Ground-breaking alternative to short prison sentences may lose major funding, with some forced to close
Imminent budget cuts are set to create a funding "black hole" in the criminal justice system with catastrophic consequences for innovative community sentences, experts have warned.
A national inquiry into the criminal justice system says ground-breaking community punishments that provide a tough alternative to short prison sentences may be the subject of significant cuts in funding in the next month, and some may be forced to close. The inquiry team, which included Lord Blair, the former Metropolitan police commissioner, and Dame Anne Owers, former chief inspector of prisons, said the cuts would gravely damage the government's plans for a "rehabilitation revolution".
They also warn that the government is in danger of repeating the mistakes of the disastrous 1980s care in the community programme in which mental hospitals closed without enough community places being created to replace them.
The Community or Custody inquiry, commissioned by the Make Justice Work campaign, said schemes in Bradford and Manchester that offer an alternative to custody could reduce the prison population and re-offending rates.
The consensus includes practitioners from across the criminal justice system – including police officers, magistrates, prison governors and probation officers, as well as those who are primarily concerned with the needs of victims.
The report said: "Our evidence shows that offenders themselves consider the schemes to be more demanding and challenging than a short-term prison sentence – and much more constructive."
They say they are however very concerned that most, if not all, such projects now face major cuts in funding.
Experts say justice secretary Ken Clarke's plan to reduce the current 85,000 prison population must be coupled with investment in robust community alternatives.
"Simply having the goal to cut the number of prisoners is not enough," says the report.
"If offenders are not re-directed to community programmes like those we have seen during the course of our inquiry, there is a risk that they will simply go on to reoffend."
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