Abstract
This report is of a thematic type inspection carried out in six probation areas in relation to the responsibility of probation trusts to contact and provide information to the victims of violent and sexual crime where the perpetuator has been sentenced to imprisonment of 12 months or more. The specific context was in response to a request from the Commissioner for Victims and Witnesses who had received a number of complaints about the work undertaken by probation trusts.
The inspection followed the usual HMIP approach to their thematic inspections and in this case HMIP interviewed victims, victim liaison officers and offender managers as well as assessing a range of relevant cases. In the Foreword to the report, Liz Calderbank, the recently retired chief Inspector summarized the overall finding in the following way: While we found some aspects of victim contact work could be improved, we thought that overall, the quality of direct work with victims was of a good standard, a view that was endorsed by the victims we interviewed. Victims said they were provided with key dates relating to the offender’s sentence, felt their safety had been treated as a priority and any conditions they requested were incorporated into the licence upon the offender’s release. This was confirmed by the case inspection. In terms of risk management planning, in many cases, the offender manager had given insufficient consideration to the actual victim of the offence, the impact of the offence on the victim and how best to manage the risk of harm the offender may pose towards the victim. Not all victim liaison officers felt they had received sufficient training. Victims told the inspectors that they were unhappy about the fact that victim personal statements were normally disclosed to the offender at the time of the parole hearings; as a consequence, they were less likely to submit one. Each trust had its own victim case management system. The report commented that it was surprising that no national case management system had been developed.
These thematic reports make recommendations to all probation trusts and not just to those inspected. The recommendations reflect the summary outlined above, although there are further recommendations to the Youth Justice Board and Youth Offending Team managers to ensure that they operate within the requirements of the statutory requirements of the Victim Contact scheme where the offender was a child or young person.
Finally, the report concludes that:
Transforming Rehabilitation: A Strategy for Reform confirms responsibility for victim liaison work will remain within the public probation function in order for victims to get the best possible support. In the light of our findings that outcomes for victims were better when offender managers and victim liaison officer worked closely together, we would fully endorse that decision.
Victim Contact: An Inspection of the Victim Contact Arrangements in Probation Trusts by HM Inspectorate of Probation (November 2013) is available at: www.justice.gov.uk