Clarke looking at alternatives to prisons

Cuts to legal aid could be brought in under coalition Government plans for the criminal justice system.

Justice Secretary Ken Clarke has outlined the idea in a speech in London while saying: "My priorities are to punish offenders, protect the public, and provide access to justice."

He said there is a balance between the assertion of rights and the responsibility to accept the burden of using your own resources to assert them.

"It may be that people sometimes have to pay more of their own legal costs than has been the case in some areas of law in the recent past," Mr Clarke said.

The politican also spoke of old court buildings, saying some 'under-used and under-repaired' ones could face being taken out of action.

Mr Clarke hinted how more cases that would have gone to court may not in the future: " I think we may be able to find sensible ways of using modern technology so people don't always have to go to court and disputes can be resolved quickly and effectively without all the present process."

On savings, the Justice Secretary said his department has already pinpointed areas where money can be saved immediately: "We've identified the potential to make a one off saving of £21million and annual savings of £15.5 million in running and maintenance costs."

He added that a consultation on changes to every court is now under way.

Shadow justice secretary Jack Straw accused Mr Clarke of a return to the "hand-wringing" approach to crime in existence before Mr Howard's regime.

"He (Howard) deserves credit for turning the tide, as does the opposition leader at that time, Tony Blair, who encapsulated the need for a balanced policy with his call to be 'tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime'.

"Now, though, in the crazy world of coalition government, Kenneth Clarke shows he has learnt nothing about fighting crime in the time since he was in charge of prisons 17 years ago," Mr Straw wrote in the Daily Mail.