Probation Reform

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:41 pm on 16 May 2019.

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Photo of David Gauke David Gauke The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice 12:41, 16 May 2019

That is a very interesting point and certainly something that I am keen to explore. The Chairman of the Justice Committee has hit the nail on the head: sentencer confidence is key. It is well known that there is support across the House for trying to move away from short custodial sentences that appear to be ineffective when it comes to rehabilitation. If we are to move away from that, we need to ensure that we have robust alternatives—robust community sentences—available, and we need to build the confidence for that and this plays a part in achieving exactly that.