Submitted by: Sevenoaks Branch 

The National Council of Women in Conference assembled, affirming the importance of developing community-based penalties for offenders of all age groups, calls upon the Home Secretary: (a) to maintain support for the probation Service and for supervised probation Orders as an essential part of the criminal justice system; (b) to consult with the Central Probation Council regarding changes to Officer training, in order to maintain high and consistent national standards for the probation Service; and (c) to ensure that adequate staffing and funding underpins new proposals for strengthening punishment in the community.  

Reaffirmed 1998