Guidance

Probation Service Change Bulletin - Issue 13 - July 2022

Updated 15 December 2023

1. Foreword

Welcome to the Bi-monthly Probation Service Change Bulletin – keeping you updated on what is happening across the Probation Service. I’m Jim Barton and I’ll be hosting this month’s bulletin. I’m the Director and SRO for the Probation Reform Programme and Electronic Monitoring Programme.

Less than one month ago we marked the one year anniversary of probation unification, over the past year we have been able to stabilise the service and look to build on what we set out in the Target Operating Model (Probations intentions for the future of the service post-unification) back in February 2021. The focus now is on building on those reforms and working to achieve the best possible outcomes across the service – whether that be in courts, the community or approved premises. We will continue to champion the vital role that Probation plays within the justice system and wider society.

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) Act recently introduced changes to Electronic Monitoring for those convicted on or after the 28th of June 2022. These changes will apply across England and Wales. These legislative changes seek to strengthen community sentence options and make them more flexible by increasing the length of curfews and the daily hours available. Probation will also have limited administrative powers to vary curfew start/end times and/or the address.

2. Domestic Abuse Safety Officers

Domestic Abuse Safety Officers (DASOs) are embedded as part of regional Interventions teams within the Probation Service. DASOs support victims of domestic abuse once the perpetrator has been sentenced at court to participate in a Building Better Relationships accredited programme, as a condition attached to their Probation Order. DASOs provide a vital service to their clients, including any new partners who may be at risk, and work collaboratively with Probation practitioners and agencies to promote safety and manage risk. The DASO team have recently undergone a change in role title to better reflect the nature of their work; having been known previously as Partner Link Workers.

3. Reducing Reoffending

HMPPS is delivering a major programme of work to ensure more prisoners and prison leavers can access a home, a job and treatment for substance misuse, as well as embedding strong relationships between prisoners and their families and significant others.

As part of the creation of an improved Prisoner Education Service, we have launched a major market engagement exercise. We have held a series of webinars with providers across the education and skills sector to seek their ideas and feedback on the service.

Employment Advisory Boards and Employment Hubs continue to be rolled out in Resettlement prisons across England and Wales. The Boards link prisons and employers, ensuring prisoners gain the skills and links to job opportunities they need to find work on release. The Hubs act as a job centre within a prison, allowing prisoners to find out about job opportunities and get support with applications.

The new Community Accommodation Service Tier 3 (CAS3) was launched last year in five regions, providing transitional housing for prison leavers at risk of homelessness. We have now launched the competition for the national rollout of the scheme with the intention of mobilising from later in the year.

We have also officially opened a new Approved Premises in south London. The new facility is part of our pledge to create 200 new beds in APs by 2023.

Recruitment of new staff to support work to reduce reoffending at a local level also continues. We are recruiting for a series of new roles to support prisoners and prison leavers to get a home, a job and treatment for substance misuse.

4. Electronic Monitoring

The electronic monitoring strategy was published on 30 June 2022 and sets out the vision for a robust, innovative and data-driven electronic monitoring offer for our criminal justice system.

The strategy is published as we continue with our expansion programme to increase the electronic monitoring caseload from around 13,500 in 2021 to 25,000 by 2025. We have also taken steps to strengthen the legislative and operational landscape and we are preparing to procure new contracts for the delivery of our electronic monitoring service to 2030.

A recent milestone in our expansion programme was the introduction of alcohol monitoring on licence (AML) in England on 15 June, following the roll-out to Wales last year, providing the opportunity to monitor the alcohol consumption of more eligible prison leavers released on licence.