Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2017 to Question 118989 on community orders, whether his Department has conducted research on the reasons for the decline in the number of community sentences cited in the answer.

The Ministry of Justice collates and monitors statistics produced by relevant agencies, so that it is able to provide commentary in published statistical bulletins. Published statistics have identified several key factors in reduced numbers of community sentences, as stated in previous Answers.