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<p>There is persuasive evidence indicating that community sentences in general can
be more effective for reducing reoffending than custodial sentences. The Department’s
latest published reoffending statistics (<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/proven-reoffending-statistics"
target="_blank">Proven reoffending statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a>) show that
55% of those released from prison after serving a custodial sentence of less than
twelve months were convicted for a proven offence in the following 12 months. This
compares to 32% of those serving a court order (community sentence or suspended sentence
order) or 24% of those serving a suspended sentence with requirements served in the
community.</p><p>Community Payback completed over 4.7 million hours in 2023 undertaking
work to improve communities, the environment and supporting charities. In 2023, Rapid
Deployment pilots tackling anti-social behaviour hot spots has seen 8,809 hours of
community payback completed and 509 different people involved and given its success
this initiative is being rolled out to areas in all Probation regions.</p><p>A process
evaluation by the Ministry of Justice of Unpaid Work commenced in 2022 to assess what
works in the delivery of Unpaid Work. An impact and economic evaluation comparing
the effectiveness of Unpaid Work to other punitive sentences in reducing reoffending
will report in March 2025.</p>
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