Background Part 2: Courts and Justice Section 44: Dealing non-custodially with offenders
58.In March 2012, the Ministry of Justice published a consultation on community sentencing entitled Punishment and Reform: Effective Community Sentences (Cm 8334). The consultation sought views on a set of proposed reforms to the way sentences served in the community operate in England and Wales. The Government announced its response to the consultation on 23 October 2012 (House of Commons, Official Report, column 50WS to 51WS)(24). Amongst other things, the Government announced proposals to: require courts to include a punitive requirement in every community order; make greater use of restorative justice; and introduce a new electronic monitoring requirement. Section 44 and Schedule 16 give effect to these proposals. Proposals in the Government response to Punishment and Reform to allow courts to access information held by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and the Department for Work and Pensions for the purposes of sentencing and enforcing fines are also provided for by Schedule 16 and section 27 respectively.