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8 Dec 2009 : Column 277W—continued

Sexual Offences: Rehabilitation

Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the timeliness of the delivery of (a) internet sex offender programmes and (b) community sex offender programmes against scheduled delivery timetables in each probation area in each of the last three years. [303934]

Mr. Straw: Delivery for the completion of sex offender treatment programmes (SOTP) is scheduled against annual targets. Targets for the number of completions of SOTP have been negotiated and agreed locally between Probation Areas or Trusts and the NOMS regional (and Wales) offices since 2007-08. In 2006-07 there were no area-level targets for SOTP completions, only a national target. Monthly milestones for delivery throughout the year are also agreed locally. These targets cover the overall provision of SOTP and are not broken down by the programme type.

The targets are included in the Service Level Agreements (or contracts for Probation Trusts) setting out the agreed level of service delivery for each financial year and are signed off by the Regional Offender Manager or now the Director of Offender Management. Performance relative to targets and milestones is assessed quarterly through the Integrated Probation Performance Framework (IPPF), which provides the basis for the published provider ratings.

Sex offender treatment programmes are delivered as a requirement of either a community sentence or release on a post-custodial licence. They are delivered alongside a supervision requirement, which is overseen by an Offender Manager. Supervision commences as soon as the offender is sentenced or released from custody and involves assessment of risk and treatment needs in addition to sentence planning and preparing the offender to engage in treatment. Other measures designed to protect the public may also be put in place, such as Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA). Supervision requirements for sex offenders are usually longer (up to three years) in order to allow sufficient time for treatment to be completed.

The following table sets out the actual delivery of accredited sex offender treatment programme completions against targets for each probation area since 2006-07.

8 Dec 2009 : Column 278W

Probation sex offender treatment programme delivery targets
	2006-07		2007-08		2008-09
Probation area	Delivery	Target	Delivery	Target	Delivery	Target
Avon and Somerset	38	-	35	48	27	24
Bedfordshire	28	-	20	20	15	15
Cambridgeshire	18	-	24	20	24	24
Cheshire	43	-	36	35	40	40
County Durham	12	-	14	12	13	12
Cumbria	14	-	12	12	11	10
Derbyshire	27	-	29	21	24	21
Devon and Cornwall	53	-	39	52	50	45
Dorset	21	-	20	24	21	20
Dyfed Powys	4	-	4	3	6	4
Essex	46	-	29	35	4!	41
Gloucestershire	24	-	24	22	12	12
Greater Manchester	37	-	50	50	60	60
Gwent	14	-	15	16	13	13
Hampshire	24	-	50	50	45	45
Hertfordshire	17	-	22	20	26	25
Humberside	29	-	23	23	23	23
Kent	47	-	48	45	55	50
Lancashire	42	-	45	41	44	43
Leicestershire	44	-	27	21	28	26
Lincolnshire	17	-	22	20	10	10
London	77	-	106	100	102	100
Merseyside	31	-	14	30	12	12
Norfolk	19	-	29	29	30	30
North Wales	8	-	17	13	26	13
North Yorkshire	13	-	16	14	16	14
Northamptonshire	15	-	10	10	15	15
Northumbria	38	-	44	44	50	50
Nottinghamshire	14	-	30	30	35	35
South Wales	8	-	18	15	15	15
South Yorkshire	39	-	37	36	40	36
Staffordshire	43	-	41	34	42	35
Suffolk	21	-	20	21	20	20
Surrey	22	-	16	21	17	17
Sussex	35	-	51	50	39	35
Teesside	18	-	16	13	13	13
Thames Valley	55	-	65	50	64	60
Warwickshire	16	-	15	14	15	14
West Mercia	41	-	29	25	30	25
West Midlands	118	-	110	109	110	109
West Yorkshire	48	-	64	60	61	60
Wiltshire	23	-	24	24	27	20
England and Wales	1,301	(1)1,200	1,360	1,332	1,367	1,291
(1) In 2006-07 there were no area-level targets for SOTP completions, only a national target.

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