The work that Wales Probation Trust was doing to protect the public and reduce the risk of reoffending needed to improve, said Paul McDowell, Chief Inspector of Probation, publishing the report of a recent inspection.

Inspections assess whether the sentence of the court is delivered effectively, and whether work with the individual offender protects the public, reduces the likelihood of reoffending and provides a high quality service to courts and victims. This inspection is the last of six where inspectors are looking more closely at the work of Probation Trusts to protect children and young people.

Inspectors were concerned to find that:

• the initial assessment of the offender’s likelihood of reoffending had either not been completed or been completed too late in too many cases. This meant proper consideration could not always be given to the methods most likely to be effective when working with the individual;
• a number of cases had not received an initial screening or full analysis of the offender’s risk of serious harm to others and too few cases included an effective plan to manage the risk of harm an offender posed;
• too few offenders were involved in drawing up their sentence plan, which meant that an important opportunity to engage individuals in work to be undertaken as part of their court order was missed;
• court reports did not always include information from children’s social services where there were potential child protection concerns because inquiries had not been made; and
• multi-agency child protection procedures had not always been used effectively.

However, inspectors were pleased to find that:

• most court reports were well written and contained relevant information about the offender’s home and social environment and their likelihood of reoffending;
• the level of contact arranged with the offender and the resource allocated to complete planned work was appropriate in most cases;
• most offender managers were positive about the range of interventions available to assist them in their work and most offenders had been informed of local services to support them to avoid reoffending;
• appropriate use had been made of restrictive interventions, such as curfews and restraining orders, and the approved premises contributed effectively to the management of risk of harm posed by residents; and
• victim contact work had been undertaken well, with regular and accurate information being shared in almost all cases.

Some two-thirds of individuals had not been cautioned, charged or convicted of a further offence since the start of the sentence or release on licence. Inspectors made recommendations to assist the area in its continuing improvement, including assessing the likelihood of reoffending and the risk of harm to others posed by an individual promptly and to a sufficient standard, ensuring a plan to manage the risk of harm to others is in place, and making checks as a matter of routine with children’s social services.

Paul McDowell said:

“There were some disappointing findings in relation to the work to reduce the likelihood of reoffending and the protection of the public. Specifically, a significant number of initial assessments and sentence plans had not been completed, or had been completed so late that they were not meaningful. This meant that offenders did not have the opportunity to engage at an early stage with their sentence and that work wasn’t always appropriately targeted. Oversight by managers needed to be more rigorous so that these deficits could be addressed.

“Notwithstanding this, when appropriate work was delivered the results were satisfactory and we saw good use of restrictive interventions to manage an individual’s risk of harm to others. The right level of resource was available in most cases and offenders had been directed to a wide range of local services to help reduce the likelihood of reoffending.”

– ENDS –

Notes to editors:

1. The report is available at www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprobation from 22 July 2014.
2. This inspection of adult offending work in Wales was undertaken as part of HMI Probation’s Inspection of Adult Offending Work programme that started in April 2013 and will cover all geographical areas in England and Wales.
3. These inspections focus on issues not subject to other forms of external scrutiny: work to reduce the likelihood of reoffending, the management and minimisation of risk of harm to the public, delivery of the court sentence effectively and providing a service to courts and victims.
4. From June 2014 the work previously undertaken by Probation Trusts has been divided between the new National Probation Service and 21 new Community Rehabilitation Companies. Inspection recommendations will be taken forward by NOMS performance managers and account managers for the new companies.
   Find out more on the Ministry of Justice’s Transforming Rehabilitation strategy
5. The fieldwork for this inspection was undertaken during a period shortly before the abolition of probation trusts as part of the changes introduced by Transforming Rehabilitation. The inspection methodology was amended accordingly, and one week was spent inspecting the work undertaken by offender managers but inspectors did not return for a second week to meet with senior managers, sentencers and service providers.
6. For further information, or to request an interview, please contact Jane Parsons, HMI Probation press office, on 020 3681 2775 or 07880 787452. To request an interview in Welsh, please contact Helen Davies on 07919 490420.