The Government is reviewing home detention after a succession of media reports highlighting abuse of the system.
A number of Opposition MPs have called for home detention to be scrapped, citing cases where people have been given it inappropriately.
Corrections Minister Paul Swain said many options were being worked on with Justice
Minister Phil Goff to improve the system.
He told the law and order select committee yesterday that MPs' concerns about a lack of data on those who offended while on home detention were being addressed.
A recent study spanning July 2002 to February last year showed 87 of the 1017 offenders then on home detention had breached conditions and 10 of those were recalled to prison.
The Corrections Department could not find out how many had offended because of the way data was collected.
The review was looking at both those who were given leave to apply for home detention when originally sentenced and those receiving it in the last three months of their prison sentence.
Mr Swain said one option was to have the sentencing judge and not the Parole Board decide whether someone should be given home detention.
He was reluctant to give a deadline for completion of the review. "
Corrections officials have defended home detention, saying that after a 12-month follow-up period, only 7.1 per cent of people placed on home detention have been re-imprisoned.
By comparison, 19.8 per cent of people released from minimum security jails were reimprisoned within a year.
Prisoners can apply for home detention five months before the end of their sentences and Opposition MPs say every prisoner goes for it because it is a soft option.
- NZPA
