Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

In Clause 12, we are setting out, as I understand it, various guidelines for the court to follow. We are saying in the clause that a community order should not be made unless an offence is punishable with imprisonment. It is not as though that concept is new; it existed in law until, as I understand it, 2003. We say that because we want the Probation Service’s resources to be used for serious offenders in particular and for those who we think may gain from the supervision and training that probation can bring.