MoJ launches ‘Intensive Supervision Courts’ pilot to tackle substance misuse

Article summary

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has launched a pilot programme of ’Intensive Supervision Courts’ in Liverpool and Teesside to force offenders to either reform their behaviour or face imprisonment. This has come as part of a tougher community sentencing approach aimed at tackling the root cause of offenders’ behaviour, in order to reduce the reoffending rate. Under the new scheme, which will also be launched with a focus on women in Birmingham, offenders will be ordered to attend regular review meetings to check they are abiding by the requirements of their community sentence. They will receive ‘intense supervision’ from the Probation Service, and will have support accessing education, employment, and housing, as well as specialist drug and alcohol addiction treatment. Failure to engage, continued substance misuse or refusal to attend the follow-up meetings with the judge could result in the offender facing increased drug testing, or being sent to prison. This pilot was made possible following the...