"My Government will bring forward legislation to reduce re-offending by improving the management of offenders."

More rigorous community-based sentencing to reduce both reoffending and pressure on prison capacity was the aim of this Home Office Bill.

The Management of Offenders and Sentencing Bill, a legislative response to Patrick Carter’s review “Managing Offenders, Reducing Crime”, would have set up a single service to “punish and rehabilitate offenders in custody and in the community” – in the words of David Blunkett in his statement to the Commons - and would replace short prison sentences with non-custodial sentences and fines. 

The government predicted that the radical proposals could reduce the projected 2009 prison population from 93,000 to 80,000. To achieve this aim, the Bill confirms the government's intention to extend electronic tagging for those on community punishments