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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 11:26 pm
Time: 11:26 pm
Results for probation reform
2 results foundAuthor: Strickland, Pat Title: Contracting out probation services, 2013-2016. Summary: This briefing paper charts the implementation controversial reforms to the probation service. Most offenders are now supervised by Community Rehabilitation Companies, which are mostly privately led. A new public sector National Probation Service manages high risk offenders. So what's the verdict so far? Under the Transforming Rehabilitation programme, the Coalition Government introduced major controversial reforms. These included: - Abolishing Probation Trusts - Contracting out the majority of probation work to private and voluntary sector providers in 21 new Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) - Introducing a new public sector National Probation Service (NPS)to manage high risk offenders and service the courts In addition, an extra 45,000 offenders are being brought into the probation system. This is because, for the first time, those sentenced to less than 12 months in prison are going to be supervised in the community upon release. Details: London: Parliament, House of Commons Library, 2016. 20p. Source: Internet Resource: Briefing Paper No. 06894: Accessed May 16, 2016 at: http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN06894/SN06894.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN06894/SN06894.pdf Shelf Number: 139056 Keywords: Offender SupervisionPrivatizationProbationProbation Reform |
Author: Beard, Jacqueline Title: Contracting out probation services Summary: This briefing paper charts the progress of recent reforms to probation services in England and Wales. It also brings together some of the commentary. Background In the 2010 Coalition agreement, the Government said it would introduce a "rehabilitation revolution that will pay independent providers to reduce reoffending". On 9 May 2013, the MoJ published Transforming Rehabilitation: A Strategy for Reform, announcing its plans to invite providers from the voluntary and private sectors to bid for rehabilitation services. One of the main new changes was splitting the probation service in two, with the public sector managing high risk offenders and providing services to the courts, and the new Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRC) managing low and medium risk offenders. In September 2013, the MoJ invited bids to run 21 CRCs across England and Wales, worth a combined $450 million. The list of new owners of CRCs was released on 18 December 2014. Only one of the CRCs was won by an organisation outside the private sector. Implementation Payment by Results (PbR) is an outcome-based payment scheme central to the Government's reforms. Under the contracts, a proportion of a provider's payment is determined by the reductions in reoffending they achieve. The Transforming Rehabilitation strategy document said this would create an incentive for providers to "focus relentlessly on driving down reoffending". Transforming Rehabilitation introduced a nationwide "Through the Gate" resettlement service. The intent was to give most offenders continuous support, usually by the CRC, from custody into the community. CRCs began providing "Through the Gate" services from 1 May 2015. Inspections Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP) produced five reports evaluating the reforms as they progressed. The final report, published in May 2016, found improvements in joint working and communication between the CRCs and the NPS, particularly in dealing with breaches or increased risk of harm However, there were problems with court work, staff training and morale. In its thematic inspections, HMIP said that the 'Through the Gate' services were so poor that if they were removed the impact would be "negligible". HMIP also found in a separate report that the reforms had meant services for women offenders were less focused. In a further report, HMIP found that CRC enforcement decision making in relation to community orders, suspended sentence supervision orders and post-sentence supervision was poor. HMIP began individual area inspections in summer 2016. They have found overall that CRCs are performing below expectations, with particular criticism for some CRCs monitoring offenders by telephone. Reactions to the reforms There has been widespread comment on the reforms in Parliament, and by charities, inspectors and directors of prisons and probation. Transforming Rehabilitation has primarily attracted criticism since the reforms were announced. Initial concerns focused on the speed of the reforms, the splitting of the probation service into two, and the possible ideological reasons behind the changes. During the reforms, criticism focused on the performance of CRCs, with lower than expected workloads causing financial difficulties. The Public Accounts Committee found that the MoJ had yet to bring about a "rehabilitation revolution" and questioned the effectiveness of the reforms. More recently, in 2017, both the Chief Executive of the National Offender Management Service and the Chief Inspector of Probation have said the new system is not working well. The Justice Select Committee is conducting an inquiry into Transforming Rehabilitation, seeking to find out how current Government measures are effectively addressing the challenges facing the probation services and what more needs to be done in the shortterm to improve the probation system. The Government's position In July 2017, Sam Gyimah, then Minister for Prisons and Probation, accepted that there had been problems with the delivery of the reform programme, blaming in part the reduction in the number of low or medium risk offenders. He said the Government acted urgently to adjust the payment mechanism to make CRC income "less sensitive to changes in demand". The Government hopes that this will provide CRCs with more certainty of their future income, allowing them to invest in delivering the necessary services. The Government also set out plans to develop a joint protocol with the health authorities, as well as funding a new inspection framework for probation. The Government set up a dedicated unit in Her Majesty's Prisons and Probation Service in the summer of 2017 to coordinate implementation of all recommendations made by inspectorates and other bodies in relation to offender services. Details: London: Parliament, House of Commons Library, 2018. 30p. Source: Internet Resource: Briefing Paper no. 06894: accessed March 6, 2018 at: http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN06894#fullreport Year: 2018 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN06894#fullreport Shelf Number: 149319 Keywords: Offender SupervisionPrivatizationProbationProbation Reform |