Agenda item

That a report on the National Probation Service and the Community Rehabilitation Company be included on the Committee’s work programme for the 2017/18 municipal year.

4.1       Cassie Newman, Head of Strategic Partnerships – South London, London Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) gave a presentation to the Committee, a copy of which will be included in the agenda documentation. Geeta Subramaniam-Mooney, Head of Crime Reduction and Supporting People and Cllr Janet Daby, Executive Member for Community Safety were also in attendance

4.2         In response to concerns raised by members of the Committee at the results of the recent HMIP (Her Majesty’s Inspector of Prisons) inspection and the performance of the CRC the following key points were highlighted:

·         The HMIP inspection took place in September 2016 but was looking at statistics and performance from December 2015. Improvements had already been made since this time. The London CRC was committed to improvement along with partners, they had been awarded their contract in 2015 and changes would take time to be embedded. 

·         The CRC worked closely with partners including: MOPAC (Mayor’s Office for Police and Crime); Local Authorities; and the National Probation Service. There was a strong commitment to performance improvement and reducing reoffending rates.

·         Transforming rehabilitation was very challenging and the Ministry of Justice had reduced funding in this area.

·         Legacy issues had an impact on performance. At the time the contract was awarded, 30% of staff were agency. This had now been reduced to 5% creating a more stable workforce, which had brought about improvements to performance.

·         The contract for the CRC was managed by the Ministry of Justice and they held the CRC to account and managed the contract framework.

·         The HMIP inspection had raised many issues that the CRC had already been aware of and were working on. However the CRC felt that the HMIP inspection had not recognised the timeframe and scale of the transformation taking place.

·         There were 800 improvement “packages” in place as a result of the CRC’s improvement plan such as “performance and talent management of staff”. The CRC would be working closely with all partner agencies but recognised that their partners faced similar financial challenges.

4.3         Becky Canning, Head of Lewisham and Southwark Probation, National Probation Service, addressed the committee and highlighted the following key points:

·      Lewisham and Southwark Probation had also been subject to the HMIP inspection and there were four main recommendations for improvement.

·      There were two related to improving the partnership working with the CRC including assuring clearer lines of accountability between the two organisations.

·      The remaining two recommendations were related to improving the quality of information provided by the court. Performance improvement plans had been put in place relating to the speed of case allocation and pre-sentence reports. Information needed to be more focussed and produced more quickly with a greater focus on public protection.

·      The NPS continued to work in partnership with Lewisham, particularly with housing and through the MASH (Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub).

4.4       In the discussion that followed, the following key points were raised:

·      Future closures of courts in surrounding areas posed an additional challenge to the sector as there could be a greater volume of cases through Lewisham courts.

·      Prison reforms were also on the horizon; probation officers could be moved with an increased focus on rehabilitation in prisons.

·      Additional changes and reforms were likely and this would pose an on-going challenge for service providers to adapt quickly.

4.5       RESOLVED:

That a report on the National Probation Service and the Community Rehabilitation Company be included on the Committee’s work programme for the 2017/18 municipal year.

That Becky Canning and Cassie Newman be thanked for attending the meeting.