Judges have lost all faith in community sentences

David Lidington, the justice secretary, wants to stabilise and then reduce the prison population
David Lidington, the justice secretary, wants to stabilise and then reduce the prison population
MARK KERRISON/ALAMY

Ministers are worried at the drop in community sentences being handed down by judges and magistrates.

David Lidington, the justice secretary, is relying on the greater use of community sentences to help to stabilise and then reduce the prison population from its present level of 84,500. However, the number of offenders given community sentences each year has fallen by almost half from 190,000 in 2008 to 102,000 in 2016. Between 2015 and 2016 the number fell by 10 per cent.

There has also been a steady rise in suspended sentences, whereby offenders are jailed if they break the terms of their sentences.

One reason for the fall is concern in the judiciary about a partial privatisation of the probation service under which private Community Rehabilitation