§ Mr. WinnickTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how he plans to respond to the Third report of the Home Affairs Committee of session 1997–98 into Alternatives to Prison Sentences (HC 486).[63052]
§ Mr. StrawThis is a useful and constructive report and the Government's detailed response to it is being published today.
The report makes a large number of observations and recommendations. It says that community sentences can and should be rigorous and that, if they are to be credible, they must be enforced stringently. The Government endorse that view as our response indicates. The report also welcomes many of the measures which the Government have already taken to extend the range and flexibility of community sentences and to ensure that intervention takes place at an earlier stage, especially when dealing with juvenile crime.