Offenders serving less than one year in prison (i.e. those sentenced to anything less than 24 months imprisonment) are eligible for all activities (subject to other relevant criteria).
Under the new sentencing hierarchy, there are now a wide range of sentencing options available as alternatives to short prison sentences. It is anticipated that a significant number of offenders currently being sentenced to less than one year in prison will, under the new sentencing regime, be sentenced to HD or to community-based sentences.
The amount of time to be served is likely to severely limit the offender's opportunities, so that only the shorter programmes and interventions are available. This means it is very unlikely that these offenders will attend rehabilitative programmes while in prison.
However, they may access reintegrative services and/or undertake reintegrative activities (such as those relating to employment, accommodation or education) where appropriate.
The amount of time to be served is likely to limit their opportunity to access the longest interventions (e.g. those delivered in special treatment units, which can be up to a year long), and may restrict their chances of attending medium length programmes (those taking three to four months to complete).
They will be able to access re-integrative services and/or undertake reintegrative activities (such as those relating to employment, accommodation or education) where appropriate.
Offenders serving a short prison sentence may be subject to release on conditions when they are released from prison. The details of any release on conditions order, including its length and any special conditions, are set by the court at sentencing. A probation officer will include recommendations for release conditions in the pre-sentence report, if a short sentence of imprisonment is recommended or canvassed.
If the offender has completed an appropriate rehabilitative programme while in prison, they will be considered to have completed any relevant special condition of the release on conditions order. If this is not the case, arrangements will be made to refer the offender to an appropriate programme on their release.
The release on conditions order has been designed to be similar to the sentence of supervision. It is estimated that the average length of a release on conditions order will be nine months, and probation officers will be allocated an average of 18 hours to manage each order.
If the anticipated changes in sentencing practice occur, the number of release on conditions orders may reduce. If the number of release on conditions orders reduces significantly, it may be possible to increase the amount of probation officer time (and therefore the intensity of management) of this order.