Agenda item

Bob Bearne, Head of the Probation Delivery Unit, will give a presentation.

The Board received a presentation from Bob Bearne, Head of the Probation Delivery Unit, regarding the Probation Reset and the End of Custody Supervised Licence (ECSL) scheme. A copy of the presentation slides, marked ‘Agenda Item 10’, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from the presentation and discussions the following points were noted:

ECSL Scheme

(i)           There were strong concerns about prison capacity nationally, the situation was reaching crisis point and was only expected to get worse. In order to manage the problem the ECSL Scheme had been put in place which enabled eligible (male) prisoners to be released up to 70 days in advance of their Conditional Release Date.

(ii)         The Probation Service did have the power to request permission from the Gold Command Group that an eligible prisoner not be released early but it would have to be demonstrated that it was an exceptional case. It was also possible that a prisoner could be released early but not the full 70 days.

(iii)        All the prisoners released under the scheme would have been released anyway without the scheme being in place, just at a slightly later date.

Probation Reset

(iv)       Due to a lack of Probation Service resources to cover demand, a ‘Probation Reset’ was going to take place on 1 July 2024 which was intended to relieve work pressures. The Reset would mean that the Probation Service would have less contact with certain types of offenders after a certain point in their sentence. The Probation Reset had been mandated by the Ministry of Justice and individual probation teams had little input on its implementation. If an offender fell within the criteria then Probation Service contact had to stop. Accountability for the policy lay with the Ministry of Justice not individual Probation Officers and so Officers would not be under pressure to make the decisions on ceasing contact.

(v)         MAPPA (Multi-agency Public Protection Arrangements) cases would not be eligible for having their contact suspended.

(vi)       Whilst it was a positive that the high Probation Service workload was being recognised by the Ministry of Justice, the Probation Service was disappointed that it was unable to undertake work it wanted to carry out with offenders.

(vii)      The Probation Service was required to undertake a certain amount of Rehabilitation Activity Requirement (RAR) days with offenders which involved identifying and addressing an offender’s needs in order to reduce the risk of them offending in the future. In response to concerns raised that the Probation Reset would mean that all the required RAR days would not take place, reassurance was given that they would take place but within a shorter timescale and it was only the contact after the RAR period that would be affected. 

(viii)    In the future more technology would be used to monitor offenders without human contact being required such as using GPS.

After the presentation Board members raised concerns about both the prisoners being released early and the Probation Service having less contact with some offenders, and members sought reassurances regarding the safety of the general public. In response the concerns were acknowledged, but it was pointed out that Probation Service contact with offenders would have ended at some point regardless and they would have been referred onto other services anyway. Members were cautioned not to over-sensationalise the proposals and reminded that there was always some level of risk when managing and releasing offenders.

Members also raised concerns regarding the lack of an impact assessment being carried out locally before the proposals were put in place. It was noted that if the Probation Service were having less involvement with some offenders then this could put more pressure on other agencies. It was suggested that it would be helpful to see data from partners about the impact of the Probation changes on them.

A Board member also mentioned that some offenders needed extra mental health support and the Probation Reset could impact on this.

It was noted that Leicester University in conjunction with Blaby District Council were carrying out some research work into the impact of HMP Fosse Way on the local community, and it was questioned whether the University could also look into the impact of the Probation Service reforms on the community. It was agreed that this would be investigated after the meeting by officers from Blaby District Council.

RESOLVED:

(a)        That the contents of the presentation be noted;

(b)        That officers be requested to provide a further update on the Probation Service Reset at the meeting on 27 September 2024.