Probation - Measuring Up PRESS RELEASE

The Probation Chiefs Association welcomes the Government’s new adult reoffending measure published today. This shows that two–thirds of the 148,000 adult offenders in England and Wales who started their Community Order in 2009, did not go on to re-offend in the following 12 months.
Sonia Crozier, the PCA performance lead, said: “We have lobbied long and hard for this re-offending measure which is much more transparent. Our top priority is to protect victims and communities from crime, and this data allows the public to see more easily how well we measure up.
“The new measure takes in all offenders sentenced within a 12-month period and tracks whether they re-offend in the 12 months from commencement of their Community Order. The previous measure was based on a very complex formula which was difficult for professionals and the public to understand. Probation chiefs are confident that the new measure provides us with a more robust set of data upon which we can build our understanding and assessment of the service we are providing and how well it works locally,” said Sonia.
“These figures have just been released so Probation Trusts are still busy digesting and analysing the statistics. Once this has been completed, Trusts will use the measure as a solid base from which to improve reoffending rates
“It also remains the case that the average reoffending rate of 34.3 per cent in 2009 for community sentences is much lower than that of adults serving short prison sentences, where the reconviction rate is 60% within 1 year of release1. “

Only half of offenders on community orders made to do unpaid work

Only half of offenders handed community penalties are made to carry out unpaid work as part of their punishment, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

By Tom Whitehead, Home Affairs Editor

Convicted criminals can be made to carry out physical work for the benefit of a local area as one of 12 requirements a court can place on a community order.

The work, known as Community Payback, can include gardening, removing graffiti, litter picking and clearing wasteland and is seen as a way of offenders giving something back to the communities they preyed on.

But over the last three years just 54 per cent of criminals handed community orders were made to carry out unpaid work.

It means tens of thousands of offenders who avoid prison every year also avoid being put to work in the community.

The figures last night further fuelled claims that the court orders are a “soft” punishment.

To read more of this article, click here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/8653157/Only-half-of-offenders-on-community-orders-made-to-do-unpaid-work.html