Editorial: Community sentences are no soft touch

It's a fascinating insight that seems to back up a National Audit Office report in January that said ISSPs are more constructive and cheaper than custody for persistent young offenders. Older forms of community sentences such as curfew orders are difficult to enforce. But the ISSP option may persuade a magistrate inclined towards custody to consider a community-based alternative. While ISSPs are expensive compared with other community sentences, they are a quarter of the cost of custody.

Modern tagging technology makes it possible to know a young person's whereabouts. Breaches do occur, and, for the system to retain its credibility, these breaches must be acted on fast. But there has to be an element of understanding as well. Joe was nine minutes late home once and quickly got a call from Securicor asking him where he had been. However, this approach doesn't always filter through to the courts, where a breach is a breach and custody is the outcome.