MORE than 2,000 offences were committed in just 12 months by prisoners leaving Hampshire jails after short sentences, new figures have revealed.

Around two-thirds of inmates released from Winchester and Isle of Wight prisons – after less than one year behind bars – went on to carry out further crimes.

At Winchester, the average re-offender was responsible for no fewer than six fresh offences, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) statistics show.

The astonishing crime spree was revealed as ministers pledged a dramatic overhaul to end the “depressing merry-go-round” of former inmates being hauled back before the courts.

Currently, short-sentence prisoners leave the gates with no more than “a £46 wage and the hope they won’t be back”, a Government source said.

Now every prisoner – even those jailed for just a few days – will be given a 12-month compulsory supervision order, Justice Secretary Chris Grayling announced.

They could be prevented from moving to a different area and required to take compulsory tests for class B drugs such as cannabis, officials said.

Tracking tags And, controversially, charities and private companies such as G4S or Serco will bid for payment-by-results contracts that will reward them for keeping ex-prisoners out of court.

The MoJ figures showed that just over 58 per cent of prisoners who, across England, served less than 12 months were found guilty of a fresh offence within a year.

But that re-offending rate was even higher at Winchester Prison (65.4 per cent) and at Isle of Wight Prison (66.7 per cent).

Most of the 2,046 offences were committed at Winchester. That is because, at the Isle of Wight, far fewer prisoners serve short sentences.

Under Mr Grayling’s plans, ex-prisoners are likely to be forced to wear a new generation of GPS satellite tracking tags.

And they will have to comply with a programme of support on housing, employment, training and alcohol and drug treatment – or face being recalled to jail.

Ministers are concerned that, although rates of recorded crime have fallen sharply, reoffending rates have hardly changed in the past ten years.

Therefore, the 100-year-old public probation service will be responsible for supervising only high-risk offenders and issues involving public protection.

Mr Grayling told MPs: “The biggest failing of the current system is that those with the highest reoffending rates get the least rehabilitation. Our plans put that right. “For the first time in recent history, every offender released from custody will receive at least a year of supervision and rehabilitation.”