Are community orders a soft option?

The prisons capacity crisis is far from over. Despite the early release schemes introduced in 2023 and 2024 we are again reaching boiling point with prisons operating in excess of 98% of capacity, and nearly 8000 people above over what the prison service suggest as the level they can provide a decent standard of accommodation.

The Independent Sentencing Review, which is led by David Gauke, has the goal of ensuring we are never again in a position where the country has more people in prison than prison places, and the government is forced to rely on the emergency release of people from prison. This kind of future proofing cannot come soon enough.

But there isn’t an overnight fix. England and Wales imprison more people per head than anywhere else in Western Europe, and we’re putting people in prison for longer and longer. The average sentence length in England and Wales has increased by 46% in 14 years (rising from 13.7 months in 2010¹ to 20.1 months in 2024,²⁾. The trend in increasing sentence lengths flies in the face of the evidence, which shows that imposing longer prison sentences does little to deter people from offending or reoffending. The Sentencing Review will undoubtedly be considering the most effective ways to tackle this increase.

But what do community sentences include in practice? Are they effective or a soft option as some say? Here we answer four questions about community orders and whether they offer a credible alternative to prison.

1. What do you have to do on a community sentence?

A community order combines some form of punishment with activities carried out in the community. It can look very different from person to person, depending on what the court decides. For example, it could include up to 300 hours of unpaid work; mental health, alcohol or drug treatment to help people address the reasons which led to their offending in the first place; a curfew or electronic monitoring or being required to live at a particular address. If drug or alcohol misuse is behind their offending a court can issue a mandatory treatment programme alongside testing. This is all supervised by the Probation Service through regular meetings.

There are 13 possible requirements that someone might be expected to meet, though they can be given a combination.

2. Are they really a punishment?

Many people we support tell us that a community sentence is definitely not a ‘soft option’ – it is very challenging for people to tackle the drivers of their crime whilst also being under the restrictions and monitoring which forms part of a community order. This is particularly the case for people who lead chaotic lives, caught in the whirlwind of addiction, or for those whose mental health issues drive their offending behaviour.

Some community ordersinvolve being tagged which can include a curfew a ban from certain geographical areas or monitoring whether someone has drunk alcohol.

Often people serving community orders will need to complete unpaid work, to give back to the communities where they live. This can range from between 40 and 300 hours, typically over a 12 month period. Unpaid work can mean that people not only address the reasons that lead to their offending, but also give back to their communities. In order to be truly rehabilitative, however, we believe that unpaid work should be linked to training and qualifications, with opportunities for people to progress into paid roles where possible.

3. How do community sentences stop people committing more crimes? 

Every year, almost 40,000 people go to prison on sentences of six months or less.  During a short prison sentence people can lose the very essentials they need to lead a more stable life, including their home, their job and close relationships. People who serve short prison sentences are the group most likely to reoffend. Repeat offending costs society more than £23.6 billion a year,³ creating more victims and damage to our communities in the process.

The evidence shows us that community orders are more effective at reducing reoffending than short prison sentences. They allow people to maintain jobs, homes and community ties, where they have them – all key to making it less likely that people will commit more crimes.  They can also  reduce reoffending by addressing the underlying causes of offending, providing support and rehabilitation and this should be a future focus for Government.

Community order sentences are particularly effective for people who have a large number of previous offences and people with mental health problems.⁴ Research has demonstrated that being sentenced with an alcohol, drug, or mental health treatment requirement had a more positive effect on reoffending compared with short custodial sentences.⁵

4. What needs to change now?

A phenomenal amount of public funds are being poured into prisons, £6.85 billion in 2023/ 24. Yet there is little evidence this is working to reduce crime.

We need to follow and build on the evidence of what genuinely works to prevent people from committing crime, to reduce reoffending and to help people who are caught up in crime to turn their back on it and rebuild their lives.

It is clear that to ensure the success of any increase in community sentences, we need to see investment in the wider infrastructure and support services around people in the community – that includes the probation service and voluntary sector organisations who provide much needed support and integration.

To support effective community sentences we need to:

• Ensure community sentences have a real focus on the rehabilitation of a person, taking into consideration what each individual needs to prevent them from reoffending in future.Increase the use of Community Sentence Treatment Requirements, to support people to tackle the causes of their offending and support them to build better lives.
• Ensure community orders do not set people up to fail by setting unrealistic restrictions
• Improve the rehabilitative potential of unpaid work so that it supports the development of people’s skills and links to further opportunities. This increases their likelihood of finding work after serving their sentence, in turn reducing their risk of reoffending
• Build on community support models which are effective, such as personal wellbeing services which are linked to Probation and address the barriers to people turning their lives around.
• Develop a network of community hubs to provide holistic wraparound support. Community hubs could offer a ‘one-stop-shop’ where a package of interventions could be delivered as part of people’s rehabilitation activity requirement days. People could access advice and practical support with benefits, health, education, training and employment, including CV writing or interview support. Hubs could also help combat isolation and build positive supportive relationships, including through peer mentoring. This is particularly valuable for lonely and isolated individuals who are low risk but can get trapped in the revolving door of low-level offending and short prison sentences.
• Build the confidence of the public and the judiciary about the effectiveness and suitability of community orders. This means, for example through ensuring Probation have capacity to deliver high quality pre-sentence reports, collecting and sharing impact evidence, and investing in community support services to ensure good community orders are delivered.
• See increased MOJ investment in advanced technology solutions, this includes effective use of IT support to reduce admin pressure on Probation officers and allow them better time to work with people on probation and address the individual.
• Better investment around tagging systems that allow flexibility for individuals to still comply with a curfew but are not prevented from working due to required travel or working hours.
• Investment in the support services and infrastructure around people in the community, including then Probation Service and voluntary sector services.