September 29, 2004: Intermittent Custody - Here to Stay

Home Secretary David Blunkett has announced the expansion of the use of intermittent custody, which entails prisoners spending either weekends or weekdays in prison and the rest of the week in the community.

The new sentence aims to reduce re-offending by reducing the negative impact of short custodial sentences. It is aimed at offenders whose offences are sufficiently serious to warrant a prison sentence, but who do not present such a risk as to require immediate full-time custody. Under the terms of the sentence - introduced following the Criminal Justice Act 2003 - custody is served intermittently, for a number of days each week. Offenders will spend the remainder of the week under Probation Service supervision in the community, working, looking for employment or undertaking activities such as community work. The new sentence has been piloted since January 2004 in two purpose-built prison units in Lancashire and Lincolnshire.

Commenting on intermittent custody, Mr Blunkett states that it gave more prisoners the chance to stay in their community and their jobs while serving their sentence. He added:

"Already our early pilots show that offenders have been able to keep jobs and small businesses that would have been lost if a sentence of full-time custody had been imposed. It is also helping women offenders with young children by avoiding the break-up of families. At the same time intermittent custody can play a key role by punishing offenders whilst ensuring they undertake programmes to address their behaviour and make reparation to the community - thereby increasing the chance of avoiding a return to crime afterwards."

Those watching the progress of the new National Offender Management Service will be interested in the analysis of Home Office Minister for Correctional Services Paul Goggins:

"Intermittent Custody demonstrates the closer working of the Prison and Probation Services that will be increasingly in evidence over the coming months following the introduction of the National Offender Management Service."