Written evidence from the York and North
Yorkshire Probation Trust (PB 58)
THE NATIONAL
OFFENDER MANAGEMENT
SERVICE (NOMS)
The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) is
an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice (MOJ). NOMS is
responsible for delivering punishment of offenders in accordance
with the sentences of the courts, providing a comprehensive, streamlined
system to protect the public and reduce re-offending. The agency
was created in April 2008, bringing prison and probation services
together to deliver a more efficient and effective end-to-end
approach to offender management, in custodial and non-custodial
settings.
— NOMS
delivers the sentences of the courts through providers including:
— 35
probation trusts providing probation services.
— HM
Prison Service.
— Private
sector partners managing contracted out prisons.
— Contractors
providing essential services including prisoner escort and electronic
monitoring of offenders.
— Public
and third sector partners including health, employment and training
providers.
— Headquarters
teams responsible for planning, securing resources, driving performance
against agreed standards and providing national services where
it is most cost-effective to do so NOMS is accountable to the
Ministry of Justice through the Director General, who also sits
on the MoJ management board.
The agency operates a regional structure, with Directors
of Offender Management in the English regions and Wales commissioning
all custodial and non-custodial provision in each region (excluding
high security prisons), ensuring that services are cost effective
and appropriately targeted to meet the requirements of sentencers
and the needs of offenders at a regional level.
YORK AND
NORTH YORKSHIRE
PROBATION TRUST
The probation service in York and North Yorkshire
works with offenders to cut crime and protect the public. In doing
so, we make a vital contribution to the safety of our communities
and the people who live in them.
The aims of the Trust are:
— protecting
the public;
— reducing
re-offending;
— the
proper punishment of offenders in the community;
— ensuring
offenders' awareness of the effects of crime; and
— rehabilitation
of offenders.
Are probation services currently commissioned
in the most appropriate way?
1. Current regional arrangements limit local flexibility
in making best use of local services and effective local partnerships
tailored to meet local and individual offender needs.
2. Local Probation Trusts should be statutorily empowered
for provision of probation services and provided with freedoms
and business flexibilities to develop more locally focused and
innovative tailored solutions to re-offending, with demonstrable
effective and best use of public monies.
3. Locally-focused accountability would secure sound
local partnership working and locally informed commissioning which
is the key to delivering best shared local outcomes as evidenced
by Integrated Offender Management and Total Place pilots.
4. There should be a clear linkage between money
and outcomes.
5. We can demonstrate savings by reducing re-offending
and thereby saving prison costs.
6. A closer link to localised commissioning may emerge
through the development of an elected police commissioner (envisaged
in the policing Green Paper).
How effectively are probation trusts operating
in practice? What is the role of the probation service in delivering
"offender management" and how does it operate in practice?
7. Probation Trusts, including the York and North
Yorkshire Trust, were only introduced from April 2010 but we have
well-demonstrated capacity, skills and experience, as evidenced
in progressive and continuous performance improvement and reduction
in re-offending over many years.
8. There is evident capacity and resilience in a
skilled professional workforce, well supported by our local widely-
experienced Board members who bring sound business and commercial
skills to underpin locally informed and respected sound governance
and vision.
9. We are keen to capitalise our local focus and
reputable workforce skills. We now seek the greater availability
of business freedoms and flexibilities to support our intent of
securing transparent best value competitive local probation services,
ensuring public and local stakeholder confidence in our contribution
to reducing crime and its victims and securing safer local communities.
10. North Yorkshire is the largest geographical county
in England with rurality and sparsity issues that clearly require
well-focused local provision capable of addressing local needs
and concerns. As a local Trust we are best placed to effectively
address such locality issues and develop sound business focused
local partnerships as envisaged in Government papers.
11. Local Trust Boards, appropriately empowered,
have the essential local knowledge, skills and experience to provide
sound governance and establish innovative best value competitive
locally focused services along with local partnership arrangements
linked to accountability to local communities. The recent statutory
provision for local accountability by designation of the local
Trust as a Responsible Authority in the Local Community Safety
Partnerships and the introduction of Local Authority Scrutiny
arrangements is a welcome step to increase a local standing and
transparency.
12. The Trust is coterminous with the current police,
health and fire services.
13. We are active partners in the major strategic
initiatives concerning community safety that fall within the scope
of the Local Strategic Partnerships.
14. We provide a high quality range of probation
services as evidenced by HMIP and consistently high level of performance
to national requirements.
15. There is clear evidence that the approach to
our work is yielding marked improvements in the rates of re-offending
in both York and North Yorkshire - contributing directly to reduced
levels of recorded crime.
16. We are able to demonstrate a range of active
and constructive partnership arrangements within a mixed economy
of public, private and third sector provision.
Role in delivering offender management
17. We have adopted a Local Delivery Unit structure
reflecting the larger local authority arrangements in the area.
This has some difficulty in relation to the two-tier authority
arrangements in North Yorkshire but is, in our view, the best
fit for the purposes of constructive work towards common objectives.
18. We are closely integrated within the relevant
partnership forums at unitary, county and district levels and
our operational delivery reflects the locality.
19. We operate as the focal point of adult offender
management and are acknowledged as the lead agency in the assessment
and management of risk.
Are magistrates and judges able to utilise fully
the requirements that can be attached to community sentences?
How effectively are these requirements being delivered?
20. Probation Trusts have the skills and experience
to deliver effective offender management to reduce re-offending
by positive pursuit of suitable court sentences involving punitive
and rehabilitative requirements.
21. Social reintegration and reparation are related
to individual offender issues, and are delivered in partnerships
with other local Criminal Justice partners and working with commissioned
third sector organisations.
22. We provide a range of services which support
sentencers in being able to use the range of restrictive, punitive
and rehabilitative requirements in community sentences.
23. When imposed, the sentences are delivered in
a manner that seeks to engage offenders and develop and maintain
their commitment to reducing their level of risk.
24. This is evidenced by high levels of compliance
with orders imposed and strong and timely enforcement when this
is required.
What role should the private and voluntary sectors
play in the delivery of probation services?
25. Trusts have a long record of working with/commissioning
valued local providers, such as Foundation Housing, to gain best
value and outcome from rehabilitation measures. The importance
of such local working arrangement is most significant in rural
areas such as North Yorkshire, where local knowledge is invaluable
and large national profit-making providers show very limited interest
in competing for evident reasons.
26. Our Trust seeks to foster strong local provider
development within the voluntary sector and recognises the benefits
of wider local competitive commissioning or co-commissioning,
including voluntary and private sectors, in attaining best value
and encouraging continuous improvement and innovation.
Does the probation service have the capacity to
cope with a move away from short custodial sentences?
27. We would support an appropriate move away from
the evident ineffective short custodial sentences. Inescapably
this would increase demand on community sentences.
28. To cope alongside our present very demanding
workloads would need to be addressed by transfer of funds from
reduced prison resource demands, looking at different patterns
of working with offenders, and possible change in individual sentencing
requirements.
29. Use of private and voluntary sector, where they
are competitive and capable, could form part of best value provision
with the Trust integral to offender management and containment
of public risk. As indicated, limited local competitive providers
in large rural areas like North Yorkshire constrains such options.
30. Through Integrated Offender Management, we have
demonstrated that with co-located probation, police, DIP. Housing
and ETE staff we are able to provide services which reflect the
risk the offender presents rather than the nature of the sentence
passed.
Could probation trusts make more use of restorative
justice?
31. Restorative Justice is clearly desirable and
could run well alongside of work with victims but there would
need to be resourcing/priorities issues in the current economic
climate.
Does the probation service handle different groups
of offenders appropriately, eg women, young adults, black and
minority ethnic people, and high and medium risk offenders?
32. Diversity is well-recognised in service provision
and individual offender engagement is suitably determined.
33. We have a strong history of ensuring appropriately
qualified and experienced staff manage our high and medium risk
offenders.
34. Through the multi-agency arrangements in Integrated
Offender Management we are developing a distinct approach to our
work with women offenders.
35. We aim to meet or exceed the requirements of
our Single Equality Scheme and can demonstrate that management
arrangements are in place to handle all groups of offenders appropriately.
Is the provision of training adequate?
36. Training for new entrants has been and will remain
exemplary.
37. Development of all staff is fostered by clear
learning and development policy linked to individual and business
needs. Provision is by internal and external source.
38. Maintaining a professional well-trained committed
workforce remains a priority in maintaining and improving our
competitive best value local probation services and reducing re-offending.
October 2010
| 
