Lords Committee calls for evidence launched on community sentences

The House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee today invites written contributions to its inquiry on community sentences.

• Call for evidence
• Send a written submission
• Inquiry: Community sentences
• Justice and Home Affairs Committee

Background

The inquiry will relate to community sentences. When Courts issue a “community order”, they set out one or more requirements imposed on an adult offender, who will serve their sentence in the community. The requirements are activities selected from a statutory list of 16 options. Most community sentences must entail a punitive and a rehabilitative component.

Considerations related to restorative justice and to other sentences spent in the community, such as suspended custodial sentences or being released on parole, may occasionally be of relevance. However, the Committee would like to concentrate on community orders specifically.

Topics the committee is seeking evidence on include:

• Trends in the use of community sentences (downwards or otherwise)
• Barriers to the use of community sentences
• Best practices in the delivery of community sentences
• Disparities in the availability of community sentences across England and Wales
• Attitudes of sentencers towards community sentences
• Cooperation between the Probation Service and its partners, including the NHS and private or third-sector organisations involved in the delivery of community sentences.

The Committee invites interested individuals and organisations to submit written evidence by 15 June.

Chair’s comments

Baroness Hamwee, Chair of the Committee, said:

“Community sentences are an option for sentencers in certain circumstances, but have been little scrutinised. The Committee is interested in how they are regarded, their practical availability, and their success.

“The Committee is conducting an inquiry into this important area of our criminal justice system. We are interested to hear about the experiences and opinions of the various actors of the system encountering community sentences. This includes, among others, offenders, ex-offenders, victims, sentencers, probation officers, and private or third-sector organisations involved in the delivery of community sentences.

“We welcome individuals from all backgrounds who have an interest in this inquiry as well as organisations in the criminal justice sector to come forward and submit evidence. Having a range of different perspectives means that the committee will be better informed to scrutinise this topic and make effective recommendations to the Government.”