National Probation Service Business Plan 2005-06 (file size 260kb)

Key Priorities for the National Probation Service 2005-06

In the first four years of its existence the National Probation Service has improved its performance year on year. The establishment of the National Offender Management Service provides a new context for work with offenders. The publication of "Reducing Re-offending - A National Action Plan" in July 2004 highlighted the importance of an integrated approach to working with offenders involving a range of Government Departments, Statutory Agencies, the Voluntary Sector and private providers. The National Probation Service will adopt a flexible approach to take full advantage of all these potential partnerships for all offenders whether they be in custody or in the community.

The key priorities for the National Probation Service for 2005-06 are:

Contributing to the building of an excellent National Offender Management Service with the separation of Offender Management from Interventions: During 2005-06 areas will be expected to reorganise themselves to establish a clear operational division between offender management and interventions. The NPS - both the offender management and interventions sections - will continue to give priority to Diversity Issues in relation to the workforce and service delivery. Excellence will continue to be a goal. The aim will be to demonstrate that interventions has acquired a real and visible competitive edge enabling it to compete successfully in against voluntary and private sector providers.

Working purposefully with other criminal justice agencies to protect the public from harm: The NPS will work with partners in the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) to manage the risk of harm posed by dangerous offenders in the community. It will continue to provide a range of community based interventions for sex offenders and expand the availability of programmes for domestic violence perpetrators and implement new sentences to protect the public. It will implement the Approved Premises and Offender Housing Strategy for Higher Risk Offenders. It will develop and implement a strategy for Mentally Disordered Offenders. It will also help probation areas to make a strong contribution to the new arrangements to protect children.

Working with other criminal justice agencies and local Crime and Disorder Partnerships to promote the effective implementation of the Prolific and other Priority Offender (PPO) Strategy: The NPS will prioritise PPO for reports to courts and all interventions, unless other offenders present a greater risk of harm. It will develop intensive community interventions for this group of offenders involving information/intelligence sharing with the Police. The new Drug Rehabilitation Requirement to be introduced in April 2005 as part of the Community Sentence will be prioritised for PPOs.

Working with other criminal justice agencies, Judges and Magistrates to implement the 2003 Criminal Justice Act with a particular focus on the new Community Order. This will be accompanied by a new emphasis on work in and around the court. This will be characterised by a new national approach to fast delivery reports and the introduction of an adjourned report that will be linked electronically to OASys. It will take account of developments in electronic monitoring and the operation of new EM contracts from April 2005.

The full implementation at a national, regional and area level of "Reducing Re-offending - A National Action Plan". The focus will be on providing an effective range of interventions to help offenders released into the community from Prison and those on community orders. The seven pathways in the plan identify work on:

. accommodation/employment, training and education/mental and physical  
  health/drugs and alcohol/finance, benefit and debt/children and families    
  of offenders/attitudes, thinking and behaviour