NATIONAL charities and social enterprises will run non-custodial punishments for offenders in North Yorkshire and try to rehabilitate them under radical Government changes to the probation service.

Justice Secretary Chris Grayling announced the plans which will see the partnership Purple Futures, headed by private company Interserve, deal with low and medium risk offenders.

It expects to have a caseload of about 10,000 offenders in North Yorkshire, Humberside and Lincolnshire every year.

The partnership will work both with people given community orders and those released from prison.

It includes the housing charity Shelter, a drug and alcohol treatment charity called Addaction and P3, a charity and social enterprise which helps people with complex social needs intergrate better with their community.

All operate nationally, as does Interserve which provides a wide range of services to many local and national governmental organisations. A social enterprise in the partnership, 3SC, will work with the voluntary sector as part of the partnership.

Interserve CEO Adrian Ringrose, said: "It's an exciting prospect. Probation and rehabilitation services have always been embedded within local communities. By working closely with local businesses, voluntary agencies, local authorities and the police, which are all critical to successful public protection and rehabilitation, we believe we can make a real difference."

Purple Futures will now negotiate a seven-year contract with the Ministry of Justice to provide non-custodial punishments such as community payback where offenders have to work free for the community for a certain number of hours, and rehabilitation programmes, such as setting up new social enterprises to provide employment for offenders and ex-offenders. The new service is expected to be launched early next year.

Mr Grayling announced that Purple Futures had become the "preferred" and now only bidder for the area including North Yorkshire in a written ministerial statement.