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11 Jan 2005 : Column 351W—continued
Probation Service
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what plans he has to second offender managers from local probation services to work for regional offender managers; and if he will make a statement; [203830]
(2) what plans he has for offender managers employed by probation areas in England and Wales to work for regional offender managers via service level agreements; and if he will make a statement. [203831]
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Paul Goggins: Various options relating to the transfer of responsibility for Offender Managers are under consideration. A decision will be announced in due course.
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total number of (a) staff, (b) probation officers, (c) Probation Service officers and (d) local support staff working in the Probation Service in England and Wales was on (i) 1 April 2001, (ii) 1 April 2002, (iii) 1 April 2003, (iv) 1 April 2004 and (v) 30 September 2004. [201622]
Paul Goggins: The information requested is as follows.
(101) Figures shown as FTE.
(102) Prior to April 2003, all data were collected by the Home Office RDS Unit in December of each year, and therefore no actual data are available for April 2001 and 2002. Actual data collection date of the data from 2003 onwards is 31 March.
(103) Figures include Senior Probation Officers, Senior Practitioners, Probation Officers, Trainee Probation Officers.
(104) Figures include all other staff employed within the Probation Service excluding those listed in 3 above and Probation Service Officers.
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many vacancies there were in the Probation Service on (a) 1 April 2001, (b) 1 April 2002, (c) 1 April 2003, (d) 1 April 2004 and (e) 30 September 2004. [201623]
Paul Goggins: The information requested is as follows:
(105) Figures shown as FTE.
(106) Prior to April 2003, all data were collected by the Home Office RDS Unit in December of each year, and therefore no actual data are available for April 2001 and 2002. Actual data collection date of the data from 2003 onwards is 31 March.
(107) Figures quoted for April 2003 and April 2004 are net vacancy levels. This figure takes into account any areas where staff may have been recruited over-establishment at one level to cover vacancies at another level. This may be necessary where difficulties arise in recruitment into these posts.
(108) From April 2004 onwards, the vacancy information collected changed and reflected those vacancies that areas were actively recruiting staff into.
(109) Vacancy information not collected at this time.
(110) Vacancy figures are calculated against a notional complement of staff.
(111) Figures issued prior to publication and may alter slightly when published in Issue 05 of the Workforce Information Report due to some outstanding queries awaiting responses.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many days sick were taken on average per employee in the National Probation Service during (a) 2003–04 and (b) April to September 2004. [203869]
Paul Goggins: The average number of days absent due to sickness per member of staff in the National Probation Service in each of the years since 2003–04 is shown in the table.
| Average days of absence due to sickness | |
|---|---|
| 2003–04 | 12.3 |
| 2004–05 (April-September) | 11.5 |
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department by how much Basic Skills Commencements for the National Probation Service changed (a) during 2003–04 and (b) between April to September 2004. [203870]
Paul Goggins: The performance of the National Probation Service on basic skills commencements in 2003–04 and between April and September 2004–05 is shown in the table. It shows a 22 percentage point increase between the two periods based on the proportion of the target delivered in each period.
| 2003–04 | April to September 2004–05 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic Skills | Target | Achieved | Target | Achieved | Percentage point change |
| Commencements | 16,000 | 14,971 (94%) | 11,520 | 13,353(116%) | +22% |
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Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of victims were contacted by the National Probation Service during the required timescale during (a) 2003–04 and (b) April to September 2004. [203871]
Paul Goggins:
The National Probation Service contacted 91 per cent. of victims within the required timescale in 2003–04 and 93 per cent. within the required timescale in the first quarter of 2004–05. This is against a target of 85 per cent.
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Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the performance of the National Probation Service on (a) Basic Skills Awards and (b) Basic Skills Commencements against its targets improved (i) during 2003–04 and (ii) between April and September 2004. [203873]
Paul Goggins: The performance of the National Probation Service on basic skills awards and commencements in 2003–04 and between April and September 2004 is shown in the table which demonstrates a significant improvement between the two periods.
Ross Cranston: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of probation areas (a) met and (b) exceeded the 90 per cent. breach target within 10 days in each year since 2001; and what progress the National Probation Service has made on breach targets since April 2001. [204121]
Paul Goggins: The proportion of areas meeting or exceeding the 90 per cent. target to breach within 10 working days those offenders that have breached the conditions of their orders or licenses is shown in the table.
| Number of areas | Percentage of areas | |
|---|---|---|
| 2001–02 | 1 | 2 |
| 2002–03 | 6 | 14 |
| 2003–04 | 13 | 31 |
| 2004–05 (April-September) | 22 | 52 |
Ross Cranston: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many probation areas exceeded their profile targets in respect of accredited programmes between April and September 2004. [204122]
Paul Goggins: The number of probation areas exceeding their profiled target of accredited programme completions between April and September 2004 was 18 out of 42 areas.
Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average number of days of sick leave absence was for Probation staff in England and Wales (a) in 2003–04 and (b) for the first six months of 2004–05, broken down by (i) long-term and (ii) short-term sickness. [204130]
Paul Goggins: The average number of days absent due to sickness per member of staff in the National Probation Service in 2003–04 and for the first six months of 2004–05 is shown in the table.
| Short term | Long term | DDA-related | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003–04 | 6.2 | 5.8 | 0.3 | 12.3 |
| 2004–05 (April-September) | 5.3 | 6.0 | 0.3 | 11.5 |
Note:
DDA = Disability Discrimination
Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what change there has been in the rate of absence due to sickness in the Probation Service in England and Wales in the last three years. [204131]
Paul Goggins: The average number of days absent due to sickness per member of staff in the National Probation Service in each of the years since 2002–03 is shown in the table.
| Average days sickness absence | |
|---|---|
| 2002–03 | 11.9 |
| 2003–04 | 12.3 |
| 2004–05 (April to September) | 11.5 |
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consultation will occur with stakeholders before further restructuring of the Probation Service in England and Wales is put in place. [204889]
Paul Goggins: Consultation with all stakeholders, including staff, will continue as part of the development of the National Offender Management Service. There are no specific consultation exercises planned at the present time.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many vacancies there are at each grade in each probation area in England and Wales at the latest date available. [204893]
Paul Goggins:
The information requested is as follows.
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Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether a Business Case has been commissioned in respect of the purchaser/provider model which has been advanced for the National Probation Service. [205711]
Paul Goggins: The detailed Business Case for the National Offender Management Service Change Programme, which is currently being prepared, will include a full explanation of any proposed purchaser/provider model.
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the change was in the performance of the National Probation Service against its performance measures on (a) compliance, including orders which are allowed to continue and (b) offender behaviour programmes (i) during 2003–04 and (ii) between April and September. [206150]
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Paul Goggins: (a) Compliance. The tables set out the compliance figures achieved by the National Probation Service in 2003–04 and in April to September 2004.
Compliance was originally defined as the proportion of orders with no second unacceptable failure to comply (no third in licence cases). The results on this basis for 2003–04 and April-September 2004 are shown in Tables 1 and 2 for (a) orders and licences combined and (b) for orders alone. Both show that compliance has improved by three percentage points in 2004–05 compared to the previous year.
Since May 2004, compliance has been measured on a wider definition that includes orders which have been allowed to continue by the courts following breach action by the NPS. Columns (c) and (d) of Table 2 show the results to the end of September. On this basis, NPS is exceeding the target of 70 per cent., having achieved 79 per cent. compliance for orders and licences combined and 76 per cent. for orders alone.
(b) Offending Behaviour Programmes. The tables set out the number of completions of offending behaviour programmes achieved by the National Probation Service during 2003–04 and in April to September 2004. These are set against the monthly profiled targets (i.e. the number of completions expected at the end of each month). The data is presented cumulatively to show progress towards the annual target which was 15,000 in each year.
Mr. Gerrard:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the National Probation Service met its performance measure on Enhanced
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Community Punishment during the period April to September; and how performance compared with the target set for that period. [206151]
Paul Goggins: The National Probation Service (NPS) has set an annual target of 30,000 Enhanced Community Punishment (ECP) completions for 2004–05. Between April and September 2004–05 the NPS achieved 17,158 ECP completions which, against a profiled target of 11,850 represents a performance against target of 148 per cent.
Mr. Gerrard:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the change was in the performance of the
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National Probation Service against its performance measure on drug treatment and testing order commencements between April and September. [206152]
Paul Goggins: The National Probation Service (NPS) has set an annual target of 13,000 Drug treatment and Testing Orders (DTTOs) for 2004–05. In 2003–04, the target was 9,000 and the NPS achieved 8,519 (just 5 per cent. short of the target). Between April and September 2004–05 the NPS achieved 4,847 DTTO commencements which, against a profiled target of 6,078 represents a performance against target of 80 per cent. The table shows the monthly cumulative performance against target for 2004–05.
| Awards | April 2003 | May 2003 | June 2003 | July 2003 | August 2003 | September 2003 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actual | 812 | 1,579 | 2,390 | 3,201 | 4,009 | 4,847 |
| Profile | 926 | 1,856 | 2,861 | 4,003 | 5,017 | 6,078 |
| Percent | 88 | 85 | 84 | 80 | 80 | 80 |
| Awards | October 2003 | November 20 03 | December 20 03 | January 2003 | February 2004 | March 2004 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actual | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Profile | 7,259 | 8,320 | 9,405 | 10,432 | 11,596 | 13,000 |
| Percent | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the change was in the drug treatment and testing order target for the National Probation Service from 2003–04 to 2004–05. [206153]
Paul Goggins: The commencement target for Drug Treatment and Testing Orders (DTTOs) across the National Probation Service increased from 9,000 orders in 2003–04 to13,000 orders (including 1,000 of the new lower intensity variant) in 2004–05. In addition, a completion target for 2004–05 of 35 per cent. was introduced from April 2004.
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