Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of community service sentencing in reducing levels of reoffending in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency and (b) Staffordshire.

Across England and Wales, community service, now known as Unpaid Work (UPW), is primarily a punitive measure, however it can contribute to an individual's rehabilitation by providing an opportunity to gain vocational or skills-based on the job training while giving back to the society they have offended in. For those with an identified skills or training need, a percentage of their UPW hours can also be spent on education, training and employment activities to support their desistance from crime.

As it is primarily intended and used as a punitive part of a sentence, we do not measure the impact of having an UPW requirement on reoffending rates. This information could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

Tackling reoffending is crucial to reducing crime, reducing demand on prison and probation services and protecting the public. This Government will continue to work with partners across the criminal justice systems to reduce reoffending and giving offenders the tools to move away from crime.