National Probation Service

Bulletin
Issue 38 May – June 2006

ARTICLES CONTENTS
046/06 NPS Performance Report 20
047/06 Implementation Plans for Internet Sex Offender
The Bulletin has been improved for easier on-screen
reading. Treatment (i-SOTP)
048/06 Accredited Programme – Training Changes
Articles can now be read by either scrolling down the 049/06 HMP Bullwood Hall
page or by clicking the article titles below:
050/06 CJS Staff Survey

NPS Performance Report 20 051/06 Justice Awards

052/06 National Conference on PPOs
Implementation Plans for Internet Sex Offender 053/06 Domestic Abuse Policy and Strategy: Supporting
Treatment (i-SOTP)
Guidance

Accredited Programme – Training Changes 054/06 Guidance for Domestic Homicide Reviews
055/06 NPS Area Office Relocation
HMP Bullwood Hall 056/06 Events
057/06 NPD Diary
CJS Staff Survey
058/06 Issued Recently
Justice Awards

National Conference on PPOs

Domestic Abuse Policy and Strategy: Supporting

Guidance

Guidance for Domestic Homicide Reviews

NPS Area Office Relocation

Events

NPD Diary

Issued Recently

National Probation Directorate

Abell House, John Islip Street, London, SW1P 4LH
 046/06 NPS PERFORMANCE REPORT 20

Performance Report 20 has been published containing information on the performance of the NPS for the final quarter
of 2005/06 and with the combined results for this whole year.

Enforcement

91% of relevant cases were enforced within 10 days in accordance with National Standards. Monthly performance
shows that over the course of the year 93% was achieved twice (in July and February) and has not dropped below the
90% target since January 2005.

Compliance

Disappointingly, performance over the course of the year remained at 81%, just 4% short of the target. However, in
March alone 83% was achieved.

Offending Behaviour Programmes

There were 17,127 completions of offending behaviour programmes between during 2005-06. That is 14% above
target and 1,172 (7%) more than were completed last year.

Unpaid Work

51,026 completions have been achieved in 2005-06. That is 2% above the target and 12,553 (or 33%) more
completions than in 2004-05.

Drug Treatment and Testing Orders / Drug Rehabilitation Requirements

14,001 DTTOs and DRRs commenced during 2005-06 meaning that 88% of the target was met. This is against a
target that increased by 23% since last year’s. There were 3,679 (36%) more starts in 2005-06 than in the previous
year.

There were 3,977 completions of DTTOs and DRRs in 2005-06, just 23 (1%) short of the target.

Basic Skills

44,972 offenders commenced basic skills courses during 2005-06, 12% above the target. There were 10,773 more
starts than last year, an increase of 32%.

14,930 basic skills awards were delivered in 2005-06, 49% above the target and a 58% increase on the number of
awards achieved in the previous year.

Sickness Absence

There were 12.3 days on average lost due to sickness per employee in 2005-06 – the same as in 2004-05.

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Victims

Performance on victims remained at the level achieved last year when 93% of victims were contacted within the 8-
week standard. This exceeds the 85% target.

High / Very High Risk of harm cases

The target is to complete 90% of risk of harm analyses, risk management plans and OASys sentence plans on high
risk offenders within five working days of the commencement of the order or release into the community. Between the
beginning of monitoring in August 2005 and March 2006, 81% of cases met the target.

Prolific and other Priority Offenders (PPOs)

The target is to complete 90% of risk of harm screenings / full analyses (as appropriate) and OASys sentence plans on
Prolific and other Priority Offenders within five working days of commencement of the order or release into the
community. 82% of cases between August 2005 and March 2006 have met the target.

Court report timeliness

Concerns over the data quality of returns in the first quarter of the year mean that the first quarter has been omitted
from the analysis of the results. The proportion of court reports completed between July 2005 and March 2006 within
the timescale set by the court was 97%.

Accurate and timely ethnicity data

96% of data on offenders starting community orders was accurate and timely with respect to ethnicity, as was 94% of
data on offenders starting supervision under licence. In addition, 99% of staffing records were returned on time with a
valid ethnicity code, giving an overall average of 97% against a target of 95%.

FURTHER INFORMATION:
For enquiries about any issues relating to this report please contact:
Email: Roger.McGarva2@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
For enquires about the data please contact:
Email: Paris.Mikkides@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

047/06 IMPLEMENTATION PLANS FOR INTERNET SEX OFFENDER TREATMENT

PROGRAMME (i-SOTP)

A Probation Circular (PC18/2006) has been issued in regards to implementation plans for internet sex offender
treatment programme (i-SOTP).

The i-SOTP was approved for national implementation by the Correctional Services Accreditation Panel in December
2005. A national Implementation seminar was held on 10th February 2006 which alerted staff to the requirement for an
Implementation Plan. Areas will need to identify the expected number of offenders, the format in which the programme
will be run, the staff training needs and other programme requirements. Encouragement is given to Areas to
collaborate to produce a Regional Plan for implementation wherever possible. This will be particularly useful in

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identifying staff who can be trained as future Regional Trainers for the i-SOTP to support the longer term
implementation of this programme

FURTHER INFORMATION:
Email: David.Middleton2@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
Email: Elizabeth.Hayes6@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

048/06 ACCREDITED PROGRAMME – TRAINING CHANGES

Major changes are to be brought into effect in the training of trainers and facilitators of accredited programmes.
The current system demands separate training for each accredited programme which is to be delivered. This training
has been based on manuals which assume delivery to staff with no core skills or previous knowledge of accredited
programmes theory. With an increasing number of facilitators needing to become competent in a number of
programmes, the training is often seen as repetitive and over long.

A core skills training manual is being piloted which will enable staff to be trained in theory and in the basic skills
required of facilitators, and a range of programme specific materials are being developed which will enable facilitators
to learn about particular programmes and apply their skills to the delivery of those programmes. The core skills
modules (5 days training) will need to be undertaken only once, and, on successful completion, the candidate will be
eligible to receive programme specific training, as required.

It is intended that the new system be introduced for general Offending Behaviour Programmes in the first instance.
E.T.S. Think First and One To One materials have been developed and piloted successfully in this regard. Additional
programme specific materials will be developed during this financial year with the intention of a complete changeover
of systems in 2007/8. In the interim period it is anticipated that the pool of facilitators necessary to sustain delivery will
continue to be sustained as at present.

FURTHER INFORMATION:
Email: Tudor.Williams@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
Tel: 0207 217 8068

049/06 HMP BULLWOOD HALL

HMP Bullwood Hall in Essex is in the process of changing to a Category C Prison for male foreign national prisoners.

The last of the women prisoners will leave Bullwood Hall on 9th June and the male prisoners will be arriving from 26th
June. The implications for this for the offender management unit within the prison and for the seconded probation staff
are being considered as the needs of the new population are assessed.

FURTHER INFORMATION:
A probation circular (PC24/2006) and new interim guidance on foreign national prisoners have recently been issued
and posted the Epic intranet and the NPS website. http://www.probation.homeoffice.gov.uk/output/page31.asp

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 050/06 CJS STAFF SURVEY

Staff across the CJS are being surveyed on the confidence they have in the Criminal Justice System and its reform
programme as part of the fourth and final wave of the CJS Staff Confidence Survey.

The National Criminal Justice Board has commissioned this survey, which has been running since 2004, to enable
them to ascertain staff opinions and confidence across the CJS. Led by the OCJR Communications Unit, the survey’s
fourth, and final, sweep will run from the beginning of June to mid-July and consists of a 15 minute telephone
interview.

So if you’re contacted by one of the fieldworkers from MORI, please give them your time, and know that your answers
will be treated in the strictest of confidence. Questions range from how well you think your organisation serves the
public to what you think about senior leadership and your views on other CJS agencies.

The information will be used to give ministers a barometer of staff opinion across all agencies and provide interesting
points for comparison – for example by location, gender and ethnicity as well as between agencies.

OCJR will be working with each agency on their own results and to assess areas for improvement, such as
communication practices. Final results of wave 4 will be published in the autumn along with trends across all four
waves.

FURTHER INFORMATION:
Email: ann.kempster@cjs.gsi.gov.uk
Tel: 020 7035 8723

051/06 JUSTICE AWARDS

Nominations for the 2006 Justice Awards now open.

The Justice Awards website was launched on 2 May where you will be able to nominate an individual or team for this
year’s awards, to be held in November. The awards were also officially launched at an event hosted by the Lord
Chancellor and Attorney General on 4 May. Speaking at the event, the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, said:
“Please think about the projects and initiatives you know are making a real difference, visit our website, and make your
nominations.”

Now in their third year, the awards are organised by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform to recognise outstanding
achievement by staff from a criminal justice agency or from a voluntary sector organisation working with victims,
witnesses, defendants or offenders.

Last year the NPS received a number of awards:

• Nottinghamshire Probation Area, part of a multi-agency team initiative to reduce drug-related acquisitive
crime, was declared the overall winner for the Sherwood project.
• Dorset Probation Area’s community service team in Wareham won the Partnership of the Year Award for the
work of offenders at the Bovington Tank Museum.

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 • Anne Matthews, communications manager at Lancashire, was runner-up in the engaging communities
category for her radio campaign to inform people about the new sentences in the Criminal Justice Act 2003

Look out for the Justice Awards bookmark in leading criminal justice publications.

FURTHER INFORMATION:
Email: justiceawards@cjs.gsi.gov.uk
Tel: 0207 035 4961
For more information, and a nomination form, please visit www.cjsonline.gov.uk/justiceawards

052/06 NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PPOs ON 6TH JULY – POSTPONED

This conference is postponed owing to a clash with the NOMS two-day conference. Alternative arrangements are
being sought which will be notified to you in due course.

FURTHER INFORMATION:
Email: robin.brennan@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

053/06 DOMESTIC ABUSE POLICY AND STRATEGY: SUPPORTING GUIDANCE

The first sections of guidance to support the NPS Interim Domestic Abuse Policy and Strategy will be available on
EPIC by the end of June. The first sections are:

• Putting domestic abuse into context

• Behaviour and offences linked to domestic abuse
• Legislation and other developments in tackling domestic abuse
• Specialist Domestic Violence Court programme
• Victims

The guidance has been drawn up in conjunction with the NPS Domestic Abuse Reference Group. Work is underway
to produce guidance on risk assessment, risk management and interventions in domestic abuse cases.

The NPS Interim Domestic Abuse Policy and Strategy was issued with PC54/2005.

FURTHER INFORMATION:
Can any comments and feedback on the guidance be sent to:
Email: Angela.colyer@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

054/06 GUIDANCE FOR DOMESTIC HOMCIDE REVIEWS

The Home Office has issued a consultation paper that sets out proposals for the format that domestic homicide
reviews should follow. Section 9 of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 introduces a statutory basis
for local bodies to establish domestic homicide reviews for victims of domestic abuse. The Act places a statutory duty
on local bodies, including local probation boards, to have regard to any guidance issued by the Secretary of State

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when establishing or participating in domestic homicide reviews. The draft guidance contained in the consultation
paper is based on that already in use for serious case reviews following the serious injury or death of a child where
abuse or neglect is or is suspected to be a factor. It covers different aspects of the review methodology, identifying
particular themes that need to be addressed by the agency which eventually takes on responsibility for conducting the
review.

The consultation paper has been sent to all probation areas and probation boards and is available on the crime
reduction website www.crimereduction.gov.uk the deadline for comments is 13 September 2006.

FURTHER INFORMATION:
Email: Angela.colyer@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

055/06 NPS AREA OFFICE RELOCATION

Please note that the Thames Valley Probation Area offices located at Castle Street and Crown House in Reading have
merged into one building.

The new contact details for the Reading Probation Office are as follows:

Reading Probation Office

Greyfriars House
20-38 Greyfriars Road
Reading
RG1 1PE

Tel: 0118 9560466

Fax: 0118 9551300

Please note that the following team have different phone and or fax numbers as follows:

Victim Liaison Unit:

Tel: 0118 955 1255
Fax: 0118 955 1304

IT Unit:
Tel: 0118 955 1333

Offending Behaviour Programmes' Team:

Tel: 0118 955 1222

Court Team:
Fax: 0118 955 1305

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 056/06 EVENTS

The Parole Board is jointly hosting “The Role and Functions of the Parole Board: Perceptions of Fairness” conference
with the Cambridge University based Centre for Public Law and the Institute of Criminology.

The conference will bring together leading speakers from a wide variety of disciplines to explore and contribute to the
debate around the changing role of the Parole Board. It will also explore key issues in predicting risk and decision
making and will focus on the growing number of recalled prisoners and those subject to indeterminate sentences.

The conference is aimed at practitioners and academics with an interest in the workings of the Parole Board, public
lawyers, prison and probation officers, criminologists and others interested in decision-making, institutional change,
public law and risk management.

FURTHER INFORMATION:
Venue: Cambridge University
Date: 15th – 16th September
Email: fre20@cam.ac.uk
Tel: 01223 330 042

The Foundation for Public Service Interpreting is holding its fifth national conference on ‘Interpreting in the Public
Service’ in London.

FURTHER INFORMATION:
Venue: Goldsmith’s Livery Hall, London
Date: 13th October
Cost: £110 or £95 for early bookers, second or third delegates from the same organisation £95
Email: director@fpsi.org
Tel: 020 7623 9191
The NPS takes no responsibility for the content or possible cost of external conferences.

057/06 NPD DIARY

June

1st National Workload Measurement Tool, ‘Train the Trainers’, 10am – 4pm, Civil Service Club, Chadwick
Street, London
2nd – 4th MAPPA SMB Lay Adviser Module two training, University of Birmingham
5th Domestic Abuse Reference Group Meeting, 10am – 1pm, Cleland House, London
6th North Leadership Meeting, 10am – 4:30pm, York Moat Hotel, North Street,
7th South Leadership Meeting, 10am – 4:30pm, One Birdcage Walk, Westminster
8th National Risk of Harm Conference, 10am – 4:15pm, Westminster Central Halls, London
8th South West Enforcement Conference, 10am-4pm, Holiday Inn, Taunton
22nd Victims Network Meeting, 10:30am – 1pm, venue tbc
22nd South West MAPPA Benchmarking Event, Taunton, venue tbc

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28th McWilliams Memorial Lecture – Professor Tony Bottoms, Institute of Criminology, University of
Cambridge
29th ‘PBA AGM Conference and Annual Lecture’ Home Secretary & Lord Puttnam to attend, The Brewery,
Chiswell Street London

July

4th Children’s Reference Group Meeting, venue tbc

4th – 7th National Living Leadership Middle Managers Conference, the Hilton Northampton
5th – 6th NOMS Conference, venue tbc
12th South West ‘Building the Future’ – a quality and performance workshop in unpaid work, venue tbc
14th NPS Domestic Abuse Reference Group meeting, 10am – 1pm, Abell House, London
19th – 20th National Consortia Directors’ Forum, venue tbc

058/06 ISSUED RECENTLY

Probation Circulars 2006:

PC17 NOMS RDS Re-offending Report Shadow Measure 2006/07
PC18 Implementation Plans for Internet Sex Offender Treatment (i-SOTP)
PC19 Implementation of Approved Premises Performance Improvement Standards
PC20 Assessing and Managing Risk of Harm in Unpaid Work
PC21 NPS Alcohol Delivery Strategy
PC22 Implementation of the Risk of Harm Guidance and Training Resource Pack
PC23 Approved Premises Grant Allocations for 2006 – 2007
PC24 Foreign National Prisoners
PC25 Revitalising Health & Safety: Phase Three (Final Phase)
PC26 Changes to Admission Policy for Approved Premises
PC27 Skills for Life Performance Monitoring 2006/07

Other Publications:
NPS Performance Report 20
HMI Probation Plan 2006 – 2007
Working with Alcohol Misusing Offenders – a strategy for delivery
Keeping Our Children Safe – Approved Premises leaflet
A Five Year Strategy for Protecting the Public and Reducing Reoffending
CJS in Brief Issue 9

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