Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the potential benefits of increasing the use of community service rather than short term prison sentences for minor offences.

There is a strong case to abolish sentences of six months or less, with some exceptions. We are therefore exploring options to restrict the use of short custodial sentences, but we have not at this stage reached any conclusions.

There is persuasive evidence showing community sentences, in certain circumstances, are more effective than short custodial sentences in reducing reoffending. The MoJ study ‘The impact of short custodial sentences, community orders and suspended sentence orders on re-offending’ published in 2015 found that over a 1-year follow up period, a higher proportion of people re-offended having been sentenced to custody of under 12 months without supervision on release than other similar people given community orders.

Unless we tackle the underlying causes of offending, we cannot protect the public from being victims of crime. Effective community orders can address offenders’ behaviour, answer their mental health and alcohol or drug misuse needs, and provide reparation for the benefit of the wider community.