It should come as no surprise that the full title of the recent criminal justice green paper, ‘Breaking the Cycle’, gives top billing to the punishment of offenders. In a speech last week to Criminal Justice Alliance members, however, the Prisons and Probation Minister Crispin Blunt took as his theme the Green Paper’s second objective: rehabilitation. Rehabilitation, he emphasised, is central to the Government’s proposals – and, he insisted simply, “we must get better at it”.
How, then, does ‘Breaking the Cycle’ propose to bring about a ‘rehabilitation revolution’? Employment lies at the heart of the plans: prisoners will be expected to work up to forty hours a week and, for those serving their sentences in the community, there will be an intensive form of unpaid work. Diversion from the criminal justice system for offenders with mental health problems is marked out as a priority, and a national liaison and diversion service, as recommended by the Bradley Report, is proposed, to be in place by 2014. Payment by results – the Green Paper’s flagship initiative – will, it is hoped, encourage innovation and drive providers to deliver services that more effectively reduce reoffending. Restorative justice, recognised as having a positive impact on reoffending, as well as providing high levels of victim satisfaction, is also included, and identified as deserving a “fundamental part” in the sentencing process.
Click here to read more: http://www.worksforfreedom.org/infocus/94-breaking-the-cycle
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