Opponents of a plan to name and shame people sentenced to unpaid work have welcomed the Government’s decision to drop it.
The proposal formed Clause 35 of the Sentencing Bill. It covered people convicted of minor offences and ordered to work without pay on community projects. The Probation Service would have publicised their names and photographs, which might also have appeared in local newspapers.
Criminal justice charities and trade unions opposed the measure. On 6 January, the Prisons Minister, Lord Timpson, spoke in the House of Lords. He said the Government would accept an amendment from opposition peers to remove the clause. The rest of the Bill has now cleared both the Commons and the Lords.
Martin Jones, the Chief Inspector of Probation, said he had raised his own concerns. “I have expressed my concerns about seeking to name and shame people undertaking unpaid work, particularly when the evidence shows that reintegration back into communities and employment are key to preventing reoffending. Therefore I am reassured to see this amendment has been accepted, and would welcome its final agreement as the Sentencing Bill is taken forward,” he said.
Ian Lawrence, General Secretary of the National Association of Probation Officers, pointed to the safety of probation staff. “We welcome the change in light of the serious assaults on probation staff and the additional risks the new proposals would have posed to staff and clients,” he said.
The Prison Advice and Care Trust (PACT) led a campaign by charities against Clause 35. It also welcomed the decision. The charity said it now looked forward to the Bill becoming law. It singled out the expansion of community sentences, which it said work better than prison sentences.
Andrew Neilson speaks for the Howard League for Penal Reform as its Director of Campaigns. He said the charity had told Parliament in its briefings that the measure was needlessly harsh. “It not only threatened to be a barrier to rehabilitation but could also have led to unintended problems not just for the individuals on unpaid work, but also for their immediate family members – especially their children,” he said.
Shabana Mahmood, then the Justice Secretary, announced the policy in September last year. She did so as she published the Sentencing Bill, which also cuts the time most prisoners will spend in custody before release. At the time, the Ministry of Justice argued that the step would show the public that justice was working. It said it would also make community payback more visible and transparent.
Lord Timpson told peers he had listened carefully and recognised the issues raised. He said unpaid work, supported by other parts of the Bill, would stay tough and visible enough without the clause.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said community punishment worked and led to far lower reoffending rates. The spokesperson said the Bill would make community sentences tougher still, through more tagging and restriction zones. Unpaid work, the spokesperson added, would ensure offenders gave something back to the communities they had harmed.
I have expressed my concerns about seeking to name and shame people undertaking unpaid work, particularly when the evidence shows that reintegration back into communities and employment are key to preventing reoffending. Therefore I am reassured to see this amendment has been accepted, and would welcome its final agreement as the Sentencing Bill is taken forward.
Martin Jones, HM Chief Inspector of Probation
