National Enquiry Launch in Manchester Town Hall

Posted August 9, 2010

Make Justice Work has just launched its National Commission of Enquiry in Manchester. Our panel – Lord Ian Blair, Paul McDowell (CEO of Nacro), Owen Sharp (acting CEO of Victim Support), John Thornhill (Chair of the Magistrates Association) and Peter Oborne (the new political columnist for the Telegraph) – visited the Intensive Alternative to Custody programme in Manchester.

This was followed by an evidence giving session with the panel and a wider debate with the audience. It was a very successful and lively event and we were delighted at the discussions that came out of the Enquiry. We are now planning our next event which will be late October and we intend to raise the stakes by broadening out our audience base and media coverage. Our role is to inspire confidence in the public and particularly decision makers, that intensive community sentencing can be tough, challenging and most importantly, reduce crime. The programme in Manchester did just that. The evidence is there – we just need to get it out into the public domain for all to see.

Communtiy or Custody, Enquiry, Intensive Community Sentence

Roma Hooper

Roma has worked in and around the criminal justice system since 1992, when she was asked to help set up Britain’s first prison radio station at Feltham Young Offenders’ Institution. She has a Masters in Criminal Justice Policy from the London School of Economics, is Chair of the Griffins Society (supporting women in the criminal justice system), Vice-Chair of the Foundation Training Company (which runs a series of prison and community based resettlement and development programmes) as well as Chair and Founder of the Prison Radio Association. In 2010 she launched Make Justice Work, a campaign to highlight the cost of short-term prison sentences and to improve public confidence in community sentences.