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<p>The decision to impose a custodial sentence of any length is for the court in the
individual case, following the law and sentencing guidelines. There will be cases
where the court decides a short custodial sentence is the only sentence that is appropriate,
for example, where the offender displays a pattern of re-offending. In response to
the high reoffending rates of offenders, changes introduced in the Offender Rehabilitation
Act 2014 ensure that offenders given short sentences now receive supervision and support
on release for a period of twelve months. We are monitoring the effect that those
provisions have on reoffending rates.</p>
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