Background
3.On 9 January 2013, the Ministry of Justice published a consultation paper entitled “Transforming Rehabilitation: A revolution in the way we manage offenders”.(1) The document set out the Government’s plans to reduce re-offending by:
	Extending statutory supervision to offenders released from short custodial sentences.
	Competing the delivery of rehabilitation services for offenders at low or medium risk of causing serious further harm;
	Paying providers of these services according to their results in reducing re-offending.
	Creating a public sector National Probation Service to supervise offenders who pose the highest risk of serious further harm.
	Ensuring the new system is responsive to local needs and integrates effectively with the other local partnerships and structures relevant to offenders.
4.The consultation paper proposed a number of reforms to the existing legislation regarding the sentencing and release of offenders, including the introduction of supervision on release for offenders serving custodial sentences of less than 12 months and changes to the requirements available to the court as part of community orders and suspended sentence orders. The consultation concluded on 22 February 2013.
5.The Ministry of Justice published its response to the consultation on 9 May 2013, entitled “Transforming Rehabilitation: A Strategy for Reform”(2) Amongst other things, the response confirmed the Government’s intention to extend statutory supervision in the community to offenders released from short custodial sentences, and to create greater flexibility for providers of probation services to rehabilitate offenders serving community orders or suspended sentence orders.
6.The Act implements the sentencing and release reforms set out in the Government’s response.