1. The fiscal squeeze on justice has tightened in recent years
NOMS departmental expenditure * (*estimated)

2. Public opinion reveals most people are ‘balancers’ on criminal justice
Aspects of justice performance most important to the public (2017)

3. Early intervention deemed one of the best ways to cut crime
Public opinion on the most effective ways of cutting crime (2017)

4. The use of out of court disposals has been declining steadily since 2010
Total number of out of court disposals: 1970 to 2016

5. The majority of sentences handed out by the courts continue to be under 12 months
Proportion of short (<12 months) and long (>12 months) custodial sentence lengths (2017)

6. Most short custodial sentences are handed out for non-serious crimes
Breakdown of short custodial sentences (<12 months) by offence type in 2017

7. Scrapping custodial sentences <12 months in favour of intense community sentences could reduce the male prison population by roughly 8,000
Male offenders: Impact of diversion on the number of short sentences

8. Scrapping custodial sentences <12 months in favour of intense community sentences could reduce the female prison population by roughly 900
Female offenders: Impact of diversion on the number of short sentences