Managing Offenders

The Safer Portsmouth Partnership aims to manage offenders in the most effective way. This is done by working with all agencies to share information to deliver four key principles:

Protect the public
Reduce re-offending
Enforcing the orders of the courts
Rehabilitate offenders

The courts are tasked with ordering the most appropriate punishment for the crime; these are based around 12 requirements which are detailed below.

Community Payback is one of those requirements and last year almost 900 offenders from Portsmouth were engaged in community improvement projects as punishment for their crimes. You can find out more about Community Payback at the bottom if this page.

Managing Offenders - 12 Requirements

1. Unpaid Work

Offenders could be required to carry out between 40 and 300 hours, to be completed in 12 months. Each year our teams at Hampshire Probation Trust supervise around 2,400 offenders who carry out approximately 271,000 hours of community projects each year. These include removing graffiti, creating gardens and painting schools. We call this work ‘Community Payback’

2. Specified Activities

This could consist of packages of work on Basic Skills, Employment, Training and Education or include activities leading to reparation, such as Restorative Justice. The number of days specified for the ‘activity’ can be up to 60.

3. Programmes

Programmes aimed at changing offending behaviour. These are Home Office accredited programmes designed to address the attitudes and patterns of behaviour that contribute to offending, such as programmes for sex offenders, domestic abuse perpetrators or those who misuse drugs.

4. Prohibition from certain activities

The offender must refrain from participating in activities on a specified day or days, or during a period set by the Court.

5. Curfew (Usually with electronic monitoring)

The offender must remain for certain periods at a specified place; the Order may last for up to 12 hours a day.

6. Exclusion (usually with electronic monitoring)

The offender may not enter a specified place for a period up to two years.

7. Residence Requirement

The offender must reside at a specified place.

8. Mental Health Treatment

The Court must be satisfied that the mental condition of the offender is such that this kind of treatment is needed and the offender will respond to it. This Requirement can only be given with the consent of the offender.

9. Drug Rehabilitation

The offender is required to have treatment to reduce or eliminate his/her dependency on or tendency to misuse drugs and must provide samples for drug testing on a random basis. This Requirement can only be given with the consent of the offender.

10. Alcohol Treatment

The offender is required to attend treatment to reduce or eliminate dependency on alcohol. This Requirement can only be given with the consent of the offender.

11. Supervision Requirement

Requires the offender to attend additional appointments with Hampshire Probation Trust or another nominated responsible officer. The purpose of supervision is to support the work undertaken through other Requirements.

12. Attendance Centre Requirement (under 25s)

The offender must attend at an Attendance Centre.

Community Payback

Unpaid Work is a sentence available to courts. It is intended as a punishment and also as a means by which offenders can make amends to the community for the harm they have caused. The scheme is known as Community Payback.

The sentence is set by the court at anything between 40 and 300 hours depending on the seriousness of the crime and the offender's record. In Hampshire offenders must work at least seven hours - or one full day - per week, either as part of a group or on a single placement. Community Payback offenders are at work in Hampshire seven days a week. The type of work carried out includes: