WHEN the Justice Minister Ken Clarke visited Gloucestershire Probation Trust a few weeks ago, he was impressed with what we are doing in the county to deliver community sentences.
Mr Clarke's new Green Paper was published yesterday and, while I have not had chance to read it fully, it is clear in its aims – to reduce re-offending, improve rehabilitation and reform sentencing. There will be wide consultation over the coming months.
The fact is that Gloucestershire Probation Trust supervises five times as many offenders in the community as there are in HMP Gloucester and magistrates and judges already make very good use of the wide range of community sentences open to them.
Their job is to impose what they think is the most suitable sentence to fit the crime. The most common offences in magistrates' courts are offences of theft, such as shoplifting and theft from cars, as well as offences of violence.
These include common assault, criminal damage and ABH (actual bodily harm, which is less serious than grievous bodily harm).
These offences are all too often linked to drug or alcohol misuse – shoplifting to feed a drug habit or from drinking too much on a Saturday night, which ends in violence on the streets or at home.
More than half of offenders on our books tell us they have a problem with alcohol and about a third have a drug addiction.
This is often a deeply entrenched behaviour and cannot be overcome overnight.
A short prison sentence contains the problems for those few weeks but cannot really address the underlying problems of drug misuse, violence, poor employment prospects and homelessness, which are the root of much offending.
Gloucestershire Probation have been working to rehabilitate offenders for decades in this county so the opportunity to be part of the "rehabilitation revolution" is one we relish.
We are already successfully working with the police, HMP Gloucester and other key agencies to target the most persistent offenders.
This scheme, which can start in prison when suitable offenders are identified, provides increased supervision by a multi-agency team working to tackle the complex social problems of the offenders.
If offenders fail to respond, then magistrates always have the option of re-sentencing them.
The scheme has recently been extended to involve a wider range of voluntary and community organisations to provide, for example, mentoring for offenders.
The financial and human costs of the high rates of re-offending are huge.
It is estimated that it costs the country £11 billion to deal with the reoffending problem.
While it costs around £45,000 to keep someone in prison, average costs for community sentences are £2,000.
At a time when the country has such a huge budgetary deficit, the value for money and effectiveness of the services provided by Gloucestershire Probation Trust and its partners are obvious.
The Green Paper provides an opportunity for us to become even more effective at achieving our goals of reducing reoffending and thereby protecting the public of Gloucestershire.
Author, John Bensted, Chief Probation Officer, Gloucestershire Probation Trust
This article also appears in This is Gloucestershire's website, 8th December 2010.
