Recommendation 66

Despite all the advantages of community orders, their use has been declining in recent years. Various explanations were brought forward. The negative impact of the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms persists—sentencers lost confidence in the ability of Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs, to whom the management of low-risk offenders was outsourced) to enforce community orders. Trust in community sentences is progressively being restored after the Probation Service unified in 2021, putting an end to the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms.