Sheffield is set to be the first city in the region, and one of the first in the country, to test out Community Justice panels.

The aim of the panels is to allow members of the public to have a greater say in how to punish low-level offenders.
In a first pilot scheme in Somerset, only three per cent of offenders who took part went on to reoffend.

Under the scheme, both adult and young offenders who want to avoid a criminal record will have to explain their actions to their victims in front of community volunteers.

The offenders, who will usually have committed crimes for the first time, must admit their guilt, apologise and sign a "community justice agreement".

Together, the victim and offender would then agree a course of reparation. If this is successfully completed, the case is closed and, if not, the case would then progress through the courts in the usual manner.

If the offender does not carry out the reparations as agreed, they would also be sent back to court.

Sheffield Council's Cabinet member for housing and safer communities, Coun Bob McCann, said the panels would support the present justice system but at a "more local and personal" level.

He said: "Anti-social behaviour and crime are top concerns for local people. Now this is a real chance for victims of crime to have their say and for restorative justice to be seen to be done.

"It will make victims and communities central to the justice process and go a long way to making offending less likely to happen again."

The success of the Somerset scheme caused the Attorney General Lord Goldsmith to call for more panels to be rolled out across the country.

In August last year, a delegation of councillors and officers from Sheffield Council travelled to Somerset to see the panels in action and, as a result, proposed setting up the scheme in two Sheffield neighbourhoods.

If the pilot scheme for the Ecclesfield and Broomhill "safer neighbourhood areas" goes ahead in May and is proved successful, the scheme could be rolled out across the rest of the city in 2010.

A decision on whether to proceed with the Sheffield scheme will be made at a city council Cabinet committee meeting next Wednesday.