Community sentencing - reducing reoffending, changing lives: cutting crime in our communities / Ministry of Justice, 3 June 2008
PDF - http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/community-sentencing.pdf
"Prison is necessary to punish offenders and protect the public from serious sexual and violent offenders. The Government will always ensure there are places available for those offenders. But it is not necessarily the best route for less serious offenders who may lose their job, their accommodation and their family ties after a short period of imprisonment. Avoiding these issues cuts the likelihood of reoffending on release, and in doing so cuts crime."