WEST Devon and Torridge MP Geoffrey Cox this week criticised the government in the House of Commons for a 'short-sighted' decision affecting Dartmoor Prison. The Ministry of Justice has directed that prisoners from other prisons around the country should be sent to Dartmoor Prison's resettlement unit — forcing those in the middle of the resettlement programme to move out to a lower Category D prison. The MP told the House of Commons that the decision had damaged the work of the Unit and called on the Secretary of State for Justice, Jack Straw, urgently 'to look into what is happening at Dartmoor Prison' and to 'restore the good work it has been doing for the last few years'. According to the MP, the decision, prompted by the problems of acute overcrowding in Britain's jails, had undone the good work of the resettlement unit, which attempts to prepare prisoners in the final year of their sentence at the prison for outside life. The award-winning unit has had considerable success in recent years and has achieved a very low re-offending rate. Mr Cox said: 'The resettlement unit at Dartmoor Prison, which I have visited, has an excellent record for preventing re-offending. 'This short-sighted decision is prompted solely by the government's failure to plan for the extra prison places that were predicted to be needed years ago, and the resulting overcrowding. 'The minister told me that the government was committed to the rehabilitation of prisoners. But this is mere rhetoric if it cannot manage the prisons properly.' Staff at the prison last week told the Times that they were 'frustrated' their success was being threatened by overcrowding. Don Wood, south west spokesman for the Prison Officers' Association, said if the transferral of Dartmoor prisoners to other jails continued, it would make it difficult for the resettlement unit to function properly. A Ministry of Justice spokesman said measures that had been taken regarding low-risk prisoners had been 'carefully considered'. He said the future of the resettlement unit was not under any threat.