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Crime and Justice
Crime, Justice, Citizenship and Equalities
Latest news
January 29 2008
Reforming penal policy – a major new drive
A new package of measures to tackle re-offending by getting prisoners off drugs and into work has been unveiled by Labour’s Justice Secretary, Jack Straw.
The measures include: the drawing up of a new contract between offenders and the community, with sanctions for those who break the contract and incentives for those who follow it; an expansion of prison work programmes to give offenders the chance to learn the new skills they need to turn away from crime; an examination of what further steps are needed to control drugs, covering both drug treatment programmes and the supply of drugs in prisons; and a pilot study to examine the concept of introducing a mental health court.
As well as targeting the supply of drugs, the Government is introducing the Integrated Drug Treatment System to a further 20 prisons, while four more drug courts will be built after the success of pilots on west London and Leeds.
March 4 2008
Crackdown on binge drinking
The Government will launch a crackdown on alcohol-fuelled disorder in light of the Review of the Licensing Act published today.
In a written ministerial statement, Culture Secretary Andy Burnham said that the review had produced a "mixed picture" of the impact of extended hours introduced in the Licensing Act in 2003 and that there needed to be a new focus on enforcement of police and local authority powers. Overall crime and alcohol consumption had fallen since 2003 but alcohol-related violence in the early hours of the morning had increased, he said.
Other Pages
Commission Work Programme 2007
Queens Speech November 2006