A new kind of court based on a system of punishment pioneered in Texas will be rolled out across the country, the Ministry of Justice has announced.
Intensive Supervision Courts are aimed at tackling the root causes of “less serious” crime that is driven by offenders with substance abuse or trauma issues.
As part of the intensive supervision regime, offenders found guilty of committing crimes such as theft against a backdrop of drug addiction or another core issue are required to attend necessary treatments and regularly appear before the same judge to track their behaviour.
The MoJ said that criminals who fail to keep to their allotted programme of treatmen will face tough consequences including time in prison.
Pilots of the Intensive Supervision Courts model in Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool and Teesside have seen more than 200 offenders receive tough supervision to support them to change their lives.
The MoJ said a recent evaluation of the scheme showed “clear evidence” that the model worked. It said offenders with significant addiction issues received a clean drug test two-thirds of the time and were sanctioned for bad behaviour less than a quarter of the time.
Prisons minister James Timpson said the Texas model could make a key contribution to breaking patterns of lower-level crime.
“Drug and alcohol addiction fuels much of the crime we see, and we won’t cut crime until repeat offenders face up to their behaviour,” Lord Timpson said.
“Intensive Supervision Courts demand more than a short prison stay; they demand real work. As part of our Plan for Change, we are increasing the number of these courts, which will see prolific offenders doing the hard work to turn their lives around under vigorous supervision and held accountable for their actions.”
Pavan Dhaliwal, chief executive of the Revolving Doors charity, said Intensive Supervision Courts offered the opportunity to tackle unmet health and social needs that trap people in cycles of offending.
“There is promising evidence of such success in the existing pilot areas,” she said. “So a further expansion of ISCs is a welcome step towards the wraparound support which is key to tackling the root causes of offending and breaking the cycle of crisis and crime.”
The MoJ said that the rollout of Intensive Supervision Courts would be funded from a £700m increase in the budget of the Probation Service announced by justice secretary Shabana Mahmood in May.
The department did not specify how many Intensive Supervision Courts there would be as a result of the rollout.