Community
sentences
cut crime
restoring
resolving
challenging
changing
What is the campaign?
The prison population has doubled since the early 1990s and its relentless
expansion shows little sign of stopping. This is not acceptable and
simply isn’t affordable. Well resourced and well structured community
programmes can challenge and change people for the better, in a way
short prison sentences simply can’t. Community sentences raise public
protection, bring down the rate of offending and repay the damage done by
crime in a way which custodial sentences cannot.
Aims:
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To increase the profile of, confidence in and use of community
sentences
To celebrate and promote high-quality community-based
programmes
To share information and practice at a local and national level
To promote excellence and creativity
Stimulate public debate and support for community interventions
Why?
Community sentences cut crime
Over 61% of those sentenced to less than a year in prison will be
reconvicted within two years of release. By contrast, the re-offending
rate for community orders is 37%, falling to 34% for those on intensive
programmes.
People must make amends for what they have done
Community sentences can make a person take responsibility for what
they have done and live a law-abiding life in the community.
Community sentences save money
Lower reoffending leads to lower costs for victims and criminal justice
agencies further down the line. Community orders are also cheaper as
immediate solutions. On average they cost a tenth of what is costs to
send a person to prison for a year.
Stop the use of short prison sentences
Research shows that prison is failing to rehabilitate people and isn’t
steering them away from crime. The government should stop the use of
short prison sentences and invest instead in community.
Community sentences must be immediate
Where possible a community programme should commence in the
week after sentencing. For more specialist programmes, we believe
there should be no more than four weeks between appearing in court
and beginning the sentence. Delays do not help people complete their
sentence and damage public confidence in community sentencing.
By promoting the use of high quality community sentencing
we can help achieve the Howard League’s vision of less
crime, safer communities, fewer people in prison.
How?
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Campaigning for change – help us lobby for change,
nationally and locally, online and offline
Community Programmes Awards – our annual awards for the
country’s most successful community programmes
Open Days – we shall organise local events around the
country to highlight the excellent work of each winning
programme and to educate local stakeholders about the
success of the schemes
Website – dedicated pages at www.howardleague.org with
information about good practice in community sentencing
and opportunities to take action to support the campaign
Student groups – we will engage with our student groups on
the campaign by organising for example, visits to winning
schemes; speaker tours and workshops; a national student
conference; a Day of Action
Members – we will continue to engage with and raise
awareness of our work and the issues we highlight to achieve
change in policy and practice
Community Programmes Awards
Every effort must be put into endorsing, promoting and supporting
the services working with people in the community. Strong local links
and local accountability are imperative if community sentences are to
meet the needs of people who offend and increase public confidence.
Our awards celebrate good local practice and initiatives. It promotes
winning schemes locally while teasing out the principles guiding them, to
encourage the development of similar programmes elsewhere.
Example of a past winning scheme:
Together Women Project (TWP), Yorkshire & Humberside - By building
relationships with key workers and through access to community
based women’s centres, the project
helps women tackle the reasons they
commit crimes and break the cycle of
offending. The centres are ‘one-stopshops’ providing support to vulnerable
women to tackle multiple and complex
issues which trigger offending.
TWP work in partnership with many
organisations such as housing,
healthcare, judiciary and child welfare.
‘Claire’ has been offending for 9 years
and her offences in the past have
included assault, disorderly behaviour
TWP receiving their 2010 award
and criminal damage. She is on a 12
month community supervision order. She is getting one to one support
and regular support through telephone contact. Claire is learning to
manager her anger, developing her thinking skills about triggers in
certain situations and how to manage them. She has secured new
accommodation and established stability for the first time for herself and
her son. She is attending a Parenting Skills course and has reduced her
alcohol intake. She is doing really well with her community order.
The Howard League for Penal Reform is the oldest and most
influential penal reform charity in the world. It was established in
1866 and is named after John Howard, the first prison reformer. The
Howard League for Penal Reform is independent of government
and is funded by voluntary donations.
• T
he Howard League for Penal Reform works for a safe
society where fewer people are victims of crime
• The Howard League for Penal Reform believes that
offenders must make amends for what they have done
and change their lives
• The Howard League for Penal Reform believes that
community sentences make a person take responsibility
and live a law-abiding life in the community
The Howard League for Penal Reform achieves principled and
radical change through:
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Inquiry, investigation and monitoring
Exchange of ideas and provision of education
Legal intervention on behalf of young people
Demonstration projects inside prisons
Parliamentary and government relations
Multi-media, publications and campaigns
Links with international bodies, voluntary and statutory
agencies
• Holding the Government to account for the way people are
treated in the penal and prison systems
The Howard League
1 Ardleigh Road
London
N1 4HS
t 020 7249 7373
f 020 7249 7788
Registered charity No. 251926
Company Limited by
guarantee No. 898514
e [email protected]
w www.howardleague.org