Extracts from the Labour Manifesto

We have provided over 26,000 more prison places since 1997. There are more criminals in prison - not because crime is rising but because violent and serious offenders are going to prison for longer. We will ensure a total of 96,000 prison places by 2014. More EU and other foreign prisoners will be transferred abroad, and we will work to reduce the number of women, young and mentally ill people in prison. Any spare capacity generated will reduce costs while protecting the public.

For offenders not sentenced to prison we have brought in tough new 'Community Payback': hard work in public, wearing orange jackets. We will extend nationwide the right for local people to vote on what work offenders do to pay back to communities they have harmed.

We will always put the victim first in the criminal justice system. We are creating a National Victims Service to guarantee all victims of crime and anti-social behaviour seven-days-a-week cover and a named, dedicated worker offering one-to-one support through the trial and beyond. The compensation offenders have to pay to victims has been increased, and we will now ensure victims get this payment up front.

To help protect frontline services, we will find greater savings in legal aid and the courts system - increasing the use of successful 'virtual courts' which move from arrest, to trial, to sentencing in hours rather than weeks or months. We will use the tax system to claw back from higher-earning offenders a proportion of the costs of prison. Asset confiscation will be a standard principle in sentencing, extended from cash to houses and cars. Every community will have the right to vote on how these assets are used to pay back to the community.