Community service almost doubled - probation chief

Mike Cutland said he believed a rise in orders meant the courts had "confidence" in the service

The number of community service hours carried out by offenders has almost doubled in a year, Jersey's chief probation officer has said.

Mike Cutland, from the Probation and After-Care Service, said community service orders led to the completion of more than 16,000 hours of unpaid work in 2024, worth more than £180,000 - up from 8,700 hours in 2023.

Community service orders are an alternative to a custodial sentence and give the person an opportunity to make amends for their offending.

Mr Cutland said he believed the rise in probation and community service orders meant the courts had "confidence" in the service's work.

'Make a recommendation'

The response to a Freedom of Information request revealed there were 76 probation orders and 124 community service orders in 2024, up from 67 and 113 in 2023 respectively.

The Government of Jersey website says offenders given probation orders work with supervising officers to change their behaviour.

Mr Cutland said: "We work very closely with the courts, we provide pre-sentence reports that advise them about a person's circumstances and then we make a recommendation of how we feel we can assist that person.

"If we see a rise in probation orders, I think and I hope it means that the courts feel they can have confidence in the service in supervising that person effectively."

In 2023 and 2024, the service found the main contributory factors for offending adults were alcohol misuse, emotional instability and relationship problems.

Mr Cutland said probation orders helped people reflect on their lifestyle choices and to "make some changes" to reduce their risk of reoffending.

Richard Mann, from the Salvation Army, said support from those on probation had "been a game changer", including helping in its therapeutic gardens

"Nearly 80% of probation orders have been successfully completed and nearly 90% of community service orders," he said.

"We are really encouraged by those figures because what it shows is that we are having an impact on offending rates and we're helping people really to lead more law abiding lives."

He added the service was "not seeing any rise in re-conviction" and that rehabilitation was at the forefront of its work.

In 2023, the services' report said there was a high staff turn-over and recruitment difficulties.

Mr Cutland said government investment had since been supporting its services to hire and support trainee probation officers.

'Good project'

One of the charities that has benefitted from the unpaid work over the past five years is the Salvation Army.

It said the service had helped maintain its therapeutic gardens in Gorey which were used to support islanders with learning disabilities.

Richard Mann, co-leader of the organisation, said the support had "been a game changer for us".

"It's the community service support that we get that really makes that a sustainable and good project.

"The support they give has just transformed it, things like making the site more friendly for people with mobility issues.

'Valued and appreciated'

"Whenever we need it, the support is always there and wanting to help."

Mr Mann said although the work was provided for free, it was always important to thank people for their work.

He said: "We want to show them that they're seen, they're valued and they're appreciated.

"Even though it's unpaid, it actually makes a difference to peoples' lives, so valuing everyone that supports our service is really important to us."