Criminal Justice System & Offender Services
The English and Welsh criminal justice system is currently embarking upon key reforms which will bring into being a . A Ministry of Justice is to be established which will over the staff and responsibilities of the Department for Constitutional Affairs, and the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), including the prison and probation services, and it will have lead responsibility for criminal law and sentencing.
Building confidence in the justice system is clearly an important matter and, in the work of key targets and indicators the UK government has for sometime made this area a specifc target for development and improvement. The archaic appearance of the formal judicial process in the UK clearly does not help it appear 'of the now' and the often quoted pronouncements of learned judges (of the 'what is an IPod' variety) does not help improve the image of the system of justice. Some recent research (Explaining Attitudes toward the Justice System in the UK and Europe) seems to indicate that there is a greater link than perhaps expected between attitudes toward the state and toward the crimnal justice system of that state - so basically an out of touch CJS impacts on our attitudes to other state structures
A Shaky Start to Combined Offender Management
The combining of the English and Welsh Prison Services and Probation Services in the mid 200's was a radical step. The aim was to bring together 'the management of offenders' into one seamless service providing a consistent response to offenders needs throught their journey through the penal system.
However, although from a criminal justice management point of view there is a logic to this approach the 'journey ' is not in fact a logical progression (you start at one end - the commission of an offence and you finish up at the other end - receiving a court penalty) but a series of complex patterns and processes (a bit like the children's game of snakes and ladders - where logic combines with chance).
The foundations of the probations service and of the prison service are clearly different. The probation service, for most of its 100 years of existence has been a court based offender rehabilitation service; providing the social welfare and community sentence supervision services. Whereas the prison service has always had a dual function providing a locally based 'lock up' service for 'misdemeanors' and providing a holding and longer term incarceration service for 'felons'.
In more recent times the Probation Service has been directed to move 'up tariff'; to work with more serious and to adopt a more offender management enforcement role. In practice linking it closer to the needs of the prison service. By taking on the roles of parole officers and also prison welfare officers in the 1970's and more recently a role more akin to the US Federal Probation Service in terms of strict enforcement work with higher risk criminals, much of the 'advise, assist and befriend' offender supervision function of the earlier probation service has had to give way.
Centralisation - moving away from local crime and justice solutions
Since the establishment of th National Offender Management Service (NOMS) there has been a gradual move toward centralising the services and commissioning them via a new regional management service. This in turn has supported a new way of diversifying the provision of services via contestability.
This transition continues with the Offender Management Act 2007. The new arrangements for the provision of probation services contained in the Act takes from regional Probation Boards the statutory duty for making arrangements for probation services and places this duty with the Secretary of State; who will contract with providers to deliver these services.
The Act enables the creation of new public sector bodies, probation trusts, with whom the Secretary of State may contract, alongside providers from the voluntary, charitable and private sectors. The Act also contains a number of other provisions relating to the management of offenders sentenced to custody.
Currently, Autumn 2007, there appears to be moves afoot to deconstruct the overarching agency that manages both the probation and prison services. According to an article published in the Observer newspaper (Multibillion 'shambolic' penal agency to be axed) Ursula Brennan, a senior civil servant, has written a report for the Ministry of Justice recommending that the agency be broken up and incorporated into the Ministry. If this is the case it will have a major impact both on the operation of the current agency (what is a Regional Offender Manager) and the implementation of the Offender Management Act.
NOMS National Priorities
The National Commissioning and Partnership Framework sets out the context in which NOMS commissioning will be undertaken during 2008-9, together with an update on developments during the past year (in particular the impact of the Offender Management Act 20078) and future policy directions. The National Framework is available from http://www.noms.justice.gov.uk .
National Commissioning Priorities 2008-9
Offender Management
1 - Ensure end to end offender management services are in place: this means more than just process; it means following through and implementing the new responsibilities / accountabilities in line with the outcome of the strategic review of offender management. The review will ensure appropriate prioritisation of cases and offender groups taking account of the importance of public protection and of the need to live within our means and ensure cost effectiveness.
2. Streamline, modernise and improve targeting of interventions; focusing interventions on those where the impact is likely to be greatest, driven by cost-effectiveness and a stronger focus on higher risk offenders, whilst taking account of operational considerations.
Joint commissioning and partnership
3. Continue to develop robust partnership and joint commissioning arrangements to support the reduction of re-offending and protection of the public, focusing on offender health, including provision for drugs and alcohol, and skills and employment. This should include effective regional and local implementation of the Offender Health Strategy and the Next Steps action Plan.
4. Implement Regional Reducing Re-offending Boards’ priorities; and reflect national and regional priorities in Local Area Agreements signed off by regional offices.
Engagement with Judges and Magistrates priorities
5. Ensure courts receive the sentencing advice they need and that offender managers’ pre-sentence reports:
i. properly reflect NOMS’ priorities and knowledge about effectiveness and service capacity
ii. are delivered in the most cost-effective format.
6. Maintain effective engagement with sentencers: within a nationally agreed framework, to ensure regular dialogue about sentencers’ perceptions of resource needs and quality of delivery, about evidence of effectiveness and cost-effectiveness and NOMS priorities at local, regional and national level.
Service development priorities
7. National service frameworks: implement forthcoming national service frameworks for women’s services and indeterminate sentence prisoners.
8. Explore affordable options to extend present supervision arrangements for short-term prisoners
9. Deliver infrastructure change according to agreed key milestones, including roll out of C-NOMIS.
National Offender Management Service Commissioning Model
Commissioning is an activity the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) undertakes nationally, regionally and locally on behalf of the Secretary of State for Justice. They contract nationally for services which are highly specialised (such as the High Security Prison Estate) or benefit from economies of scale at this level.
The Regional Offender Manager or ROM (as Regional Commissioner acting on behalf of the Secretary of State), contracts or holds service level agreementswith providers for the delivery of:
• Public protection
• Offender Management
• Custodial places
• Interventions with offenders serving sentences in custody, the community or both
In addition the ROM is responsible for aligning priorities and resources with other commissioners of services for offenders through joint commissioning for offender health, drugs, alcohol and learning and skills and for supporting partnership activities with other stakeholders from all three sectors in particular through the Regional Reducing Re-offending Partnership Board.
Providers to the ROM focus on the sub-regional and local delivery of public protection, offender management and supervision (including custodial places), 'but increasingly will be expected to compete and sub-contract much of their interventions work to other providers in all three sectors based on what is most effective, and who is best placed to deliver, in their location (i.e. local commissioning)'.
The providers must work closely with each other and with other regional commissioners of services for offenders (e.g. Primary Care Trusts, the Learning and Skills Council and Drug Action and Alcohol Teams) and their providers to improve outcomes for offenders, victims and communities. They must also seek to improve outcomes through engagement in wider partnership structures in their localities such as through Local Criminal Justice Boards (LCJBs), Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA), Local Safeguarding Children Boards(LSCBs), Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs) and Local Area Agreements (LAAs).
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Criminal Justice (General) Links
Further Reading
Home page for the English and Welsh criminal justice agencies and services. It includes information for legal practitioners and the public, including a virtual tour of a crown court and statistics on crime trends, prevention, reduction and victims.
Home page for the Scottish Criminal Justice System.
Criminal Justice System of Northern Ireland
Home Page for the Criminal Justice System Northern Ireland.
Local Criminal Justice Board effectivenessA national survey of effective performance management and the performance of Local Criminal Justice Boards summarizing the findings from an investigation into the characteristics associated with high performing Local Criminal Justice Boards.
United States Department of Justice
The U.S. Department of Justice home page provides access to information on law enforcement, and public protection.
Offender Management Service Links National Offender Management Service : Home Office
The Home Office's National Offender Management Service website linking the management of the prison service to the probation service and identifying the central government management services for regional offender managment 'delivery'.
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