Agenda item

To receive a presentation about efforts to reduce reoffending.

Representatives from the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC), Wiltshire Police and the Probation Service gave a presentation about the multi-agency work that was going on to reduce reoffending.

Caz Deverall-Hart, Strategic Lead Criminal Justice and Reoffending at the OPCC, explained that female offenders were one of the priority groups supported as there had been a significant increase in the rate of female offending in recent years. She then outlined some of the holistic work that was being carried out by the Wiltshire Female Justice Support Board (FJSB), which was established in 2020 to tackle the issue. She explained that the FJSB helped to commission services and develop pathways for female rehabilitation while also ensuring that the work in Wiltshire aligned to national strategies.

Mark Wilkinson, Integrated Offender Manager Supervisor, provided information about the Integrated Offender Management (IOM) programme that was introduced nationally in 2012. He reported that, although 85 percent of the 77 people currently going through the programme in Wiltshire were there on a statutory basis, 15 percent were there voluntarily, which was the third highest proportion in the country. He explained that the IOM programme tackled criminality in people with entrenched behaviours by studying their traits and the triggers that made them commit offences. People going through the programme were supported for at least a six-month period, to understand their motivations, and were then monitored for a further six months. The effectiveness of the of the scheme was shown by the significant reduction in reoffending rate in the six months after people had completed the IOM programme. Although costs to the criminal justice system increased during the period that offenders were on the programme, as they were integrated into their communities, the costs fell significantly afterwards and were lower than the costs before people entered.

Huw Wilford, Acting Head of the Probation Delivery Unit, gave a brief update about recent changes to the standard determinate sentences, which allowed some prisoners to be released 40, rather than 50 percent, of the way though their sentence. He explained that the aim of the scheme was to reduce pressure on prison places but noted that the number of people released early in Wiltshire was relatively small.

The Acting Head of the Probation Delivery Unit also gave an update about the probation reset programme. He explained that, overall, the probation service in Wiltshire was currently supervising 1,832 individuals, including 908 based in Swindon. He noted that there were pressures on staffing in probation and the prison service, so they were trying to use their resources in the most effective way. It had been identified that the service was most impactful in the first two thirds of the time that they spent with their clients, so there had been a shift to focus more resources on this period. Two thirds of the way through the programme, cases would be categorised as rest cases, although people would still be actively monitored. Research suggested that early intervention and support on a licence, or community order, was likely to have the greatest impact.

During the discussion, points included:

·       The Panel thanked the officers for their presentation and praised the multi-agency work that was taking place to reduce reoffending. 

·       In response to a query about whether six months was long enough to monitor people coming out of the IOM programme, the Integrated Offender Manager Supervisor confirmed that it was an appropriate level of time. He noted that his team received a daily intelligence briefing about offenders that had gone through the six-month period after completion IOM, so that they could take a proactive approach to supporting individuals where necessary.

·       The table on the left-hand side of page 51 of the agenda pack showed financial data for the six-month period before and after the IOM.

·       When asked about which offenders might be eligible for early release 40 percent of the way through their sentence, it was confirmed that no one in prison because of a conviction for a violent offence would be released early.

·       It was confirmed that all Behaviour Change programmes took place face-to face.  Online interventions were used for some out of court resolutions for lower-level offences and were closely monitored. There were around 40 crime types which out of court resolutions could be used for and work would take place in the new year to ensure that online interventions were having the required impact.

·       It was noted that Police Community Support Officers were doing valuable early intervention work with young people.

·       When asked about what was being done to improve the timeliness of reports for court, the Integrated Offender Manager Supervisor explained that active steps were being put in place to try to address the issue. He noted that there were both national and regional rolling recruitment drives. They court system was understaffed, but resources were being moved to try to address this issue. Nearly 100 new, fully funded, officers had been recruited in South West England in 2024.