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<p>The Government has no plans to publish an assessment of the implications of this
publication, as the findings of the College of Policing’s report entitled ‘Imprisonment
and other custodial sanctions’ support the findings of Ministry of Justice research.</p><p>A
2019 MoJ analysis of a matched cohort of over 30,000 offenders shows that those who
serve sentences of immediate custody of less than 12 months reoffend at a rate higher
than similar offenders given community orders and suspended sentence orders by the
courts</p><p>Our statistics suggest that 55% of people given a custodial sentence
of less than 12 months are convicted for further crimes. For offenders punished with
Suspended Sentence Orders with requirements that are served in the community, the
reoffending rate is significantly lower at 24%.</p><p>Based on this evidence, the
Government introduced the presumption to suspend short sentences as part of the Sentencing
Bill, currently before Parliament. This measure will place a duty on the courts to
suspend custodial sentences of 12 months or less. Offenders will then serve their
sentence in the community and will be required to comply. When the court imposes a
suspended sentence, they can impose requirements on the offender and the sentencing
framework provides a flexible range of requirements, such as unpaid work, drug and
alcohol treatment, curfew, and electronic monitoring, with the intention of punishing
the offender, providing reparation to the community, and addressing any criminogenic
or rehabilitative needs of the offender which may otherwise increase the likelihood
of their reoffending.</p>
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