Community Sentences

London Probation works with adult offenders serving their sentence in the community. This could be in the form of a Community Order or if they have been released from prison on Licence.

Community Orders

Offenders sentenced to a Community Order serve their whole sentence in the community, rather than prison. Community Orders as they are now have been in place since the 2003 Criminal Justice Act, and are tailored towards the type of offence committed and the offender's own circumstances.

They are made up of one or more of the following requirements;

Prohibited Activity – the offender must refrain from participating in certain activities on a specified day or days or during a period.

Specified activities – this could consist of packages of work on Skills for Life or include activities whose purpose is that of reparation. The aggregate number of days specified for the activity can be up to 60.

Alcohol treatment – the offender is required to attend treatment to reduce or eliminate dependency on alcohol. This requitement can only be given with the consent of the offender.

Attendance centre requirement (for under 25s) – the offender must attend an attendance centre for between 12 and 36 hours.

Curfew (usually with electronic monitoring) – the offender must remain for certain periods at a specified place.

Drug rehabilitation requirement – the offender is required to have treatment to reduce or eliminate his/her dependency on or propensity to misuse drugs and provide samples for testing whether or not s/he has any drug in his/her body. This requirement can only be given with the consent of the offender. More on Drug Rehabilitation Requirements.

Exclusion (usually with electronic monitoring) – the offender may not enter a specified place for a period.

Mental health treatment – the court must be satisfied that the mental condition of the offender is such that they require treatment. This requirement can only be given with the consent of the offender.

Programme – programmes designed to address the attitudes and patterns of behaviour that contribute to offending, such as programmes for sex offenders or those who misuse drugs. More on programmes.

Residence – the offender must reside at the place specified.

Supervision requirement – requires the offender to attend appointments with a Probation Officer.

Unpaid work – formerly known as Community Service, this involves carrying out unpaid work for the community such as graffiti removal and painting and decorating. More on Unpaid Work.

What combination of requirements is given to an offender depends on the seriousness of the offence, the risk of harm to posed to the public, the risk of re-offending and the offender's individual circumstances.

For example, low-risk offenders who have committed an offence which the court does not consider very serious may be given a Community Order with just one requirement, whereas high-risk offenders being sentenced for a more serious crime could end up with three or more requirements.

Offenders Released on Licence

Unless considered dangerous, offenders sentenced to 12 months or more in prison, who will be released at the halfway point of their sentence, will remain on licence for the remaining period of their sentence.

This means that they must regularly report to London Probation staff, and we must ensure the offender keeps to the condition of their licence. Offenders will be subject to recall if they breach the conditions of their licence. This could result in them being returned to prison.