UK Bans People With Criminal Records From Football, Travel, Others In New Policy

The UK Government announced on Sunday that people with criminal records will face stricter limits under its new “Plan for Change”.

The measures will ban offenders from going to pubs, concerts, and sporting events, and judges will be given more power to restrict their daily lives through driving bans, travel restrictions, and confinement to specific areas.

It was gathered that the aim is to make community punishments tougher so offenders are discouraged from committing crimes again and are pushed back toward living responsibly.

The new rules will also apply to those leaving prison under the watch of the Probation Service, who will now face tighter controls and expanded drug testing.

“In the future, criminals without known drug habits will face this scrutiny, not just those with a history of substance misuse,” the government stated on its website on Sunday.

“Offenders who break the rules face being brought back to court or hauled back to prison as punishment, depending on the sentence they are serving.”

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the reforms give judges a broader set of punishments to keep communities safe.

“When criminals break society’s rules, they must be punished. Those serving their sentences in the community must have their freedom restricted there, too,” Mahmood was quoted as saying.

“These new punishments should remind all offenders that, under this Government, crime does not pay. Rightly, the public expects the government to do everything in its power to keep Britain safe, and that’s what we’re doing.”

According to the government, judges are currently able to give out limited bans for specific crimes, for example, football bans for crimes committed inside a stadium on match day, to prevent further antisocial behaviour. 

It, however, said it would change the law shortly so that such bans can be handed down as a form of punishment for any offence in any circumstance.

“It will form part of wider reforms to sentencing to ensure punishments cut crime and prisons never again run out of places for dangerous offenders. 

“Over 2,400 prison places have opened since July 2024, with the government investing £7 billion to create a total of 14,000 as the prison population increases. 

“Investment in the Probation Service will also receive a huge boost with an increase of up to £700 million by 2028/29, up from the annual budget of around £1.6 billion today. 

“This week, it was revealed that the number of Probation Officers has increased by seven per cent in the last 12 months, with trainee probation officer numbers also seeing a surge of 15 per cent.

“This follows the government’s commitment to recruit a further 1,300 this year, in addition to the 1,000 trainee probation officers recruited last year.

“New technology, including artificial intelligence, will lighten the administrative burden and free up time for probation staff to increase supervision of the most dangerous offenders and keep the public safe,” the government disclosed on its website.