MoJ Admits PSR Problem

Here's news from an MoJ announcement yesterday that's certain to cause many a seasoned probation officer to either reach for alcohol or shed a mournful tear. Having so successfully spent the last decade destroying the integrity and utility of Pre Sentence Reports, the MoJ finally realises there's a problem. If only they'd been reading this blog - actually they did/do, but the civil service command and control mindset takes so very long to admit a mistake of any kind. It's yet more evidence of why probation will be forever doomed unless it can break free and regain it's distinctive identity and local accountability. This from MoJ website:-  

Pre-sentence report pilot in 15 magistrates’ courts

Pre-sentence reports

A pre-sentence report (PSR) is an expert assessment of the nature and causes of an offender’s behaviour, the risk they pose and to whom, as well as an independent recommendation of the sentencing option(s) available to the court.

A PSR assists the court when they may be considering a community or custodial sentence for the offender. A PSR must be as objective as possible and for this reason typically consists of:

• a summary of the facts of the case
• an expert risk and needs assessment about the individual circumstances of the offender and the offence(s) committed
• an analysis of the sentencing options, with an independent sentence proposal
• additional information not presented to the court such as information about the offender and their view of the offence(s) which is obtained by interviewing the offender or through the liaison with other agencies

PSR’s provide the court with a greater understanding of the background and the context of the offending behaviour, rather than just the details of the offence. However, the Judiciary will form an independent view for the most appropriate sentence based on all the evidence they have heard.

The pilot

As highlighted in the Sentencing White Paper, published in September 2020, there was a significant decrease in the number of PSR’s being requested by the Judiciary between 2010-2018. The PSR pilot was launched in response to this government recognising the vital role that PSR’s play in the criminal justice system.

The Ministry of Justice, HMCTS and the Probation Service has developed an Alternative Delivery Model designed to improve the quality of information presented to court at each of the pilot sites. The pilot will evaluate whether this alternative approach will improve offender outcomes, Judicial confidence and the administration of justice.

The pilot launched on 22 March 2021 and was rolled out across 15 magistrates’ courts in 4 phases over 8 weeks. It is now live in all 15 magistrates’ courts.

In the Sentencing White Paper, the Lord Chancellor committed to ensuring that probation staff are supported to produce a high standard of reports and to increase the amount of court disposals which benefit from a PSR.

This aligns with the ambition set out in the Probation Target Operating Model: to provide expert pre-sentence insights to the Judiciary, contribute to efficient court processes and arrangements for enabling successful sentence commencement.

Alternative Delivery Model

The Alternative Delivery Model comprises three components;

• Encouraging and monitoring a before plea PSR process (set out in the nationally available PSR before plea protocol) - seeking to identify defendants earlier in the criminal justice system
• Maximising the capability of the National Probation Service to deliver higher quality reports on the day through targeted training and development
• Delivery of short format written reports for three priority cohorts that are understood to have more complex needs. These are:
• Female offenders
• Young adult offenders (between 18-24 years of age)
• Offenders who are deemed to be at risk of custody

The priority cohorts were identified as commonly having complex needs, and therefore require a more comprehensive, written PSR rather than an oral report. It is important to note that Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic populations generally show an over-representation in the offender population and the evaluation will be analysing this data to identify if it is possible to discern any impacts for people from ethnic minority communities. The pilot has also created a new learning and development package for probation court teams in pilot sites. This package is split between online learning and virtual workshops which include a focus on building communications and advocacy skills, tackling racial disparities in the criminal justice system and learning how to become trauma informed and responsive to better support offenders.

Next steps

Early insights from the pilot will be collected after 6 months, and a fuller evaluation will be undertaken after 12 months. A further evaluation exercise will also look at longer-term outcomes of offenders throughout the year after sentence.

Published 19 May 2021