 months from July 2011 to June 2012.
"You'd need an army of volunteers or employees of private companies to do it properly," he said.
Others fear reform of the probation service is happening too fast.
Sue Hall, from the Probation Chiefs' Association, said: "If payment by results is to be brought in for rehabilitation by 2015, that's a very tall order and any change that is coming in as quickly as that does run a risk of destabilising the system and if that happens then people could be at risk."
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