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Reforming the system

Reforming the Delivery of Offender Services

Over the last decade overall crime has fallen by a third and the levels of re-offending continue to reduce. The chances of being a victim of crime are the lowest since accurate recording began 27 years ago. A greater number of violent and dangerous offenders are being imprisoned and are staying in prison for longer. 

These successes bring new challenges. Greater detection, better enforcement and the use of longer sentences have all contributed to a rising prison population. This is why we are increasing the capacity of our prisons to ensure that there are always enough prison places available for the most dangerous offenders. However, prison is not the only way to punish and rehabilitate offenders. Rigorous community sentences have played a significant part in our success to date and we will continue to develop intensive alternatives to custody for less serious offenders who do not pose a risk to the public.

To meet current challenges we need to reform the system and structure our services differently. These changes will enable greater continuity across the criminal justice system, better communication, swifter innovation and encourage the sharing of best practice across the prison and probation services.

These changes broadly cover 4 key areas:

Offender Management (new window)

Offender Management provides the foundation of these reforms.  It means a single community based person, the Offender Manager,  is responsible for representing the needs of the offender and influencing the decisions made at each stage of the offenders’ journey though our system.  This aims to provide a more coherent end to end service - managing offenders across the entire life of their sentence and ensuring that the work that starts with offenders in prison is built upon and enhanced after their release into the community.

The Offender Manager role is the ‘glue’ that joins offender services together, manages relationships across custodial and community boundaries and provides the link that brings together wider providers such as health, education and employment.

Commissioning (new window)

Offender Managers must be able to draw on the right services to enable offenders to tackle their offending behaviour.  Effective commissioning practices will ensure that the most appropriate offender services are specified, both in terms of value for money and ensuring the greatest impact on offenders.

Decisions about what services to commission will be based on what will best protect the public and what is most likely to stop offenders re-offending in the future.  By clearly specifying the services and outcomes required, this will allow  greater flexibility for regions and local areas to commission (or jointly commission in partnership with others) the most effective offender services from the public, private or third sectors.  This means that areas can focus on delivering the services that will provide the best outcomes for the local community and the socially excluded.

Probation Trusts (new window)

The Offender Management Act 2007 changes the roles and responsibilities of those involved in the delivery of probation services.  Probation trusts will act not only as providers of court and offender management services, but also as local commissioners. They will be responsible for commissioning interventions and other services from the best providers in the public, private or third sector, at the best price, within the forthcoming best value regime.
 
This change will offer local areas more freedom (within the context of national specifications and outcomes) to find innovative solutions to reducing re-offending based on what they know works in their local community. It will also provide greater opportunities for the private and third sector to become involved in the delivery of these services.

Performance and Information (new window)

To commission services effectively and understand what is most successful in delivering reductions in re-offending and public protection, robust performance information – at national, regional and local level – is needed.  Having the right information available will allow commissioners at all levels to make informed choices about what services are needed and how resources should be prioritised.  Local Area Agreements also provide a key vehicle for embedding reducing re-offending into local partnership agendas and enhanced local performance data will allow partnerships to better measure their progress in this area.