‘Strengthening Probation,Building Confidence’: The task of re-designing probation

Supervising offenders and delivering the sentence of the court

Pre-sentence reports must be of a good quality. We need to ensure that there are appropriate processes to ensure this is done well, so much depends on this – not least the court delivering an appropriate sentence. Assessment also forms a key part to good sentence delivery. We must ensure that sentences are supported by proper assessments of need and that these are assessed at regular intervals.

We will introduce minimum standards that specify the form and frequency of contact between service users and their responsible officer. We know that the frequency and mode of contact is important, but more important is the development of a trusting yet professional relationship that endures. We will build continuity into the system wherever possible.

The unpaid work requirement is imposed on a large proportion of community sentences, and when it is delivered well it can have a significant impact (HMIP, 2016). We will revise the practice guidance and national standards to improve the delivery of unpaid work, ensuring timely and quality assessment and induction prior to commencement. We will maximise the focus of unpaid work on employment and training; this includes intensive delivery for unemployed individuals. To make sure the services have the confidence of the courts, we will review and update guidance on what is an acceptable absence, develop new quality measures, reduce stand-downs and ensure timely enforcement where necessary.

More effective rehabilitation of offenders

The needs of people on probation vary and are often complex. The risks they pose to themselves or the public are similarly variable and complex. We must ensure that probation has the tools to assess needs and risks and then build suitable interventions that meet individual needs in a safe environment, and that people access and receive the support they are entitled to as a citizen. One of the key drivers that we have to specify, and to gain the confidence of the courts, is the Rehabilitation Activity Requirement (RAR). We are re-designing the policy for the delivery of RARs to ensure that it is clearly articulated what they are, that they are specific and structured, meet criminogenic needs, and are customised to meet a range of different people, such as women, young adults, people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds and those with learning disabilities. We will describe appropriate outputs and outcomes for different levels of RAR intensity (low, medium and high) for each area of need and propose the appropriate number of days to deliver those interventions. Alongside guidance to all staff and stakeholders on RAR activity, we are confident that this will increase the clarity of what a RAR is and offer the system more confidence in its delivery.

Community sentences that include drug, alcohol or mental health treatment requirements are being tested through the introduction of a protocol in five areas across England. We will build on those pilots to consider how we can best increase the use of these treatment requirements, which have been under-utilised within our courts despite the positive outcomes they can achieve (MoJ, 2018c).

Preparing prisoners for life in the community

The transition from prison back into the community will always be a complex and difficult one. It requires probation to work effectively with prisons and a range of other stakeholders to identify and address resettlement needs. This will cover accommodation on release, finding employment or access to benefits, and continued access to health treatment and social care services. We are committed to exploring options for a future model of resettlement, recognising that the current system has not delivered as intended. Our design is, to some degree, simple: have one plan for each service user, identify needs as early as possible (especially for those on short sentences), be clear about the role and responsibilities of the probation service and make sure they work well with prison key workers. To do this we propose a re-design of the existing Through The Gate service to a model of in-reach, linking a prisoner to a ‘responsible officer’ from day one, and providing continuity wherever possible. They will be responsible for developing and delivering the planned resettlement well before release.

During our consultation several commentators questioned the effectiveness of post-sentence supervision for those serving short-term custodial sentences (less than 12 months). Whilst we do not intend to change legislation at this point, we will build in more flexibility so that the sentence better addresses need and risk.

A workforce with the right training and skills

Without a skilled, capable and supported workforce, probation services could not be delivered. We have committed to developing a workforce strategy that provides the framework to recruit staff and provide them with the professional development they need. We want people to have a career in probation, and we will define more clearly the transferable skills and competencies of probation staff. We will deliver a framework of recognised training for probation staff to maintain standards across the profession and provide staff with ways to evidence transferable skills as they progress in their careers. This includes reviewing the Criminal Justice Learning Framework on probation qualifications in 2019, prior to a retender of any new contracts. Apprenticeships are currently being designed, and we believe these will be able to support workforce requirements. Within all of this we will need to maintain a balance between standards and the opportunity for providers to develop their own approaches to training and development. Aligned to this we will develop a professional register to support probation to ensure that staff are appropriately qualified to deliver probation services.

Improving system integration

A probation system needs to engage and partner with a range of stakeholders to deliver a good service. At the very least we must ensure that the NPS and contracted providers work together as part of a single and integrated system. To improve system integration, we aim to deliver on a number of fronts. One way we will achieve system integration is to re-draw the boundaries of probation services to create 10 probation regions in England and configure service delivery within each area. Another is the creation of a new HMPPS regional structure that will be responsible not only for overseeing the delivery of all probation services but also stewarding the relationship between a vast array of local partners and stakeholders. This regional HMPPS structure will have a significant task in terms of driving a collaborative culture within probation services, and between key partners, not least Police and Crime Commissioners. Within these new structures we are also considering possible options for regionally-held commissioning budgets that can help foster collaboration and innovation to reduce crime and offending in local areas.

Another aspect of integration will be the investment in Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) digital services to simplify data access and exchange and deliver improvements to IT systems. The ambition is to create a system that can deliver on the move, allowing our staff much more freedom via mobile devices. It must also support the sharing of data between all probation providers (contracted and public sector), and where appropriate ensuring that our data can be shared with other partners.

Working more closely with partners

Rehabilitation and reintegration must be a collective enterprise – there is only so much that probation can offer in isolation. We require the engagement of a wide range of statutory partners, the best of the voluntary sector, and the communities that people come from (including employers). There are many statutory partners we have engaged with throughout our re-design. Early on we identified Police and Crime Commissioners as key partners. They can play a greater role in shaping rehabilitation and resettlement services and improving local collaboration with a range of stakeholders at a more local level. We have engaged with them in a consultative forum throughout our design process. Additionally, we have worked with London and Greater Manchester as part of existing devolution deals to co-design future probation services.

Careful consideration has been given to how we will work with the voluntary sector. We see a clear role for philanthropic funders, such as trusts and foundations, as well as social finance organisations. We view these partners as vital in assisting us to explore different approaches to commissioning and supporting us to take appropriate risks when testing new approaches. From the outset it has been clear to us that many voluntary organisations supporting people on probation have the skills and expertise to add significant value to the delivery of probation. That is why we have developed a voluntary sector strategy, setting out how we will encourage their involvement, not just as a sub-contracted supplier, but potentially as a strategic provider of probation services. This strategy includes writing the role of key voluntary organisations into contracts, providing transparency about what they are delivering and where. It means promoting grant funding as well as contracts. We are also exploring how we embed the principles of the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 into our procurement process to encourage the engagement of specialist and local organisations.

A probation system that works for Wales

The devolved responsibilities of the Welsh Government and existing partnership arrangements in Wales make the delivery of probation services quite different to that in England. The legislative framework provides us with scope to develop alternative delivery arrangements, which better reflect the criminal justice context in Wales and the role of HMPPS Wales. Furthermore, all probation, prison and HMPPS contract management services in Wales already come under the remit of a single Executive Director, and the Wales CRC is coterminous with the existing NPS Wales Division.

For all of the above reasons, we intend to bring all offender management functions in Wales together into the NPS. However, we believe there is a compelling case to work with the best of the private and voluntary sector to commission rehabilitation and resettlement services. The scope and scale of these services, and the mechanism for how we purchase them, is being considered by the All-Wales Criminal Justice Board and led by HMPPS Wales.

Driving performance improvements

We need a probation service that focuses on quality (and outcomes) rather than processes. For that reason we are building in new outcome measures; we are setting targets, using baselines where possible, and taking account of geographical variation if appropriate. We have carefully considered the use of financial incentives and remedies, and will set these so that we minimise the risk of performance failure. First and foremost, we must ensure that we are paying for the delivery of probation services, and most of those services rely on staff delivering it. We need to make sure that those costs are covered. A revised payment mechanism will provide the right level of funding and the right incentives.

We are mindful that contract compliance and measurement combined with independent oversight can be demanding, so we will aim to reduce duplication where possible. We must also ensure that the aims of the system are aligned, especially between probation and prison systems, reflecting consistent standards between contractual requirements, instructions and other guidance. Finally, we must ensure improved provider awareness of, and access to, the data necessary to track performance, and an ability to use data well to track success and properly interrogate failure.