1.2 E3 Approach
E3 has focused on six priority areas:
• Court Delivery
• Community Supervision
• Custody
• Victims Services
• Victims Services
• Approved Premises
• Youth Offending Services
These areas represent the NPS core business, where there is most resource and where there is the greatest need to achieve consistency of delivery and operational model. They have the most impact in relation to the public, victims, offenders and staff.
We have not considered sex offender programmes as a separate review is currently underway. We have not included the role of Probation staff in prisons either. The Offender Management in custody review is taking place alongside the E3 programme. Its design principles focus on achieving better rehabilitation of offenders through the effective targeting of resources. These are clearly congruent with the aims of E3. While the full details and implementation plan are still being worked through, we do know that a key design principle is that responsibility for Offender Management of those in custody should sit within the prison. It is likely that the programme will lead to changes in probation work with prisoners, and we will need to ensure that E3 is fully aligned to these.
Sex offender programmes and probation work in prisons will be reviewed as part of a second wave of E3 activity. That will also include a more detailed review of both administration and corporate support functions across the NPS.
We describe in more detail later in the document what changes there will be in each of the six priority areas and how we propose to implement them. These changes will mean that many of us will have to work differently and for some staff the changes will be significant. Our new way of working will need to be underpinned by technology and processes that help staff in their job, and training support that will bring the best out of our people. Our new way of working will also be based on a number of principles that have shaped the proposals in this document.
These are:
1. The NPS will have a national, equitable approach to grading, role profiles and job descriptions. Staff doing the same job will work to the same job description, and receive the same level of support and core remuneration.
2. The NPS workforce will be multi-skilled with the ability to work across the organisation in different roles within the same pay band. There will be specialist teams but staff will be encouraged to move between teams on a regular basis to preserve and develop their range of professional skills and experience.
3. NPS staff must be competent to carry out their work and remain professionally accountable for what they do. Recognising the professional skills of staff, the emphasis for supervisors will move from routine countersigning of work to the provision of professional support and quality assurance underpinned by dip-sampling and quality audits.
4. The NPS will be an organisation that continues to invest in the continuous professional development of our staff.
5. The NPS will have a core delivery model underpinned by appropriate distribution of resource. This does not mean “one size fits all” and variations to the model will be agreed where this reflects geography or local offender needs, based on evidence.
6. The NPS will ensure value for money in everything that we do, while continuing to prioritise public protection.
7. We will ensure that the work undertaken in the NPS is evidence-based and meets a high standard of quality. There will be a focus on continuous improvement, and service innovation.
8. The outcome of discussions and decisions about design, implementation and review will consider equality implications with the intention of mitigating any negative impact on staff or service user groups covered by one or more protected characteristic. These considerations will be recorded and acted upon as part of the programmes’ Equality Analysis process.
9. The NPS will deliver against our commitments as set out in the TR Target Operating Model (TOM) and our annual Service Level Agreement with NOMS.
1.3 Proposals
A summary of the proposals is outlined below:
1.3.1 Court delivery
We propose that court work is resourced to maximise the proportion of court reports completed on the day consistent with meeting the needs of sentencers.
We have not considered sex offender programmes as a separate review is currently underway. We have not included the role of Probation staff in prisons either. The Offender Management in custody review is taking place alongside the E3 programme. Its design principles focus on achieving better rehabilitation of offenders through the effective targeting of resources. These are clearly congruent with the aims of E3. While the full details and implementation plan are still being worked through, we do know that a key design principle is that responsibility for Offender Management of those in custody should sit within the prison. It is likely that the programme will lead to changes in probation work with prisoners, and we will need to ensure that E3 is fully aligned to these.
Sex offender programmes and probation work in prisons will be reviewed as part of a second wave of E3 activity. That will also include a more detailed review of both administration and corporate support functions across the NPS.
We describe in more detail later in the document what changes there will be in each of the six priority areas and how we propose to implement them. These changes will mean that many of us will have to work differently and for some staff the changes will be significant. Our new way of working will need to be underpinned by technology and processes that help staff in their job, and training support that will bring the best out of our people. Our new way of working will also be based on a number of principles that have shaped the proposals in this document.
These are:
1. The NPS will have a national, equitable approach to grading, role profiles and job descriptions. Staff doing the same job will work to the same job description, and receive the same level of support and core remuneration.
2. The NPS workforce will be multi-skilled with the ability to work across the organisation in different roles within the same pay band. There will be specialist teams but staff will be encouraged to move between teams on a regular basis to preserve and develop their range of professional skills and experience.
3. NPS staff must be competent to carry out their work and remain professionally accountable for what they do. Recognising the professional skills of staff, the emphasis for supervisors will move from routine countersigning of work to the provision of professional support and quality assurance underpinned by dip-sampling and quality audits.
4. The NPS will be an organisation that continues to invest in the continuous professional development of our staff.
5. The NPS will have a core delivery model underpinned by appropriate distribution of resource. This does not mean “one size fits all” and variations to the model will be agreed where this reflects geography or local offender needs, based on evidence.
6. The NPS will ensure value for money in everything that we do, while continuing to prioritise public protection.
7. We will ensure that the work undertaken in the NPS is evidence-based and meets a high standard of quality. There will be a focus on continuous improvement, and service innovation.
8. The outcome of discussions and decisions about design, implementation and review will consider equality implications with the intention of mitigating any negative impact on staff or service user groups covered by one or more protected characteristic. These considerations will be recorded and acted upon as part of the programmes’ Equality Analysis process.
9. The NPS will deliver against our commitments as set out in the TR Target Operating Model (TOM) and our annual Service Level Agreement with NOMS.
1.3 Proposals
A summary of the proposals is outlined below:
1.3.1 Court delivery
We propose that court work is resourced to maximise the proportion of court reports completed on the day consistent with meeting the needs of sentencers.
- There will be dedicated court services teams who will prepare all the Pre-Sentence Reports (PSRs) requested in the courts they service and will conduct all the enforcement work of their court
- The proportion of same-day short format reports will be maximised, with an ambition ultimately of up to 90% of court reports being completed on the day
- PSOs will form the majority of staff within the court teams, with PSRs reserved to POs only in certain specified circumstances
- The RSR/CAS process will be streamlined to reduce duplication and support timely allocation
- An effective proposal framework will be developed to inform the recommendations of PSR writers
1.3.2 Community Supervision
We propose clarifying the approach to community supervision.
- A new seven category tiering framework will be rolled out which better reflects the risk and need profile of NPS cases
- Cases will be managed by an individual officer
- High risk cases will be managed by POs. PSOs who have undertaken the appropriate level of training will hold low and some medium risk cases
- The Offender Supervisor role where it exists will be removed in favour of the delegation of certain specified tasks in support of the Offender Manager (OM)
- The use of group supervision in certain specified circumstances will be explored
We propose changes that will streamline processes and improve quality in parole work, recalls and the management of foreign national prisoners.
i. Parole
- Our proposals aim to make the parole process more efficient and make effective and appropriate use of release provisions
- The quality and timeliness of the parole process will be improved. A quality audit framework will be developed. OMs will have greater access to Public Protection Unit Database (PPUD) to enable smoother information sharing. There will be a pilot to test whether routine Senior Probation Officer (SPO) countersignature of all Parole Reports is necessary. We will press the case with partners so that OMs will contribute to most parole hearings via video link or telephone
- The NPS will explore Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) involvement starting earlier in custodial sentences as a means of ensuring that prisoners undertake necessary work before their parole date
ii. Recall
- The proposals aim to make sure that alternatives to recall are considered where suitable
- Staff will be expected to use measures short of recall where it is safe to do so, e.g. Secretary of State warning
- Whilst ACO/Head countersignature of recalls remains the norm, additional arrangements to support this will be explored and piloted
- Prompt use of MAPPA to drive risk management and sentence planning will be used to ensure that where it is assessed as safe re-release will be pursued
- To reduce unnecessary bureaucracy, executive re-release will be used effectively in appropriate circumstances
iii. Foreign National Prisoners (FNPs)
- It is proposed that FNPs will be managed by specialist divisional/regional teams potentially co-located with Home Office Immigration and Enforcement (HOIE) and prison staff. This proposal is dependent on the outcome of the Offender Management in Custody review and plans for expansion of electronic monitoring, and also requires clarification of the numbers of cases affected
1.3.4 Victims
We propose harmonising the processes and staffing of victim contact work.
- A national case management system for victim work will be rolled out
- Victim administration will be delivered through specialised hubs either at national or divisional level
- A framework will be developed to reflect differing levels of Victim Liaison Officer (VLO) activity in different cases
- VLOs will work in specialist teams, the VLO role will be reviewed and evaluated
1.3.5 Approved Premises (AP)
We propose a standardised approach to referrals, staffing and the regime of AP.
- All AP will become accredited as enabling environments
- A standard referral process will be established, using an electronic referral form in nDelius
- Staff roles and grades will be standardised
1.3.6 Youth Offending Services (YOS)
Subject to the outcome of the Youth Justice Review, we propose standardising the provision of resources and clarifying the role of seconded staff.
- A national framework will be agreed with the Youth Justice Board (YJB) which clarifies the NPS responsibility in Youth Offending work and the expectations of secondments
- The framework will include a resource model based on the workload of each Youth Offending Team, staff will be seconded in accordance with this
- NPS staff seconded to the YOS will work with high risk cases and with cases who will be transferred to NPS when they are 18
We propose introducing more consistency in the management structures in use across the NPS.
- Each Local Delivery Unit (LDU) cluster will be managed by a Head of Cluster with direct line management responsibility for SPOs
- Additional support will be provided for complex LDU clusters
- Case Administrators will be line managed by Senior Case Administrators
- Administrative support will be provided to reduce time spent by senior staff on administrative tasks
(more to follow)
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