The National Probation Service: the supervision of community orders in England and Wales : Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General / National Audit Office, 31 JANUARY 2008
PDF - http://www.nao.org.uk/publications/nao_reports/07-08/0708203.pdf
HC 203 2007-2008
"This report shows how the effective delivery of community order sentences could be improved to secure the full benefits of the scheme by the National Probation Service. Not all components of community orders are used in all probation areas, and there is incomplete data on the cost of orders and the number of offenders who have not completed all aspects of their orders, and there are long waiting lists for some group rehabilitation programmes. The NAO also found that community orders offer benefits such as enabling offenders to stay with their families and in work, and avoid additional pressure on the prison estate by reducing reoffending. Early data show the actual reconviction rate for community orders is 3.6 per cent better than the predicted reconviction rate. However, more research is needed on the effectiveness of some order requirements, such as supervision, in reducing reconviction."
Final Report: Costing of Community Order Requirements / NAO, 31 January 2008
PDF - http://www.nao.org.uk/publications/nao_reports/07-08/0708203_I.pdf
Accenture
A Synthesis of literature on the effectiveness community orders / NAO, 31 January 2008
PDF - http://www.nao.org.uk/publications/nao_reports/07-08/0708203_II.pdf
Robert Davis, Jennifer Rubin, Lila Rabinovich, Beau Kilmer, Paul Heaton
RAND Europe