Reports on probation reforms show strong progress is being made
As part of our phased approach to rolling out crucial reforms to rehabilitation aimed at bringing down reoffending rates, the government has released the outcome of a report showing the progress made in preparing for the next stage of the reforms.
This is part of a programme of testing to ensure that the reforms are implemented in a measured way, ensuring public safety at every stage.
The report demonstrates the significant progress that continues to be made since new probation structures went live in June this year. This saw 21 new regional Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) created to focus on turning round the lives of medium and low risk offenders and a new National Probation Service (NPS) to protect the public from high-risk offenders.
Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said:
Public safety is a key priority and we have tested our progress at every stage while rolling out these crucial reforms to rehabilitation.
The wide range of information we have published demonstrates how closely we are monitoring the system to ensure that performance levels are maintained.
Reoffending rates have been too high for too long, and we must act now to turn the tide on this unacceptable problem.
The government is bringing together a much wider range of organisations from the private, public and voluntary sectors to bring new ideas to turning round the lives of offenders. They will provide an unprecedented level of support for offenders released from sentences of less than 12 months. This group currently gets no statutory post-prison supervision and returns to crime at an alarming rate. Nearly 60% reoffend within a year of release.
The CRCs will remain in the public sector until new providers take over in early 2015. This bedding-in period was designed to ensure a smooth handover to the new arrangements, and the information published today shows the strong progress being made.
The ‘preferred bidders’ who are set to lead the new fight against reoffending were announced in October this year, and the voluntary sector are set to be at the forefront of the new approach.
Almost all of the 21 CRC areas will be led by new partnerships and joint ventures between private sector firms and some of Britain’s biggest and most successful rehabilitation charities.
Providers will only be paid in full if they are successful at reducing reoffending, helping drive innovation and getting best value for taxpayers.