The Ministry of Justice has published a structural reform plan (SRP), setting out key milestones and timescales for delivering policy.

Justice secretary Ken Clarke listed his top five priorities as: sentencing reform; a ‘rehabilitation revolution’; reforming the courts and legal aid system; reform of the prison estate; and reversing the erosion of civil liberties.

The MoJ wants to reduce reoffending by making sentencing more effective. It aims to establish an offender management system that uses the private and voluntary sectors, incorporating payment by results to cut reoffending.

A green paper on rehabilitation is planned for November 2010 and legislation on sentencing for November 2011.

The MoJ will publish a consultation on legal aid reform this autumn with a view to making the system more efficient.

The ministry has already published a consultation on proposed court closures. By April 2011 it aims to have developed options for using technology and alternative dispute resolution to reduce attendance at court.

In April 2011, HM Courts Service and the Tribunals Service will be merged into a single organisation.

On penal policy, the MoJ will seek to develop a sustainable and cost-effective prison capacity strategy in light of the spending review later in the year.

To contribute to a programme of measures designed to increase civil liberties and roll back state intrusion ,the MoJ will later this month announce a mechanism to prevent unnecessary offences.

In 2011, it will establish a commission to investigate the creation of a UK Bill of Rights and by November 2011 it will have increased the scope of the Freedom of Information Act and introduced a Freedom Bill repealing unnecessary laws.

By March 2011, it aims to publish a draft Defamation Bill for pre-legislative scrutiny.

Clarke said: ‘I am clear that we need to focus our resources on protecting the public, punishing offenders and providing access to justice – in a way that is both intelligent and transparent.

‘Working alongside my cabinet colleagues we must also play our role in reversing the erosion of civil liberties and rolling back state intrusion in people’s lives.’