Prisoners are set to have money taken from their wages and given to support victims of crime, ministers said today.

The scheme is part of Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke's rehabilitation revolution and will raise £1 million a year.

The move will affect 500 inmates who work outside prisons, which will see their take-home pay cut by up to 40 per cent and used to help support victims, the Ministry of Justice said.

Policing Minister Nick Herbert said: ‘For too long the financial burden of repairing the damage done by crime has fallen to the taxpayer alone.

‘Making offenders pay financial reparation to victims will require them to take personal responsibility for their crimes and go some way towards making redress to victims through the funding of crucial support services.’

Under the Prisoners' Earnings Act which comes into force today, 40 per cent of prisoners' wages over £20 per week - after tax, National Insurance and any court-ordered or child support payments - will be deducted and given to Victim Support.

Does anyone actually think that this will work?

Not really no, and it'll probably cost more than a million to administer...