Recommendation 49

The National Audit Office detailed that the number of offenders starting supervision with the Probation Service under a community sentence fell by 44% (from 106,073 to 59,800) between 2012 and 2022, reflecting the decline in imposition of community orders over the same period. 74 The Probation Board of Northern Ireland noticed similar trends in the use of the Community Service Orders. 75 Figure 1: Number of community orders issued every year Source: Ministry of Justice, ‘Criminal justice system statistics quarterly: September 2022—Overview Table Q5.3’ (16 February 2023): https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-statistics-quarterly -september-2022 [accessed 10 October 2023]