The ‘probation’ providers who will be delivering community sentences in the new payment by results landscape will not be the Probation Trusts.  They will be private sector providers who are likely to have little experience in dealing with the revolving door of prolific lower level offenders whose risk of offending is volatile and unpredictable and whose focus is on profit.

The focus of this Bill is at the wrong end of the sentence for offenders receiving prison sentences of less than 12 months. In most cases, prison is not the most appropriate sentence outcome.  In the US even the right wing recognise that prisons don’t work for lower level offenders – they are closing prisons and establishing good quality community solutions.

We continue to campaign for greater recognition of the value of community sentences. Far too many people are being sentenced to prison for short periods (less than 12 months) when a community sentence  is proven to be more effective at reducing re-offending, cheaper and more likely to address many of the underlying problems for this group such as mental health and drug and alcohol problems.

There is an opportunity here for increased court engagement – something that wasn’t mentioned in the outline of the Bill. In fact, courts rarely get a mention in these discussions. But their involvement is critical not only for ‘probation’ support post prison, but also in ensuring that the most appropriate sentence is given; whether that is prison or community.  Encouraging a problem solving approach within courts has to be the sensible way forward and bring about the cost saving results that are the ultimate goal.

We hope that as the details are added to this Bill, there is serious consideration given to the role of the courts in working constructively with the new  ‘probation’ providers, to ensure that the best possible outcome is identified for each individual offender. Perhaps this will finally mean that fewer people are sentenced to futile short term prison sentences that do little to reduce re-offending or the number of victims.

These last four years have been an incredible journey in which we have focussed on demonstrating the futility of short term sentences in reducing re-offending; the effectiveness of robust community sentences as alternatives to custody; what victims really think about community sentences; the need for diverting particular groups such as those with mental health problems, substance misuse problems, and non-violent women offenders, from short term prison sentences; and highlighting the risks that Payment by Results present in undermining community sentences.

In addition to raising awareness around these core issues and the evidence that supports them, we have been interested in understanding the impact that a campaign, such as ours, can have in such a challenging sector. What are the best mechanisms for change? What impact does social media have in spreading the message? How do you get your message heard above the rest? How do you work collaboratively with others in the sector to add weight to the message? What are the best ways to contact policy makers, practitioners, politicians, press, etc.?

To help us understand the impact of our work and the campaign, we have commissioned an independent consultant (Stephen Boyce) to carry out an evaluation. It would be impossible for Stephen to interview all of the people and organisations that we have met along our journey, so we have created a short survey. I hope you will take 10 minutes to complete it and give us your honest opinion (all responses will be anonymous). All responses will inform the final evaluation which will then be published as our final report in June.

What have we done well? What should we have done differently? And possibly, most important of all, what needs further exploration and work?

Complete the Make Justice Work Legacy Survey

“As our report – ‘Out in the Open’ – recently published with Victim Support shows victims of crime recognise that punishment and rehabilitation go hand in hand. Most importantly victims do not want to see it happen to them or anybody else again.”

We arrived at the project and were immediately struck by how passionate the staff were, it is clear they are working extremely hard to make sure the project is a success. And it seems to be paying off, at the original project in Medway, out of 24 women, not one has gone on the re-offend. But it is not just the staff who are passionate about the project.

We heard from the women themselves why they think the project is a success and what they have found helpful. They felt supported by probation and by the other women in the group, if they need extra support they get it, it’s not in the probation office (the women found this intimidating) and it doesn’t focus just on what they have done wrong, it helps them to think about how they can put things right.

It was fantastic to see a project which is making such a difference to women’s lives and at very little cost to the taxpayers, only £50 was spent just for room hire.

So why are projects like this not being rolled out across the country? Why is this kind of support not available to all suitable lower level female offenders? You’re guess is as good as ours.

Learn more about Prospects on the Kent Probation website.

Listen to Janet’s story a female offender who completed the programme.

Make Justice Work gave a grant to journalist Ian Birrell to travel to the US to investigate the ‘Right on Crime’ movement, which originated in Texas and is now sweeping conservative America.

Hard-line conservatives have declared prison a failure, that costs the earth and has little positive outcomes for lower level repeat offenders.

The article, published on Sunday, revealed that investing in rehabilitation (which costs less than prison), effective sentencing and support for offenders has had a dramatic effect on reoffending rates in Texas.

If you have any questions or comments about the article, please email info@makejusticework.org.uk or call 020 3538 8365

• There should be a greater use of robust and demanding community sentences as an alternative to short term prison sentences for lower level offences committed by women offenders.

• The government urgently needs to produce a strategy with the aim of reducing the number of women in custody, to ensure there is proper co-ordination across all government departments – not just the Ministry of Justice – with clear ministerial responsibility, accountability and a timetable to reduce the number of women in custody.

• Among the judiciary there needs to be a greater level of awareness and understanding – including Magistrates – about the specific needs of women offenders, including those with a learning disability/difficulty and the valuable role of effective community sentences as an alternative to custody.

• We need to see assurances from government that safeguards will be put in place to ensure the introduction of the principles of Payment by Results (PbR) by 2015 in community sentences will not lead to unintended consequences, whereby the specific needs of women offenders are at risk of being ignored.

Following the appointment of a new Secretary of State for Justice and a new ministerial team in his Department, we intend to engage with the Government and members of the Select Committee on this very important issue.

Read the submission from MJW in full.

What was striking was that the conclusions of those two groups of what caused the riots and what could prevent it were not significantly different from the conclusions drawn by the excellent NatCen report 4 Days in August, the Victims and Communities panel’s conclusions and other reports that have come out over the last year.

The UK has a strong tradition of supporting young people to be the change they want to see. Good programmes, of which there are hundreds, recognise the very real and difficult challenges that young people face but also that it is the young people who have many of the things they need to tackle them: courage, vision, talent, passion, creativity, understanding…

Support for people between 18-24 without work or who aren’t getting training or in education, is scant. They also made up the largest segment of those convicted of offences in the riots. Of course, they have amazing potential. We need to find ways they can play a real role in building resilience in their communities and match that with support for them around leaving prison, attitudinal change, employment, education and training, and family support.

The Resilience Consortium has secured funding from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation to research the needs and assets of 18-24 year olds in the areas of some of the worst riots and to assess what services there are for them and also what gaps there are. Crucially, the research will also establish the extent to which those services are connected or joined up. What Leap knows from its work in the oft-quoted Community Initiative to Reduce Violence, led by the Strathclyde Police among members of the very violent East Glasgow gangs, is that one of the reasons that it saw an extraordinary drop of 46% drop in knife incidents is the extent to which the education, behaviour and attitude management, employment, enforcement and other programmes, whilst delivered by a range of organisations were wrapped around the young people. They, with all of the chaos and challenge in their lives, did not have to navigate from one organisation to another with different branding. They simply got access to high quality, well-led work that made the difference.

In Glasgow it was the Strathclyde Police who showed excellent leadership – their model is now being used by Police in some London Boroughs. It doesn’t have to be the police, it could be an innovative local business who could call partners together; it could be an organisation like Leap; it could be a new Police and Crime Commissioner.

What we hope the research will show us is how to capitalise on the existing high-quality work and innovation in youth work that the UK should be proud of. Any solution should work out how to capitalise on new initiatives like the Cabinet Office’s National Citizenship Service.

Will it happen again next week or during the rest of the summer? Maybe. Certainly the factors that caused the riots have not gone away. People are still disengaged from their communities and politics, youth unemployment continues to rise. In the year since the riots, some new things have happened, lots has been cut, but little, if any, activity has even begun to be sewn up around the needs and assets of young people and this is what we need.

Thomas Lawson – Leap Confronting Conflict

Twitter @ThomasJLawson