---

Community Order (Review by Specified Courts) Order 2007

rose to move, That the Grand Committee do report to the House that it has considered the Community Order (Review by Specified Courts) Order 2007. The noble Lord said: The order applies to judges and magistrates sitting at the North Liverpool Community Justice Centre and the Community Justice Courts in the courts named in the order and is subject to affirmative resolution, by virtue of Section 330(5) of the Criminal Justice Act. Section 178 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 provides an order-making power for a court to review periodically offenders’ progress on community orders. This power was enacted for the first community justice courts in Liverpool and Salford on a pilot basis and has been in operation in those courts since April 2006. Article 2 of the order empowers the specified courts to provide for a court review either at the time of making a community order and/or when amending a community order to include or remove a provision for review. A community order providing for review may provide for the community order to be reviewed periodically at specified intervals; require the offender to attend each review hearing; and provide for a report on the offender’s progress in complying with the order to be made available to the court before each review. The community justice initiative involves the courts engaging with the local community and working in partnership with criminal justice agencies, local authorities, support services, community groups and the wider voluntary sector to solve the problems caused by offending in the local area. The review of community orders supports the delivery of key principles of community justice. Reviewing offenders’ progress enables the court to maintain oversight of an offender and increases the offender’s accountability to the court. It also offers the court and support agencies involved further opportunities to support the offender in complying with their order by addressing problems, such as housing or financial difficulties. The review process does not involve significant resource, particularly given the potential savings associated with decreased breach and reoffending. As the power has only been in force in Liverpool and Salford since April 2006, and given that reoffending data need to measured over at least two years, we do not yet have quantitative data available. Our next step will therefore be to carry out a full evaluation with more offenders using a comparison sample of offenders with similar characteristics. Furthermore, this extension of the power to review community orders to the new pilot community justice schemes will provide further data on which to base this. There is, however, already strong evidence from his honour Judge Fletcher, the magistrates in Salford and from offenders themselves that the review process is a powerful mechanism for increasing compliance and enforcement of community sentences. Some examples of the impact that review has had on offenders include a young offender with a history of anti-social behaviour, unemployment, depression and drug abuse who received a suspended sentence with onerous conditions in March 2006. His progress was reviewed regularly by the judge and he successfully completed all unpaid community hours and probation accredited programmes. Another example is a long-term drug addict who—again after regular review—has not only succeeded in beating his addiction but has been promoted to a position of responsibility in the hostel he is living in and has begun to have contact with his family again. An offender interviewed about the review process said, ““I would have gone off the rails and that was what I needed, that short leash. That is why I got my life back in order””. In Liverpool, review sessions have been used to engage offenders in discussions about their plans for the future and to refer them to Jobcentre Plus. For many offenders, this is the first time that such a sustained interest has been shown in their lives, activities and overall wellbeing, and it is apparent that offenders with the most complex needs respond especially positively to the review process. In November 2006, my noble and learned friend Lord Falconer of Thoroton announced that community justice was to be expanded to 11 new areas. The order would extend the power to review community courts to those new projects, which have all enthusiastically asked to be given the opportunity to use the power as part of their projects. The review of community orders is key to community justice. Extending the power to review community orders to the new projects will enable them to support and monitor offenders during their sentence, to reassess the effectiveness of a community order, and to vary it if required. It will enable them to refer offenders, particularly those with a wide range of needs, to appropriate support services. It also sends a message to the community and the offender that community sentences are not a soft option. It is intended that the review process will promote compliance with community orders and prevent reoffending. The extension of the power will also enable a robust evaluation of the operation of the review process, and its effect on compliance and reoffending rates tied in with an in depth review of the impact on reoffending in Liverpool. The results of this evaluation will inform future decisions about the wider roll-out of the power. The provisions of the order have no impact on the rights set out in the European Convention on Human Rights. I beg to move. Moved, That the Grand Committee do report to the House that it has considered the Community Order (Review by Specified Courts) Order 2007 [20th Report from the Statutory Instruments Committee].—(Lord Evans of Temple Guiting.)