Consideration of equalities impacts

Transcription

1 Consideration of equalities impacts Rehabilitation Programme November 2013

2 Page 2 of 40 BILLS (13-14) 093A

3 Contents INTRODUCTION... 3 TRANSFORMING REHABILITATION REFORM PROGRAMME... 3 GATHERING EVIDENCE OF EQUALITY CONSIDERATIONS THROUGH CONSULTATION... 3 OBJECTIVES OF THE TRANSFORMING REHABILITATION REFORMS... 3 CONTINUING CONSIDERATION OF TRANSFORMING REHABILITATION EQUALITIES IMPLICATIONS... 3 APPENDIX 1: SUMMARY OF POTENTIAL EQUALITIES IMPLICATIONS HIGHLIGHTED BY RESPONSES TO THE TRANSFORMING REHABILITATION CONSULTATION... 3 APPENDIX 2: SUMMARY OF THEMES EMERGING FROM SURVEY INVITING VIEWS ON POTENTIAL EQUALITY IMPLICATIONS FROM STAKEHOLDERS... 3 APPENDIX 3: DISTRIBUTION OF PROTECTED CHARACTERISTICS AMONGST PROBATION STAFF... 3 APPENDIX 4: ANALYSIS OF THE OFFENDER POPULATION BY PROTECTED CHARACTERISTICS... 3 APPENDIX 5: EXTRACT FROM PRE-QUALIFICATION QUESTIONNAIRE COVERING EQUALITIES, HUMAN RIGHTS AND DISCRIMINATION... 3 Page 3 of 40

4 INTRODUCTION Ministry of Justice and the public sector equality duty Under the Equality Act 2010, when exercising its functions, the Ministry of Justice has an ongoing legal duty to pay due regard to the need to: eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other prohibited conduct under the Equality Act 2010; advance equality of opportunity between different groups of persons who share a protected characteristic and those who do not; and foster good relations between different groups. The payment of due regard needs to be considered in light of the nine protected characteristics: race sexual orientation marriage/civil partnership sex religion or belief gender reassignment disability age pregnancy/maternity The potential equality implications of the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms have been considered regularly as the programme has developed. The public sector equality duty is an ongoing duty and the equality implications of design decisions affecting the reform programme continue to be kept under review. Probation Trusts as public authorities under the Equality Act 2010 Probation Trusts are defined as public authorities for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010 and as such, they are also required to meet the public sector equality duty in respect of their functions. In relation to the Transforming Rehabilitation reform programme, this will mean conducting a proportionate local assessment of potential equality implications arising from the implementation of the reforms. Purpose of this document This document has been produced to support Probation Trusts to conduct this local equality analysis. This summary of the national level analysis undertaken by the Ministry of Justice is provided for Trusts to review and adopt as they consider appropriate. Regional characteristics unique to a particular Trust may not have been explicitly recognised in this broader analysis and Trusts will want to take this into account as they undertake their own assessment of potential equality implications for their area. Where clear implementation instructions have been set at the national level, there will be limited scope for Trusts to amend that process. However, it will still be important to consider and identify whether there are any equality implications unique to their area, and if so, whether there are processes within their own implementation plans Page 4 of 40

5 that allow for these particular impacts to be mitigated whilst ensuring the programme is implemented. Trusts are invited to consider whether any local equality implications identified through their analysis needs to be captured as part of the Ministry of Justice s ongoing equality analysis, for example because it stems from the overall national design. Trusts should consider contacting their local People Transition Service Human Resources hub lead in the first instance. Page 5 of 40

6 TRANSFORMING REHABILITATION REFORM PROGRAMME The key objectives of the proposals set out in Transforming Rehabilitation A Strategy for Reform can be summarised as follows: Reduce re-offending whilst continuing to protect the public through: A. Opening up rehabilitation services to a diverse market of providers, embedding the VCSE sector and ensuring effective local partnerships; B. Creating a national public probation service focused on public protection; C. Extending rehabilitative support to the most prolific group of offenders; D. Managing the flow of offenders from within prison, through the gate and into the community, reforming rehabilitation services and the designation of prisons to focus release into areas; E. Use of payment by results to incentivise providers to reduce reoffending. The Ministry of Justice has established the Rehabilitation Programme to deliver the reforms set out in Transforming Rehabilitation A Strategy for Reform and to ensure that these key objectives are achieved. This paper summarises our assessment of the main equality considerations associated with the planned reforms. This assessment has been informed by the outcome of public consultation and by ongoing review during the development of reform programme. The equality considerations have been presented in sections corresponding to each of the high level objectives set out above. Page 6 of 40

7 GATHERING EVIDENCE OF EQUALITY CONSIDERATIONS THROUGH CONSULTATION The Ministry of Justice published the consultation paper Transforming Rehabilitation a revolution in the way we manage offenders 1 on 9 January This paper set out proposals aimed at reforming the delivery of offender services in the community to reduce reoffending rates whilst delivering improved value for money for the tax payer. The consultation paper invited stakeholders to respond to two questions specifically focusing on the equalities impacts of the proposed reforms: Question C17: How can we use this new commissioning model, including payment by results, to ensure better outcomes for female offenders and others with complex needs or protected characteristics? Question C18: What are the likely impacts of our proposals on groups with protected characteristics? Please let us have any examples, case studies, research or other types of evidence to support your views. The consultation exercise as a whole generated a total of 598 responses, with the majority of respondents providing answers to the equality questions. Appendix 1 provides an overview of the main responses to these particular questions taken from both written submissions and through stakeholder engagement events undertaken during the consultation process. In addition to the questions set out in the initial consultation paper, we published a further questionnaire on the Ministry of Justice website, inviting additional views on potential equality considerations for offenders. The main themes emerging from this exercise are discussed at Appendix 2. To support our assessment of potential equalities implications arising from the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms, we have reviewed the data available to us on the prevalence of protected characteristics across the offender population and amongst staff employed by Probation Trusts. We acknowledge that the data set held centrally by the Ministry of Justice and the National Offender Management Service on the diversity profile of staff and offenders is not complete. This is mainly due to the way in which equality data is collected and reported to the centre. Improving data coverage for prisoners (and directly employed NOMS staff) is a published NOMS equality objective. 2 We have undertaken additional research and analysis to improve our understanding of the equality and diversity profile of current Probation Trust staff and the offender population most likely to be affected by the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms. In September 2013, we commissioned a bespoke data collection exercise to gather staff equality and diversity data from Probation Trusts, issued through the NOMS Source: National Offender Management Service Business Plan Page 7 of 40

8 Data Gateway (collection reference DC0225). The provisional data generated by this exercise are attached at Appendix 3. Data relating to the distribution of protected characteristics amongst the offender population are attached at Appendix 4. Within the Transforming Rehabilitation programme, an Equality Working Group is tasked with ensuring that the potential equality implications of the reform programme are kept under review as the system design is finalised and the programme moves towards implementation. Page 8 of 40

9 OBJECTIVES OF THE TRANSFORMING REHABILITATION REFORMS Objective A: Opening up rehabilitation services to a diverse market of providers, embedding the VCSE sector and ensuring effective local partnerships. Summary Activity across the Rehabilitation Programme to deliver on this outcome includes developing the framework for a centrally managed programme of competitions to deliver probation service contracts within 21 contract package areas. In developing our approach to the competition, efforts have been made to engage providers from all sectors and to ensure that there is a genuine and sustainable role for small and medium private enterprises (SMEs) and local voluntary community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector organisations. Under current delivery arrangements a significant proportion of the specialist support provided to offenders with protected characteristics serving sentences in the community is delivered by local specialist VCSE providers, under contract to Probation Trusts. There is a particularly prominent role for VCSE organisations in the provision of women-specific services. Equality considerations Some respondents to the Transforming Rehabilitation consultation commented that in their view a central commissioning model combined with the geographic scale of the contract package areas could limit the extent to which local VCSE providers of services to women and other minority groups of offenders with shared protected characteristics will be able to participate in delivering services in the new system. The Secretary of State for Justice has set the clear objective that local and specialist SME and VCSE providers should be able to engage at all levels in delivering rehabilitation services to offenders. For the Transforming Rehabilitation competition, we will require potential lead providers to demonstrate a genuine commitment to developing and maintaining a local supply chain. The documentation published at the launch of the competition on 19 September 2013 included our Principles of Competition, 3 Part 2 of which detailed the market stewardship principles that we intend to apply. These will be key to ensuring that lead providers develop sustainable and effective relationships with SME and local VCSE providers in their supply chain. As part of the competition process, bidders will be required to evidence how they will operate in accordance with these principles, with the successful bidders then contractually obliged to meet this approach. The Ministry of Justice is taking further steps to support small and local providers to participate in the competition. During the initial Pre-Qualification phase of the competition, organisations interested in acting as a sub-contractor to one of the lead providers may register their interest with the Ministry of Justice. The intention is to create a database of Tier II and Tier III potential providers setting out the services 3 Page 9 of 40

10 they provide and the geographical spread of those services. This information will be shared with those potential lead providers who pass the Pre-Qualification process, to provide visibility of the range of specialist providers and services available in the areas for which they are bidding. The Ministry is also investing 500k between 2012 and 2014 to help build capacity across the VCSE to compete for future contracts. The pilot of the Justice Data Lab is intended to help providers (and primarily those from the VCSE sector) to demonstrate the impact and effectiveness of their services on the rehabilitation of offenders. Combined these actions are geared towards ensuring that providers of specialist services have a sustainable role within the reformed system, so that the specific needs of offenders (including needs related to protected characteristics) can be appropriately addressed. The initial consultation process and subsequent engagement with stakeholders highlighted the suggestion that lead providers may seek to develop a generic service to reduce costs, without differentiating for those with different needs to the mainstream. In particular, the case has been made for increased specification of services for women offenders, with some stakeholders recommending specific commissioning arrangements for services for female offenders to guarantee that the particular needs of this group are addressed. In order to avoid adding costs, disrupting services or limiting the application of payment by results incentives to reduce reoffending, we have decided that the most effective way of commissioning is by contract area, rather than offender cohort. Our intention to apply a payment mechanism that encourages providers to tailor rehabilitative services to the needs of the individual offender is discussed in a later section on payment by results. We propose to use mechanisms such as the evaluation criteria for competition bids, the development of service specifications, and the contract management process to ensure that all potential providers demonstrate how they will avoid unlawful discrimination in the delivery of services. As part of the initial Pre-Qualification phase of the competition, bidders seeking to progress to the next stage will need to provide satisfactory responses to questions reviewing their track record in relation to equality issues. The relevant section of the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire is attached as Appendix 5. Failure to meet the pass threshold for this section of the Questionnaire will prevent the bidder from participating in the next phase of the competition. Those bidders that proceed to the next phase of the competition will be required to answer further questions testing their proposed approach to meeting the public sector equality duty, and providing services that take into account the needs of particular offender groups. Commitments made at this stage in the competition will be established as contractual obligations for the successful bidders, and will be kept under review by NOMS contract managers. This approach is intended to ensure that prospective providers give due consideration to the particular needs of minority groups of offenders with shared protected characteristics and those with complex needs, as well as to encourage the provision of differential services. In the specific case of women offenders, this is reinforced by our decision to amend the Offender Management Act through the Offender Rehabilitation Bill to introduce a requirement on the Secretary of State for Justice to ensure that contracts or arrangements for delivering rehabilitation and supervision services must state what provision is intended to meet the particular needs of female offenders. Page 10 of 40

11 Responding to local needs and making the best use of effective local services is central to the aims of the Transforming Rehabilitation strategy. The commissioning process will be informed by engagement with co-commissioning partners at a national, Police and Crime Commissioner and local authority level. Contracts will be designed to respond to changing demands and priorities at local and national levels, new legislation and the wider commissioning context. The Transforming Rehabilitation competition will require providers to evidence how they intend to sustain and develop local networks and partnerships, such as Integrated Offender Management arrangements. Where effective partnerships are already in place and are proving successful at reducing reoffending, it will be in the best interests of providers to nurture local partnerships and to facilitate offender engagement with rehabilitation services commissioned by other organisations. Local competition teams have been established to support engagement between the potential lead providers and local criminal justice system partners and other stakeholders in their contract package area. A virtual data room has also been created for each of the contract package areas, containing information about the characteristics of the area and the services and priorities of other organisations working with offenders. The aim is to ensure potential providers are fully informed about the areas for which they are bidding and can design their operating model to complement existing services and partnerships. Page 11 of 40

12 Objective B: Creating a national public probation service focused on public protection Summary of activity The respective roles of the National Probation Service and the Community Rehabilitation Companies are set out in detail in the Target Operating Model 4 document, published alongside the competition documentation on 19 September The new organisations will be established and will replace the current 35 Probation Trusts from 1 April Probation Trust staff will be assigned to a post within the new structure by the Transforming Rehabilitation People Transition Service in a process running from November Staff currently engaged in offender management roles will be allocated to a post within the new structure primarily on the basis of an assessment of their recent caseload of offenders. Staff whose caseload includes a high proportion of offenders who represent a high risk of serious harm to the public or MAPPA registered cases are likely to be allocated to the National Probation Service, with the remaining staff transferring to posts within one of the Community Rehabilitation Companies. An allocation tool has been developed to facilitate this process, to ensure that these decisions are taken in an objective and transparent manner. The allocation process will initially assess staff based on their experience and current role. The Ministry of Justice and Probation Association are working with the Probation Trade Unions to establish provisions within the National Agreement on Staff Transfer to ensure that the allocation tool ensures fair treatment for those currently on long-term absence from work (for example, through ill health or maternity/paternity/adoption leave), and takes account of reasonable adjustments in place to support disabled employees. Once the initial allocations have been made, unfilled posts will then be assigned through a subsequent expression of interest process, and finally through an assessment against agreed criteria. An appeals process will be in place to support the assignment process. Staff in post at the point of transition to the new system will be guaranteed a post within the new structure. A targeted programme of voluntary redundancies will be undertaken prior to the transition, but no staff will be made compulsorily redundant. It has also been agreed that staff transferring to posts within the new system will do so on the basis that their existing employment terms and conditions (including pension arrangements) will be protected. Equality considerations Opening up some probation services to competition will necessarily result in a reduction in the scale of the public sector probation service. The remit of the new National Probation Service will necessarily require fewer staff in certain posts that exist under the current Trust structure as a large volume of work transfers to the Community Rehabilitation Companies. This will particularly be the case in relation to corporate services, with the activities currently managed individually by 35 Probation Trusts transferring to Ministry of Justice Shared Services. All Probation Trusts staff engaged in corporate services roles at the point of transition will, as a general rule, transfer to the CRC. NOMS is 4 Page 12 of 40

13 currently identifying what additional roles will be required within Corporate Services. Part of that work involves identifying the roles where it is absolutely essential that the incumbent has specific probation experience. It is envisaged that the small number of roles which require specific probation experience as an essential requirement will sit in the NPS and will be part of an operational support hub. Following completion of the competition, the successful bidders will largely be free to determine the structure and resource requirements of the Community Rehabilitation Companies. They will need to comply with employment law and observe the terms and conditions under which Probation Trust staff transfer into the new organisations. In order to facilitate the effective delivery of probation services, we are working to ensure that the estates arrangement at the point of transition aligns with the service delivery model set out in the Target Operating Model publication. Community Rehabilitation Companies and the National Probation Service will be expected to work collaboratively and it is very likely that this would often be facilitated by some co-location. Properties for the National Probation Service and Community Rehabilitation Companies will be provided initially from the existing Ministry of Justice estate, with properties selected from those currently being used by Probation Trusts. In the medium term, the National Probation Service and the Community Rehabilitation Companies may seek to revise their property arrangements and they will be required to undertake a process of engagement and consultation with staff on the effects of any new arrangements. Page 13 of 40

14 Objective C: Extending rehabilitative support to the most prolific group of offenders Summary of activity The provisions within the Offender Rehabilitation Bill to extend licence conditions and statutory supervision to offenders sentenced to less than 12 months in prison are intended to address the current anomaly that means some of the most highly prolific offenders currently do not qualify to receive any statutory post-release support. Analysis of the under 12 month release prison population by protected characteristics Our plans to apply licence conditions and statutory supervision for a period of at least 12 months for all offenders sentenced to custody will introduce new sentence requirements and rehabilitation opportunities for offenders sentenced to less than 12 months in prison. All such short sentenced offenders (regardless of their personal characteristics) will be required to engage with a new set of services. Some groups of offenders with particular protected characteristics have higher representation within this group when compared against all offenders starting community sentences and all offenders released from prison. Drawing on prison release data for prisoners released between January and December and offender management caseload data for all offenders starting community sentences in 2011, we have identified the trends summarised below: There is a slightly higher representation of male offenders in the under 12 month prison sentence group compared to the wider group of all offenders (90% cf. 87%); and a corresponding lower representation of female offenders in the under 12 month group (10% cf. 13%). There does not appear to be any significant variation in the distribution of different ethnic groups, religion or belief 6, or age ranges amongst offenders sentenced to less than 12 months in comparison with the wider group of all offenders see Appendix 4 for this data, and analysis of the distribution of protected characteristics amongst offenders and the general population. Protected characteristics Proportion of under 12 month prison releases Proportion of all offenders (community sentences and prison releases) Source: Offender Management Caseload Statistics (2011); Prison Release Data (2011) Representation in under 12 month prison release group, compared to all offenders Sex Male 90% 87% Higher representation Female 10% 13% Lower representation 5 Offender Management Statistics Quarterly Bulletin October to December 2011, England and Wales, Ministry of Justice (April 2012) 6 The available data for offenders starting community sentences does not include information in relation to religion. Our assessment is based on prison release data, with which we have compared the religion of those released from under 12 month sentences against all released prisoners. Page 14 of 40

15 Equality considerations Providers will be required to offer through the gate resettlement services (such as mentoring, accommodation support, financial advice, etc) to all offenders in custody before their release, as well as to deliver the requirements of each offender s sentence or licence in the community. Providers will need to be alert to the particular needs of different offender groups and ensure that appropriate support is available to help them understand and comply with the new sentence requirements on release from prison. Reasonable adjustments will continue to be required for offenders with learning and physical disabilities, to help remove the difficulties they may face in meeting the terms of their sentence and reduce the likelihood of breach (and therefore sanctions) for non-compliance. The competition will be designed to test bidders proposals for meeting the needs of disabled offenders. Flexibility in applying the new sentence requirements will also be required for offenders whose childcare or other caring responsibilities may introduce barriers to complying with the terms of their sentence, such as limiting their ability to attend supervision appointments at certain times or locations. This will be particularly important in the case of women offenders, as the available evidence suggests that they are more likely to have primary caring responsibilities when compared with male offenders. 7 With this in mind, and to give the new probation providers flexibility to do what works to reduce reoffending, there will be few specifications in relation to the delivery of the rehabilitative elements of the new licence and supervision period for short sentenced prisoners. 7 The Surveying Prisoner Crime Reduction Survey reported that 54% of prisoners have dependent children aged under 18 years old. However, 60% of female prisoners lived with their children before they entered custody, compared to 44% of male prisoners. During their imprisonment c.75% of female prisoners reported their children lived with another family member and c.25% reported that their children now lived with their partner. Only around 3% reported that their children had been taken into care. Conversely, around 90% of male prisoners reported that their children lived with their partner during their imprisonment, and around 11% lived with another family member (only 1% of male prisoners reported that their children had been taken into care). These differences in the living arrangements of prisoner s children s according to prisoner gender may reflect the fact that women were more likely to live on their own with dependent children than men. Between one third and half of female prisoners lived alone with their children (compared to fewer than 10% of male prisoners). Page 15 of 40

16 Objective D: Managing the flow of offenders from within prison, through the gate and into the community, reforming rehabilitation services and the designation of prisons to focus release into areas Summary of activity The reforms introduce a new approach to managing the release and resettlement of prisoners into the community. This involves rationalising prisoner release patterns so that the vast majority of prisoners released into each contract package area spend at least the final period of their time in custody in a designated resettlement prison where the through the gate service will be run by the same Community Rehabilitation Company that will manage them on release 8. A network of 70 adult male local, training and open prisons have been identified as resettlement prisons 9, with all of the women s prisons within the estate also fulfilling this new function. Minimising the number of prisons in which each provider has to offer resettlement services is intended to strengthen the delivery of through the gate services, increase efficiency and lead to improved rehabilitation outcomes for prisoners. Equality considerations By identifying resettlement prisons within (or in close proximity to) their home contract package area, short term prisoners will be more likely to serve the entirety of the custodial element of their sentences nearer home. However, some offenders serving longer prison sentences could potentially be held in custody further from home, before returning to a resettlement prison closer to their home area for the final three months of their sentence. The proposals take account of the uneven geographical distribution of the prison estate, meaning that in some cases there will be dedicated resettlement prisons which are situated outside the geographical boundaries of the contract package area. This is unlikely to differ practically from current arrangements. Each contract package area will have at least one adult male prison within its geographical boundaries and across the country we will aim to have at least 80% of offenders released from a resettlement prison designated to their home area. The majority of male offenders will therefore engage with their home Community Rehabilitation Company in prison prior to their release, with this relationship continuing through the gate into the community. Women represent only five percent of the prison population and as a result, there are currently only 12 women s prisons within the estate. For the majority of the 21 contract package areas, it will not possible to designate a prison that releases female offenders solely to that area. As a result, there is an increased likelihood that female prisoners will be accommodated in and released from an establishment outside of their home area when compared with male prisoners. In recognition that women offenders have particular needs and that the organisation of custodial services needs to reflect this, the Secretary of State for Justice commissioned NOMS to conduct a review of the women s estate. The terms of reference for the review were to make recommendations for improving the organisation of women s prisons to ensure that the particular needs of women offenders can be met, and to deliver on the Transforming Rehabilitation plans for Page 16 of 40

17 improving resettlement. NOMS published the outcome of this review in October The review recommends the establishment of strategic prison hubs, located as far as possible close to major centres of population. These hubs should be of an appropriate size to serve the courts, hold women from the surrounding region and provide a range of interventions. Moreover, they should provide an appropriate physical environment to support women s caring responsibilities through family visits, which maintain and build upon relationships with children and other family members. These hubs will enable most women to remain in their closest prison throughout their sentence and support the Transforming Rehabilitation proposals for through the gate resettlement services delivered by Community Rehabilitation Companies, and increase opportunities to undertake work outside of prison which can be continued after their sentence. To ensure that through the gate resettlement support is available to all female prisoners, all of the women s prisons within the estate will be designated as resettlement prisons. Work is underway to finalise the resettlement prisons operating model for women. Regardless of the comparatively small caseload of female prisoners and the limited number of women s prisons, one objective of this work is to ensure that female prisoners are able to access a through the gate resettlement service comparable to that available to male prisoners.. The Target Operating Model document sets out proposals for ensuring responsive transition arrangements for young offenders serving Detention Training Orders who are aged 18 or over at the point of release. It is well understood that age alone does not dictate whether a young offender will be able to cope with the transition between the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems. Under the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms, the National Probation Service will continue to provide Probation Officers on secondment to Youth Offending Teams. The National Probation Service and Youth Offending Teams will be responsible for deciding whether an offender aged 18 or over at the point of release should be managed in the community by the Youth Offending Team or transition to the adult system. This decision will be made locally, based on the needs of the young person. If the decision is made to transfer them to the adult system, the National Probation Service will work with the seconded Probation Officer within the Youth Offending Team to apply the case allocation system that will determine whether they should be managed by the National Probation Service or by their home Community Rehabilitation Company Page 17 of 40

18 Objective E: Use of payment by results to incentivise providers to reduce reoffending Summary of activity The payment by results approach is intended to change the way in which services are commissioned, prioritising the delivery of outcomes over outputs or processes, and only rewarding in full those providers who successfully deliver the required outcomes. Through the proposals outlined in the Transforming Rehabilitation strategy, the aim is to incentivise the Community Rehabilitation Companies to focus on the needs of service users, and to encourage them to develop tailored services responding to individual need. The Ministry of Justice published an indicative payment mechanism straw man in May 2013 for discussion with the market. This included proposals for a payment mechanism combining fee for service and payment by results elements. A significant amount of feedback was received in response to this consultation, a summary of which has been published on the Ministry of Justice website. 11 The payment mechanism is being developed further in light of the feedback received, with the aim of finalising this work by the conclusion of the Pre-Qualification phase of the competition. Equality considerations Payment by results contracts introduce new incentives for service providers which are not present in solely fee for service contracts. It is recognised that outcomebased success measures will encourage providers to consider how best to target their resources to help maximise their return. We anticipate that under a payment by results framework geared towards reducing reoffending, providers will analyse their offender cohorts to inform decisions about resourcing and the targeting of services. Beyond the delivery of the sentence of the court, providers will have discretion over what additional rehabilitation support is offered and to whom it is probable that there will be some groups of offenders that will attract higher levels of investment than others. Our plans for the payment by results model are intended to limit the potential for particular groups of offenders to be marginalised. Building on the experience gained from the initial programme of payment by results pilots (which adopted a range of performance metrics), it is intended that the performance metric will reward providers who increase the proportion of offenders desisting from crime, whilst retaining an incentive to tackle the hardest to help. The proposed performance measure will take into account both the first reconviction and each subsequent reconviction during a 12 month monitoring period, with both factors influencing the level of any final outcome payments. This combination of binary and frequency measures will offer the greatest rewards to the Community Rehabilitation Companies who divert offenders completely from crime, and also maintains an incentive for them to offer sustained support to offenders after their first and subsequent re-offence. This should encourage the Community Rehabilitation Companies to prioritise support for offender groups with high rates of reoffending, and deliver tailored services that take into account the individual requirements of offenders, including those with more complex needs. As we work to finalise the details of the payment mechanism, we will keep clearly in 11 Page 18 of 40

19 mind the need to give sufficient weight to the frequency measure to ensure it provides a genuine incentive. As discussed above, the performance metric is intended to encourage a focus on the needs of each individual offender. However, the Community Rehabilitation Companies will have a degree of freedom to analyse their offender cohorts and target resources where they think they will have the greatest impact. This is an important feature in enabling the bidders participating in the competition to accept the financial risk inherent in payment by results contracts. By making only a portion of the overall payment subject to payment by results and funding the delivery of the sentence of the court on a fee for service basis, we should ensure that the Community Rehabilitation Companies at a minimum deliver the order of the court for all low and medium risk offenders under their supervision. Prior to any contracts being awarded, all potential providers will be required to demonstrate how the principles of fairness and equality of opportunity have informed their service delivery model, including by making appropriate services available to support groups of offenders with shared protected characteristics, in particular female offenders. Commitments made in their responses to the competition will then form contractual obligations that will be monitored by NOMS contract managers. Page 19 of 40

20 CONTINUING CONSIDERATION OF TRANSFORMING REHABILITATION EQUALITIES IMPLICATIONS The Ministry of Justice has an ongoing duty to pay due regard to the equalities implications of its policy proposals and operations. This document summarises potential equalities issues that have been identified to date, and we will continue to consider and evaluate potential equalities issues as the Rehabilitation Programme proceeds towards implementation. In support of this work, we will consider what further data will be required to support the ongoing identification and monitoring of equalities impacts and how this information can be collected. Page 20 of 40