Conditional Cautions

James Brokenshire
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the trial to assess different models of conditional cautions in seven criminal justice areas.

Mr. Sutcliffe
Plans to establish new models for conditional cautioning were announced in the Respect Action Plan launched in January 2006. These new models involve the offender undertaking unpaid (reparative) work—to make good the damage they have caused to the local community that has suffered. In this way, offenders give something back to the community to repair the harm they have caused. The pilots are now starting in Durham, Lancashire, Merseyside, North Wales, South Yorkshire, Thames Valley and West Mercia, and will run until December 2007. A decision on whether to expand the scheme will be taken early next year.