Written evidence from Clinks (PB 13)
INTRODUCTION
Clinks is a national voluntary sector infrastructure
organisation supporting voluntary and community sector (VCS) agencies
that work with offenders and their families. We are particularly
focussed on the role of small and medium size organisations in
criminal justice system. Our main activities include:
— Representation
and voice.
— Partnership
and collaboration.
— Capacity
Building.
— Supporting
volunteering and mentoring.
In our Manifesto (Spring 2010) we urged the incoming
government to commit to a greater emphasis on rehabilitation of
offenders, a more proportionate and rational use of imprisonment,
a focus on local delivery, and a commitment to tackling inequality
and racism in the criminal justice system.
We welcome the opportunity to contribute to the inquiry
into the role of the probation service. We have consistently supported
a distinct role for the probation service working effectively
in partnership with the VCS (Voluntary and Community Sector) to
help offenders change their lives.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
— The
core business of the probation service should remain in the public
sector to ensure accountability and transparency.
— The
probation service has focussed on high risk offenders and reframed
itself as a law enforcement agency. This has been generally successful
but rehabilitation and provision of wider support for "desistance"
has been sacrificed in the process.
— The
probation service has consistently demonstrated its operational
effectiveness as evidenced by the performance reports published
over the past few years. However, these are primarily improvements
in "process" rather than outcomes.
— Offender
Management should remain within the remit of the probation service
but improvements are needed in the skill and capacity of Offender
Managers to work in partnership with VCS organisations in the
delivery of services to offenders.
— The
recent reconfiguration of probation trusts into Local Delivery
Units has great potential for increasing the resources available
to support offender rehabilitation.
— There
is scope for greatly increasing the role of the VCS in delivering
locally-responsive rehabilitation services to offenders.
— Restorative
Justice has considerable potential at a number of stages of the
criminal justice process and contributes to both diversion from
the formal criminal justice process and to supporting offender
rehabilitation.
— Engaging
with specialist VCS organisations would improve the probation
service's ability to tackle diversity issues.
— Training
should incorporate the recent insights into the factors that contribute
to desistance.
COMMISSIONING OF
PROBATION SERVICES
1. Probation services are not really commissioned
in the true sense of the word. At present, they are contracted
by the Director of Offender Management to provide probation services
both in relation to offender management and across a range of
interventions. Opportunities to bid to deliver Unpaid Work, and
accredited programmes, have been advertised in relation to some
probation areas but even in these instances there hasn't been
a process for earlier discussions about the design of the service.
In fact, where the tenders have been published, the specifications
of the Unpaid Work programme appear to have been very tightly
drawn.
2. Clinks would not be supportive of the outsourcing
of probation core functions. Our view, which we expressed prior
to the implementation of the Offender Management Act 2007, was
that there was a proper place for the state to be responsible
for the assessment of offenders and providing that information
to the court to assist in sentencing.[20]
We are also of the view that the ultimate responsibility for the
enforcement of court orders and post-release licenses should remain
with the public sector probation service (Probation Trusts).
OPERATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS
3. The Probation Service is operating effectively
in terms of meeting a range of National Standards and related
metrics. The timeliness of courts reports, increasingly rigorous
enforcement action, and the delivery of accredited programme completions
have been consistent features of performance. The service has,
in some ways, "reinvented" itself as a "law enforcement
agency" with public protection and punishment in the community
as two of its key objectives. There are only a very small proportion
of serious offenders who re-offend while on supervision and in
this respect the service's record is reasonably good. The successful
change to Trust status of all probation areas (including those
that have merged) also tends to confirm that the Probation Service
is operating effectively in terms of governance, budgetary control,
and delivery. Finally, the measurement of re-offending rates also
generally shows an incremental reduction in the volume and incidence
of re-offending.
4. The change in the focus of the probation service
over the past 10 years has had consequences for its capacity and
willingness to engage with local communities. Most of the work
of the service is "office-based" and this has been reinforced
by an estate strategy which has led to the closure of smaller
offices in local areas to large probation centres based in town/city
centres. With a few exceptions, probation areas are driven by
centrally imposed targets, and there is little scope for innovation
at the local level.
5. Finally, the goal of rehabilitation in working
with offenders has had less emphasis than previously, as was inevitable
with the shift to a law enforcement ethos. Compliance with the
requirements of supervision is now a key objective for the service.
OFFENDER MANAGEMENT
6. The Offender Management Model (OMM) was developed
in line with the creation of the National Offender Management
Service (NOMS) and it identified the Offender Manager (OM) as
the broker of services and interventions to effect a reduction
in re-offending by offenders subject to supervision. This model
was originally intended to embrace the offender's experience in
custody and in the community with the OM based in the probation
service. The probation service was also expected to split its
functions between OM and Interventions (eg Unpaid Work, accredited
programmes, etc).
7. The OMM underwent several iterations over
the next few years but the core concept of a single OM being responsible
for the implementation of the sentence of the court remains. The
major barrier to its effective functioning has always been the
degree of control and influence that the OM has in relation to
the offender's experience of custody. The prison service has,
necessarily, retained the authority to move prisoners around the
system in order to deal with the effects of overcrowding, and
this has often resulted in disruption and delay in the implementation
of the sentence plan.
8. The requirement for Probation Trusts to reconfigure
themselves into Local Delivery Units (LDUs) with boundaries coterminous
with local authority areas, coupled with the new responsibilities
for the service within Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs) provides
an opportunity for the probation service to enhance its role in
OM and negotiate new arrangements for the management of offenders.
The new duty of CSPs to reduce re-offending will mean that the
probation service will have greater influence in shaping the way
in which other agencies and organisations respond to offenders.
The resources available to deliver OM could, therefore, potentially
become much greater.
9. The OMM has evolved into a complex process
involving sophisticated risk assessments, tiering frameworks that
guide the level of intervention and control of offenders, inter-agency
arrangements for the management of dangerous offenders, and initiatives
such as Integrated Offender Management (IOM) which embraces offenders
who are not subject to formal supervision. What has remained constant
throughout is the pivotal role of the probation service in negotiating
the relationship between offenders and the agencies that are recruited
to support a reduction in re-offending.
REQUIREMENTS IN
COMMUNITY SENTENCES
10. The CJ Act 2003 created the generic community
sentence which provided a "menu" of 12 requirements.
These included punitive, controlling, and rehabilitative interventions
and magistrates imposing community orders can choose one or more
in accordance with risk and needs of the offender being sentenced.
The availability of requirements depends largely on whether the
probation service is funded to deliver "in-house" or
is reliant on external funding sources (DAT, PCT, DWP, ESF, etc.).
Even in the case of "in-house" delivery there have been
problems with capacity for some accredited programmes. However,
the greatest gap in supply is in relation to the Alcohol Treatment
Requirement. Probation areas are often constrained by a lack of
investment in this provision by local PCTs and in some instances
are having to fund this intervention from core funding.
ROLE OF
VOLUNTARY AND
PRIVATE SECTORS
11. It has been estimated that there are over
600 VCS organisations providing services to offenders in the community,
either contracted or in less formal arrangements. The Ministry
of Justice published Working with the Third Sector to Reduce Re-offending
2008-11[21]
which identified a range of strategic objectives and actions to
enhance the role of the Voluntary Sector in delivering services
to offenders and their families. It also sought to improve commissioning
arrangements looking ahead to the freedoms and flexibilities afforded
Probation Trusts.
12. The role of the VCS in delivering services
to offenders and their families should be seen in the context
of two key developments in the early 2000s. The first of these
was the Supporting People programme which, inter alia, required
the probation service to transfer to local authorities the funding
allocated to offender accommodation, much of which was spent on
voluntary sector provision. The second was the establishment of
the Offender Learning and Skills Service, which again required
probation areas to move funding for employment, training, and
education provision to the Learning and Skills Service. This removed
the contracting arrangements from the probation service and transferred
them to the LSC.
13. The attempt in 2006-07 and 2007-08 to increase
the proportion of probation budget expenditure on VCS and Private
Sector services for offenders was largely unsuccessful, failing
to reach the 10% target.. The substitution of a Best Value framework
in 2008 to try to achieve increased investment has yet to produce
any significant opportunities for VCS delivery. This is unsurprising
given the bureaucratic processes involved in Best Value reviews
and the decision to limit the reviews to Unpaid Work and Victim
Contact provision in the first instance.
14. These policy initiatives have generally been
focussed on "transferring" probation services to the
VCS (or private sector) rather than recruiting the VCS to "transform"
the delivery of probation services. The unique value of the VCS
is its ability to develop innovative ways of addressing a range
of social problems and tackling social exclusion. The sector's
strength and experience lies in its provision of dedicated services
across the "7 pathways"—accommodation, education
and training, finance and debt, children and families, mental
and physical health, alcohol and drugs, and attitudes and behaviour.
Offenders experience deficits in these areas to a disproportionate
degree relative to the general population and often experience
a multiplicity of difficulties in these areas. Mainstream provision
in this context is often less effective (because it is based on
universal delivery) than the VCS which has the flexibility and
user focus that engenders trust and engagement from vulnerable
people. Offenders in particular view VCS services as less threatening
than statutory intervention. The improvement in compliance rates
of offenders under supervision by using volunteer mentors is one
example of effective deployment of VCS resources.
15. The other key feature of VCS provision of
services for offenders is that, for the most part, these organisations
are based in local communities and are available for offenders
after formal supervision has ceased. Their ability to continue
working with an offender and sustaining supportive relationships
over longer timescales than statutory supervision permits, means
they are well placed to support reintegration into communities.
16. The probation service should provide effective
mechanisms for engaging with the VCS on a regular basis, establishing
robust channels of communication and developing opportunities
for shared learning between the two sectors. An example of this
close working relationship is the role of Circles of Support and
Accountability in the supervision of high risk sex offenders where
the probation service provides the overall management and enforcement
of supervision and "Circles" provides the support and
"monitoring" of offenders through its volunteers.
DIVERSION OF
SHORT SENTENCE
PRISONERS TO
PROBATION SUPERVISION
17. The current workload of the probation
service has already meant that many low risk offenders, or those
that have completed their requirements are on a basic "signing
on" regime, reporting to offices only to confirm that they
are still at the same address. The priority of probation resources
is high risk offenders on the caseload. Were the probation workload
to increase significantly the content and style of supervision
would inevitably change. There would therefore need to be a parallel
strategy which sought to divert low level offenders away from
probation supervision in order to create the capacity to supervise
offenders now subject to short prison sentences. There is a role
here for the VCS to undertake increased involvement with low level
offenders.
RESTORATIVE JUSTICE
(RJ)
18. RJ is a concept that embraces a range of
approaches including: Community Payback, victim contact; victim
offender mediation; reparation in cash or kind.
19. Community Payback is a high profile programme
delivered by the probation service and it clearly represents a
concrete repayment to the community in general for the harm done
by offending.
20. Victim contact (or apology) is usually undertaken
in the form of a letter in which the offender expresses remorse
for his/her actions. If genuinely expressed it is an indication
of an awareness of the harm done and is evidence that the offender
has taken some responsibility for his/her actions. There is scope
for probation staff to facilitate this during the preparation
of pre-sentence reports and, if successful, to be in a position
to evidence a move away from further offending.
21. Victim offender mediation is a lengthier
process and necessarily involves negotiation between the offender
and the victim to arrange date, venue, guidelines and parameters
for the meeting, etc. We feel there is considerable scope for
this but that the probation service should contract this service
to the voluntary sector where there are organisations that specialise
in this work. It could form part of the supervision plan, although
it probably isn't "enforceable" given the need for agreement
from the victim. There is, however, evidence to show that victims
benefit from this opportunity to both express their feelings about
the offence, learn that they were targeted entirely randomly and
that there was nothing "personal" in the offender's
motivation. There are also examples of offenders being deeply
affected after meeting the victim of the offence and learning
about the harm and distress caused by them.
22. Direct practical reparation by the offender
to the victim is less common and the logistical arrangements can
be difficult to organise.
23. There is potential for greater use of RJ
across the criminal justice system from arrest to sentence and
Probation Trusts are well placed to facilitate its delivery through
effective partnerships with specialist VCS organisations and other
statutory agencies.
DIVERSITY
Young Offenders
24. Clinks is a member of the Transition to Adulthood
(T2A) Alliance, which comprises a number of organisations that
seeks to improve the arrangements for 18-25 year olds in the criminal
justice system.[22]
Specifically, it campaigns to remove the arbitrary change in regime
and community provision that occurs when offenders reach the age
of 18 and argues for arrangements that respond to young adults'
needs based on an assessment of maturity rather than chronological
age. In particular, there is significant scope for the probation
service to make unique provision for this group focusing on their
education and employment needs, and deploying mentors to provide
support and motivation.
Women offenders
25. Baroness Corston's report[23]
on vulnerable women in the criminal justice system was published
in 2007 and there has been encouraging progress in implementing
the recommendations since then. The Probation Service has a key
role to play in ensuring that women offenders are diverted, wherever
possible, from custodial sentencing and provided with community-based
alternatives that address their needs which are distinct from
those of male offenders. The National Service Framework for Women
Offenders identified a range of standards and policy expectations
in relation to women offenders and Probation Trusts have adopted
many of them. The National Framework is supported by practice
guidance[24]
and it is important that Probation Trusts make every effort to
ensure that women offenders are offered discrete services, including
wherever possible, access to female probation officers. Most importantly,
the probation service should support those community based services
for vulnerable women that do exist in their local areas, and where
there is no provision, to work together with other commissioners
and funders to facilitate their creation.
Black and Asian Minority Ethnic Offenders
26. The over-representation of BAME offenders
in the criminal justice system remains a complex and intractable
issue. Clinks has facilitated a campaign[25]
which addresses the range of factors contributing to disproportionate
responses to BAME offenders and commissioned research[26]
that provided the background to the current situation. The probation
service can contribute to the "more equal" treatment
of BAME offenders in a number of ways, not least by rigorous monitoring
of its court practice and recommendations in pre-sentence reports,
as well as ensuring the management and enforcement of orders and
licenses is free of bias and discrimination.
27. Just as important is the support that can
be provided by the probation service, both financial and through
strategic representation, of the BAME VCS which works with offenders
and their families. This part of the VCS is typically fragile
and under-funded and often fails to attract the support that other
parts of the VCS enjoy. Community based BAME organisations are
effective at engaging with black offenders who may find it difficult
to trust and relate to predominantly white organisations.
Training
28. The probation training curriculum has moved
away from social work and community development to focus on criminology
and cognitive behavioural approaches to tackling offending. The
recent review of desistance research published by McNeill and
Weaver[27]
identifies some useful new strands that could be introduced into
probation training, including recognising the social context of
offending and the importance of building new networks and community
support. This would also involve addressing skills in partnership
working between probation staff and VCS organisations.
September 2010
20 http://www.clinks.org/assets/files/PDFs/Response%20Documents/0610ClinksResponseOffenderManagementBill.pdf Back
21
http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/docs/third-sector-effective-partnerships.pdf Back
22 For
further information and downloadable documents go to: http://www.t2a.org.uk/publications Back
23
http://www.newsocialartschool.org/pdf/Corston-pt-1.pdf Back
24
http://noms.justice.gov.uk/news-publications-events/publications/guidance/OM-Guide-Women?view=Binary Back
25
http://www.raceforjustice.net/ Back
26
http://www.clinks.org/assets/files/PDFs/Race%20for%20Justice%20-%20Less%20Equal%20Then%20Others%202008.pdf
Back
27
http://www.sccjr.ac.uk/pubs/Changing-Lives-Desistance-Research-and-Offender-Management/255 Back
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