§ Sir David Priceasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has any reliable measure of the respective effectiveness of deterrence of the non-custodial sentences available to the courts.
§ Mr. MellorThere is no reliable measure of the deterrent effect on potential offenders generally of the existence of a particular sentence. With regard to the offender on whom a particular sentence is passed the best available measure of the deterrent effect is the rate of subsequent reconviction. A study undertaken by the Home Office statistical department reported in "Previous Convictions, Sentence and Reconviction"—Home office Research Study No. 53 — showed that non-custodial measures are generally followed by a lower rate of reconviction than custodial sentences. However, the factors most closely related to subsequent reconviction are age on conviction and the number of previous convictions. When allowance is made for these factors, it does not 425W appear that any particular non-custodial measure is in general more or less effective in terms of deterrence than others.