Agenda item

Northants Probation

To receive evidence from Deborah Prestbury, IOM Team Northants Probation.

Minutes:

Denise Meylan, the Director of Offender Management at Northants Probation attended the meeting to answer the core questions.

 

The main points were as follows:-

 

Northants Probation has the overall responsibility for supervising over 3,200 offenders across Northamptonshire, of which approximately 2,300 are in the community.

 

The fundamental aims of the service are to offer public protection and to reduce the level of re offending by promoting full rehabilitation; they are also involved in the enforcement of community orders as set by Courts and licence requirements for prisoners released from custody.

 

 

Serious Acquisitive Crime

 

Question 1

 

The starting point is to do a full assessment, using a tool called OASys, this is very effective in profiling the offender and making evaluations The assessment informs the involvement with internal teams and external agencies such as the Police and Drugs and Alcohol teams.

 

Question2

 

Prevention of crime is not a statutory requirement of the Probation Service although obviously they work with the Police and will often be able to flag whether an offender is at risk of reoffending.

 

Question 3

 

One of the significant issues is that of finding suitable accommodation. It could be a significant problem if those offenders who are most violent cannot be housed as this could put the public at significant risk. Suitable accommodation also assists the chances of those offenders being able to find stable employment and become part of a community. There are also some families where persistent offender behaviour is now being repeated through different generations- this is being tackled through the ‘troubled families’ initiative.

 

Question 4

 

Within NPT , we have dedicated professional and qualified staff who have the key responsibility for discharging offence focused work with offenders and ensuring that requirements of court orders and licences are met. Some of our work is supported by the Reach Project which takes key groups of offenders and the core remit is to assist them in securing training and employment.  With police colleagues we also have a team, named Integrated Offender Management (IOM) which seeks to address violent and acquisitive crime with mainly male offenders. The typical age range is 18-30 and many are alcohol and/or drug dependent.

 

It is also important to maximise information sharing and make sure that all relevant agencies are given information in a timely way.

 

Question 5

 

The Police are the organisation most responsible for reducing serious acquisitive crime however the Probation Service are  committed  to  reducing re offending rates.

 

Question 6

 

The Police Crime Commissioner should provide a strategic overview. They should also have a good understanding of local issues, hotspots and crime profiling. They need to have regular quality briefings with key partners.

 

She also felt that if agencies are given funding then they should be required to account for the money spent and be clearer about outcomes to fit and meet local priorities.

 

 Violent Crime

 

With specific regard to violent crime, the Probation Service runs an integrated domestic violence programme. This is a programme of 18 month duration.with a specific court requirement.

 

There are Multi Agency (MAPPPA) meetings which are held regularly. Meetings are held weekly for level 2 offenders and monthly for the small number of level 3(more serious) offenders.

 

There is a very close relationship with the Police and there is a connection into BUDDI which is a real time satellite system tracking offenders. There is also a strong connection with the prison service on the releases and resettlement of offenders.

 

Members asked how Northampton Borough Council could further support the service.

 

There was some discussion on how “payment by results” might be effective and it was considered that targets would have to be set locally .The University could be approached to see if there was any research capacity.

 

Housing remains a major issue, pressure is growing on Council accommodation and the Probation Service has found it harder to find accommodation, particularly for the most violent offenders. They do have one hostel with 22 places. The Local Authority Chief Executives Group is working to try and coordinate housing protocols throughout the County. The one currently used by South Northants is very good.

 

There are frustrations with enforcement; people perceive that the majority of resources are concentrated on a minority. The service will always consider issues on a case by case basis, where there are serious protection issues then custody will be preferred as a punishment method.

 

There may be issues for the service if financial support is withdrawn from support groups etc. and currently the service would not be consulted when funding issues were discussed. For example the service has made a commissioning offer with the (SWAN) group, which may now find itself unable to continue because of lack of funding.

 

There was also discussion about whether data protection issues had an adverse effect on organisations being willing to provide placements for offenders. There are several issues and it always needs to considered whether there the placements are suitable as this will vary on a case by case basis assurance was given that all offenders on ‘community pay back’ are properly screened and any concerns are welcomed.

 

Members questioned whether there were benefits from having offenders and victims take place in any kind of meeting this is commonly known as Restorative Justice. This must be done carefully in order to make sure that the victim is not revictimised, but it may be a positive step towards the offender being re integrate back into their community, which is very important in terms of reducing the chances of reoffending.

 

 

Members of the Panel thanked Denise Meylan for her very comprehensive and informative response to its core questions.

 

 

Supporting documents: