29 September 2008
Justice Minister David Hanson has launched the Citizens Panels pilot scheme to give communities more say in the type of work offenders carry out in the community.
Citizens Panels will enable members of the public to consult with their local council and probation services to identify work that needs to be carried out in their area to improve public safety and the environment.
The pilots, running in six areas around the country, build on the Community Payback initiative by establishing and encouraging further channels for public consultation, as members of the public will also be able to express their views through neighbourhood forums, which will be operating during the six-month scheme.
Speaking in Leicester at the launch of the Citizens Panels, Justice Minister, David Hanson, said:
'Citizens Panels will put the public at the heart of decision-making in their local communities, allowing them to have more say on the type of work that offenders carry out. Much of the work, as can be seen in Leicester today, is directed towards projects that improve community safety and reduce the likelihood of further offending.
'Building on recommendations in the recent Casey Review, we are strengthening community sentences in the country to make them tough, visible and effective. Just as we are doing more to get criminals to make reparation to the victims, it is only fair that they should pay back to the communities.'
Chief Executive of Leicestershire and Rutland Probation Trust Heather Munro said:
'The Leicestershire and Rutland Probation Trust has been running a project with Leicester City Council that enables residents to suggest schemes of work that can be completed by teams of supervised offenders. Since the partnership project began in April 2007, we have undertaken work at 60 different locations in the city. This is making a real and positive impact on community life in Leicester.'
Citizens Panels are a further step towards making the justice system more accessible to the public following a recent announcement by the Justice Secretary to introduce online records of all court proceedings and the introduction of high visibility jackets for offenders working on community payback.
Notes to editors
1. Probation areas taking part in the pilot scheme are Greater Manchester, Suffolk, Leicester, Hampshire, Wiltshire and North Wales.
2. Community Payback was launched in 2005 to increase public involvement in deciding which projects offenders work on in the local community. The Ministry of Justice's prison policy update paper gave a commitment to build on Community Payback by establishing Citizens Panels to help local communities decide which projects offenders should undertake in their local areas.
3. The Louise Casey report, Engaging Communities in Fighting Crime, found that the public wanted to be given more information about Community Payback work and have a say in what offenders are required to do. 82% of people interviewed thought that people should be informed about the type of work offenders were doing. 58% of the public wanted to have a say in the type of work that should be undertaken; and, of those, 71% said that they would attend a meeting to influence this.
4. The community order, introduced in the Criminal Justice Act 2003, gives sentencers the flexibility to tailor community sentences to the offence and the offender. Within the community order, there are a number of very demanding requirements ranging from regular drug testing, treatment and monitoring to more punitive elements such as curfews and physically demanding unpaid work in the community.
5. For more information please contact the Ministry of Justice press office on 020 3334 3536.