ABSTRACT

Since the publication of the Carter Review (Carter 2003), policy for the delivery of community correctional services in England and Wales has begun to move towards a new phase of privatisation. Carter envisaged a streamlined correctional service contracting for treatment services on a large scale, with the role of the probation service relegated to purchasing of programmes, and assessment, referral and enforcement in relation to the individuals passing through them. Much of the response to this proposal has concerned the impact on the probation service in terms of staffing, maintenance of service quality and morale. Surprisingly few have reflected for long on the implications of such a project on potential voluntary sector programme providers. In particular, the question whether the voluntary sector wants to become a key player in the delivery of community-based punishment, as it is currently conceived in policy terms, has been quite studiously overlooked.