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How Community Penalties Work
If an offender is found guilty of an offence he or she can be discharged, fined, sentenced to a custodial sentence or to a community sentence. The type of sentence is ultimately the decision of magistrates and judges, but the courts take into account pre-sentence reports compiled by a probation worker, or a youth offending team worker in the case of 10 -17 year olds.
Adults
Community sentences for adults are supervised by the National Probation Service which is divided into 42 local areas in England and Wales. The Criminal Justice Act 2003 introduces a new Community Order which replaces all previous community sentences. This took effect on 4th April 2005.
These new orders are made up of one of more of twelve requirements, which can be combined to make up an individual package for each offender. Judges and magistrates can now choose one or a combination of requirements depending on the seriousness of the offence and the potential risk of harm the offender poses.
The range of requirements available with a new Community Order are:
Unpaid work
This involves up to 300 hours of work within the community, similar to the old Community Service. It could include projects such as painting and clearing rubbish, or repairing damage done by the offender.
Specified activities
The offender is ordered to take part in certain activities on certain days at a Community Rehabilitation Centre or a place approved by the court. This could be a Basic Skills course or include activities whose purpose is reparation.
Programmes
Accredited programmes designed to address the attitudes and patterns of behaviour that contribute to offending, e.g. drink driving, anger management or domestic abuse.
Prohibition
The offender must refrain from participating in activities on a specified day or days or during a period, e.g. not to possess, use, or carry a firearm.
Curfew (usually with electronic monitoring)
The offender must remain for certain periods at a specified place (normally at home), for up to 12 hours a day.
Exclusion (usually with electronic monitoring)
The offender may not enter a specified place for a period up to two years. This could be different places on different days and an can include an entire area e.g. a London borough.
Residence
The offender must reside at the place specified e.g. a probation hostel.
Mental health treatment
Only if the court believes that that the offender's mental condition will be helped by treatment. This could involve psychiatry, or treatment as an outpatient or admitted patient. This requirement can only be given with the consent of the offender.
Drug rehabilitation
The offender is required to have treatment for drug misuse and provide samples for testing. This requirement can only be given with the consent of the offender.
Alcohol treatment
The offender is required to attend treatment for alcohol misuse. This requirement can only be given with the consent of the offender.
Supervision
Requires the offender to attend appointments with the National Probation Service or another nominated responsible officer.
Attendance centre (for under 25s)
Offenders can be ordered to go to an Attendance Centre for a maximum of 3 hours a day, 12-36 hours in total.
For more information see the National Probation Service website
www.probation.homeoffice.gov.uk
Young Offenders
Community sentences for young offenders are normally supervised by a Youth Offending Team. Yots are made up of representatives from the police, probation, social services, health, education, drugs and alcohol misuse and housing officers. They are answerable to the Youth Justice Board, a public body which is responsible for the youth justice system.
Young offenders aged 16 - 17 can also be sentenced to the same orders as adult offenders with the exception of Home Detnetion Curfews which are only for prisoners aged 18 and over and ICCP swhich are for 18 - 20 year olds.
Action Plan Order
An Action Plan Order is an intensive, community-based programme lasting 3 months. The order is supervised and developed by the Youth Offending Team. The programme is specifically tailored to the risks and needs of the young person. It can include repairing the harm done to the victim of the offence or the community, education and training, attending an attendance centre or a variety of other programmes to address a young person's offending behaviour.
Reparation Order
Reparation Orders help young offenders understand the consequences of their offending and take responsibility for their behaviour. The young person must repair the harm caused by their offence either directly to the victim (this can involve victim/offender mediation if both parties agree) or indirectly to the community. Examples of this might be cleaning up graffiti or undertaking community work. The order is overseen by the Yot.
Referral Order
All young people who plead guilty to a first offence in court must receive a Referral Order, unless they are given an absolute discharge, or the offence is so serious that a custodial sentence is required.
Once a Referral Order is made, the young person is required to attend a Youth Offender Panel which is made up of a Yot officer and two volunteers from the local community. The Panel with the young person, their parents/carers and the victim (where appropriate) agree a contract lasting between three and 12 months. The contract can include attending programmes to address offending behaviour, repairing the harm done by their offence or a variety of other actions. The conviction is spent once the contract has been completed.
Supervision Order
A Supervision Order can last up to three years. A range of conditions can be attached to a Supervision Order when the sentence is used for more serious offences. These are called 'specified activities' and can last for up to 90 days. Examples of 'specified activities' might be participation in an Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Project (ISSP), drug treatment (for young people aged 16+), curfews or residence requirements which might require a young person to live in local authority accommodation for the period of the sentence.
A young person receiving a Supervision Order is also required to take part in activities set by the Youth Offending Team which could include repairing the harm done by their offence either to the victim or the community and programmes to address their offending behaviour such as anger management.
Parenting Order
Parenting Orders can be given to the parents/carers of young people who offend, truant or who have received a Child Safety Order, Anti-Social Behaviour Order or Sex Offender Order. It lasts for 3 months, but can be extended to 12 months. It does not result in the parent/carer getting a criminal record.
A parent/carer who receives a Parenting Order will be required to attend counselling or guidance sessions. They may also have conditions imposed on them such as attending their child's school, ensuring their child does not visit a particular place unsupervised or ensuring their child is at home at particular times. A failure to fulfil the conditions can be treated as a criminal offence and the parent/carer can be prosecuted.
Attendance Centre Order
This means a young person must regularly go to an Attendance Centre. These are normally run by the police. The regime typically involves discipline, physical training and social skills. The order can last up to 36 hours depending on the age of the offender and the seriousness of the offence.
Curfew Order
This sentence requires a young person to remain for set periods of time at a specified place. The time period can be between 2-12 hours a day and the sentence can last no more than: 6 months for those 16 years of age and above or 3 months for those under 16 years of age. (see tagging below)
Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme
ISSP is the most rigorous non-custodial intervention available for young offenders. It combines high levels of community-based surveillance whilst tackling the factors that contribute to the young person's offending behaviour, through education, training and offender behaviour programmes.
ISSP targets the most active repeat young offenders, and those who commit the most serious crimes. By the end of 2003, ISSPs will cover all of the Youth Offending Team areas in England and Wales.
For more information visit the Youth Justice Board website
www.youth-justice-board.gov.uk.
Electronic Monitoring (Tagging)
Tagging is a way of keeping track of offenders in the community. Offenders are compelled to be in their homes at certain times each day - usually between early evening and early morning. An electronic device is attached to the offenders' wrist or ankle and this tag is to a monitoring machine in the offenders' home. The machine is linked via a telephone line to a monitoring centre. Staff at the monitoring centre can immediately tell if the curfew is broken and can return the offender to court. Tagging can be used as a sentence in its own right (see below) or as part of an ICCP or ISSP . Tagging orders are not monitored by probation, but by the private companies that run the service.
Curfew Order
Curfew orders require offenders to be at a specified place (usually at home) at a specified time. The maximum length for an adult is six months and the maximum length for 10 - 15 year olds is three months.
Home Detention Curfew
Under these schemes eligible prisoners are released early - anything from 60 days to 135 days before the end of their release date, depending on the length of their original sentence. Prisoners who are required to register under the Sex Offenders' Act, fine defaulters, those awaiting deportation and those breached for failing to comply with an electronically monitored curfew order or who have already breached an HDC are not eligible for this scheme.
For more information visit
www.probation.homeoffice.gov.uk.
If an offender is found guilty of an offence he or she can be discharged, fined, sentenced to a custodial sentence or to a community sentence. The type of sentence is ultimately the decision of magistrates and judges, but the courts take into account pre-sentence reports compiled by a probation worker, or a youth offending team worker in the case of 10 -17 year olds.
Adults
Community sentences for adults are supervised by the National Probation Service which is divided into 42 local areas in England and Wales. The Criminal Justice Act 2003 introduces a new Community Order which replaces all previous community sentences. This took effect on 4th April 2005.
These new orders are made up of one of more of twelve requirements, which can be combined to make up an individual package for each offender. Judges and magistrates can now choose one or a combination of requirements depending on the seriousness of the offence and the potential risk of harm the offender poses.
The range of requirements available with a new Community Order are:
Unpaid work
This involves up to 300 hours of work within the community, similar to the old Community Service. It could include projects such as painting and clearing rubbish, or repairing damage done by the offender.
Specified activities
The offender is ordered to take part in certain activities on certain days at a Community Rehabilitation Centre or a place approved by the court. This could be a Basic Skills course or include activities whose purpose is reparation.
Programmes
Accredited programmes designed to address the attitudes and patterns of behaviour that contribute to offending, e.g. drink driving, anger management or domestic abuse.
Prohibition
The offender must refrain from participating in activities on a specified day or days or during a period, e.g. not to possess, use, or carry a firearm.
Curfew (usually with electronic monitoring)
The offender must remain for certain periods at a specified place (normally at home), for up to 12 hours a day.
Exclusion (usually with electronic monitoring)
The offender may not enter a specified place for a period up to two years. This could be different places on different days and an can include an entire area e.g. a London borough.
Residence
The offender must reside at the place specified e.g. a probation hostel.
Mental health treatment
Only if the court believes that that the offender's mental condition will be helped by treatment. This could involve psychiatry, or treatment as an outpatient or admitted patient. This requirement can only be given with the consent of the offender.
Drug rehabilitation
The offender is required to have treatment for drug misuse and provide samples for testing. This requirement can only be given with the consent of the offender.
Alcohol treatment
The offender is required to attend treatment for alcohol misuse. This requirement can only be given with the consent of the offender.
Supervision
Requires the offender to attend appointments with the National Probation Service or another nominated responsible officer.
Attendance centre (for under 25s)
Offenders can be ordered to go to an Attendance Centre for a maximum of 3 hours a day, 12-36 hours in total.
For more information see the National Probation Service website
www.probation.homeoffice.gov.uk
Young Offenders
Community sentences for young offenders are normally supervised by a Youth Offending Team. Yots are made up of representatives from the police, probation, social services, health, education, drugs and alcohol misuse and housing officers. They are answerable to the Youth Justice Board, a public body which is responsible for the youth justice system.
Young offenders aged 16 - 17 can also be sentenced to the same orders as adult offenders with the exception of Home Detnetion Curfews which are only for prisoners aged 18 and over and ICCP swhich are for 18 - 20 year olds.
Action Plan Order
An Action Plan Order is an intensive, community-based programme lasting 3 months. The order is supervised and developed by the Youth Offending Team. The programme is specifically tailored to the risks and needs of the young person. It can include repairing the harm done to the victim of the offence or the community, education and training, attending an attendance centre or a variety of other programmes to address a young person's offending behaviour.
Reparation Order
Reparation Orders help young offenders understand the consequences of their offending and take responsibility for their behaviour. The young person must repair the harm caused by their offence either directly to the victim (this can involve victim/offender mediation if both parties agree) or indirectly to the community. Examples of this might be cleaning up graffiti or undertaking community work. The order is overseen by the Yot.
Referral Order
All young people who plead guilty to a first offence in court must receive a Referral Order, unless they are given an absolute discharge, or the offence is so serious that a custodial sentence is required.
Once a Referral Order is made, the young person is required to attend a Youth Offender Panel which is made up of a Yot officer and two volunteers from the local community. The Panel with the young person, their parents/carers and the victim (where appropriate) agree a contract lasting between three and 12 months. The contract can include attending programmes to address offending behaviour, repairing the harm done by their offence or a variety of other actions. The conviction is spent once the contract has been completed.
Supervision Order
A Supervision Order can last up to three years. A range of conditions can be attached to a Supervision Order when the sentence is used for more serious offences. These are called 'specified activities' and can last for up to 90 days. Examples of 'specified activities' might be participation in an Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Project (ISSP), drug treatment (for young people aged 16+), curfews or residence requirements which might require a young person to live in local authority accommodation for the period of the sentence.
A young person receiving a Supervision Order is also required to take part in activities set by the Youth Offending Team which could include repairing the harm done by their offence either to the victim or the community and programmes to address their offending behaviour such as anger management.
Parenting Order
Parenting Orders can be given to the parents/carers of young people who offend, truant or who have received a Child Safety Order, Anti-Social Behaviour Order or Sex Offender Order. It lasts for 3 months, but can be extended to 12 months. It does not result in the parent/carer getting a criminal record.
A parent/carer who receives a Parenting Order will be required to attend counselling or guidance sessions. They may also have conditions imposed on them such as attending their child's school, ensuring their child does not visit a particular place unsupervised or ensuring their child is at home at particular times. A failure to fulfil the conditions can be treated as a criminal offence and the parent/carer can be prosecuted.
Attendance Centre Order
This means a young person must regularly go to an Attendance Centre. These are normally run by the police. The regime typically involves discipline, physical training and social skills. The order can last up to 36 hours depending on the age of the offender and the seriousness of the offence.
Curfew Order
This sentence requires a young person to remain for set periods of time at a specified place. The time period can be between 2-12 hours a day and the sentence can last no more than: 6 months for those 16 years of age and above or 3 months for those under 16 years of age. (see tagging below)
Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme
ISSP is the most rigorous non-custodial intervention available for young offenders. It combines high levels of community-based surveillance whilst tackling the factors that contribute to the young person's offending behaviour, through education, training and offender behaviour programmes.
ISSP targets the most active repeat young offenders, and those who commit the most serious crimes. By the end of 2003, ISSPs will cover all of the Youth Offending Team areas in England and Wales.
For more information visit the Youth Justice Board website
www.youth-justice-board.gov.uk.
Electronic Monitoring (Tagging)
Tagging is a way of keeping track of offenders in the community. Offenders are compelled to be in their homes at certain times each day - usually between early evening and early morning. An electronic device is attached to the offenders' wrist or ankle and this tag is to a monitoring machine in the offenders' home. The machine is linked via a telephone line to a monitoring centre. Staff at the monitoring centre can immediately tell if the curfew is broken and can return the offender to court. Tagging can be used as a sentence in its own right (see below) or as part of an ICCP or ISSP . Tagging orders are not monitored by probation, but by the private companies that run the service.
Curfew Order
Curfew orders require offenders to be at a specified place (usually at home) at a specified time. The maximum length for an adult is six months and the maximum length for 10 - 15 year olds is three months.
Home Detention Curfew
Under these schemes eligible prisoners are released early - anything from 60 days to 135 days before the end of their release date, depending on the length of their original sentence. Prisoners who are required to register under the Sex Offenders' Act, fine defaulters, those awaiting deportation and those breached for failing to comply with an electronically monitored curfew order or who have already breached an HDC are not eligible for this scheme.
For more information visit
www.probation.homeoffice.gov.uk.
