Issue 99  20th July 2019

Speaking to prominent criminal justice stakeholders, charities and front-line professionals, the Justice Secretary argued that the tide will only be turned by following an evidence-based approach and tackling the root causes of reoffending. He revealed statistics which show that if all current custodial sentences of less than six months were replaced with community alternatives there would be around 32,000 fewer offences per year – drastically reducing the number of people becoming victims of crime.

Other findings in a number of research documents published today include:

• 64% of those in prison for six months or less have a drug misuse problem, compared with just over a third serving a community order;
• 72% lack the skills and motivation to get or hold down a job, as opposed to 37% serving a community order;
• 60% do not have a stable or suitable place to live; compared with 31% on a community order;
• The total social and economic cost of reoffending England and Wales is now estimated at more than £18.1 billion a year;
• More than half of those costs - some £9.8 billion - are related to theft offences, which are often driven by underlying problems such as substance misuse.

A consultation launched today (17 July), aims to strengthen the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime (Victims’ Code) – a statutory document which sets out the minimum level of service victims can expect from criminal justice agencies, including the police and courts.

The consultation will run from 17 July to 11 September.

Lawyers advising clients in the controversial area of private prosecutions have published a code that aims to improve the standard of prosecutions and increase judicial understanding of the process.

All members of the Private Prosecutors Association (PPA), predominantly lawyers, have committed to abide by the code, but the PPA’s chair, Peters & Peters partner Hannah Laming, told the Gazette: ‘The target audience for the code is all participants in the private prosecution process. This includes private prosecutors, defendants, witnesses and the judiciary.’

The Home Office has pledged £5 million to support the development of innovative technology to help police forces prevent crime. West Midlands Police will receive the grant to conduct further testing on a data analysis system that analyses large volumes of police-held data to assess the risk of someone committing a crime or becoming a victim.

During the first year of testing, the National Data Analytics Solution (NDAS) used police data on knife and gun offences and on those who have previously committed them to identify patterns and common traits among perpetrators. The programme has also drawn on information held in crime reports and intelligence logs on instances of modern slavery to identify common indicators of victims and the networks that help enable this type of crime.

NHS trusts, local councils and police forces are to have a legal duty to help prevent and tackle serious violence, including knife crime. Under plans being announced by the home secretary, public bodies in England and Wales will have to share data, intelligence and knowledge. The public health approach will aim to promote early, targeted intervention. The duty will apply to organisations - not individual workers - following concerns by teachers' unions in April.