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Home Office

Answer

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what assessment his Department has made of the public's attitude to prison and its alternatives; [213357] (2) if he will institute a major public education campaign about community penalties; [213349] (3) if his Department will establish a media marketing campaign to promote alternatives to prison; [213348] (4) how his Department promotes alternatives to prison; and if he will make a statement on the value of those alternatives. [213347] Paul Goggins: The Home Office conducts an assessment of public attitudes to prison and its alternatives through its own research, including the British Crime Survey, as well as through the consideration of other research and representations. While prison is the right place for serious and dangerous offenders, community sentences can be an effective alternative to short-term imprisonment for less serious offenders. We have made community sentences both tough and demanding while providing the opportunity for offenders to pay something back directly to the community. There is a national visibility scheme in place to identify community work done by offenders. The `Clean-Up Week' campaign, launched on 14 March, involved thousands of people in deciding which local projects should be undertaken by offenders. These included cleaning up prominent eyesores and enhancing the local environment as part of their community sentence. Publicity about the new sentences introduced this month under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 provides an opportunity for further information to be given to the public about the range of sentences available to the court and the need to target them effectively so as to reduce reoffending, protect the public and increase public confidence in the criminal justice system.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

432 c1507-8W;432 c1503-4W; 213357;213349;213348;213347

Session

2004-05

Subjects

Alternatives to prison Publicity Public opinion Sentencing Community orders

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk