6. Memorandum submitted by
CLINKS
Points on Voluntary Sector for HASC hearing on
NOMS
1. The voluntary sector is large and varied
with a few large national bodies (NACRO/ SOVA/Rainer/Crime Concern)
but many more small local organisations. The sector also includes
large organisations in the housing, education, training and employment
field whose service users are not primarily offenders. It is difficult
therefore to give a clear voluntary and community sector view.
CLINKS is consulting its members in advance of responding to the
consultation.
2. The sector is committed to a vibrant
mixed economy of services for offenders . Voluntary sector organisations
already work in partnership with probation services. In many cases
they work on the basis of contracts but for many organisations
the notion of partnership is an important one which is threatened
by the overtly market approach being proposed. Partnership means
the sector is involved in devising the agenda as well as providing
the services. The voluntary sector is more than a supplier. The
mixed economy could be achieved in other ways—as in the
past when probation were required to spend 7% of their budget
on partnership work.
3. It is not clear what appetite there will
be for voluntary organisations to bid to undertake core probation
activities like report writing, assessment and supervision of
high risk offenders. Setting up competitions for this work is
much less important to most in the sector than further developing
projects to address reoffending and reintegration.
4. There are a lot of questions about who
will be commissioning the services. The ROM or the Probation Trust?.
If the former, small voluntary organisations may struggle in the
market. They may be forced to expand or die . But neither are
probation trusts required to have any local representation. Their
existence depends only on winning business. Will small distinctive
local organisations doing innovative work help them do that? There
is not much reassurance for such organisations in the consultation
paper. There may be a lot of practical questions (about information
exchange etc) which become more difficult if the core probation
functions are fragmented.
5. The NOM should probably retain some
budget to fund new , innovative projects of potential national
significance in the sector.
Rob Allen
Chair of CLINKS
November 2005
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