§ 2. Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress he has made in the development of community project participation as a type of non-custodial penalty.
§ The Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Mark Carlisle)At the beginning of the year my right hon. Friend set up a working group to consider the practical issues raised by the proposal for community service by offenders and what form of arrangements seems best suited to give effect to it.
§ Mr. MeacherDoes the hon. and learned Gentleman acknowledge that community service is a far more satisfactory alternative than sheer custodiality for very many offenders? Has the hon. and learned Gentleman any estimate of the proportion of first offenders currently in prison who could be more satisfactorily dealt with in this way, and will he say for how many of them such schemes are planned for operation in the next five years?
§ Mr. CarlisleI cannot at the moment give an estimate of the kind for which the hon. Gentleman asks. The idea of community service in principle is extremely attractive. That is why we have set up a working party to look at the practical difficulties involved.