Page1. PBNI Response to the Northern Ireland Executive s Draft Programme for Government

Transcription

1 Page1 PBNI Response to the Northern Ireland Executive s Draft Programme for Government

2 Page2 The Probation Board for Northern Ireland PBNI was created in 1982 by the Probation Board (NI) Order 1982 and is a key organisation within the Northern Ireland Criminal Justice system. PBNI works at every stage of the criminal justice process; at court, in custody and in the community and with victims of crime. It also contributes to the multi-agency public protection arrangements to manage certain violent and sexual offenders. It is part of the Reducing Offending in Partnership project which tackles the most prolific offenders in NI. It is a designated body on the Policing and Community Safety Partnerships, and is committed to working in every local community in Northern Ireland. PBNI s Role PBNI s role is to change lives for safer communities and it does this by ensuring sentence compliance, challenging offending, minimising harm and developing responsible citizenship. i. Ensuring sentence compliance means that PBNI will hold offenders to account in terms of keeping to the requirements of a court order or conditions of a licence and will take appropriate enforcement action where there is evidence of non-compliance. ii. Challenging offending means PBNI will engage with offenders in order to produce positive changes in attitudes and behaviours which will impact on and reduce the likelihood of them offending in the future. This involves supporting the offender to commit to change through constructive and effective interventions. iii. Minimise harm means that PBNI will contribute to community safety through the appropriate and proportionate use of constructive and restrictive measures and controls to minimise the risk of harm to others and promote the safety of victims. This work is undertaken within multi-agency risk management arrangements. iv. Develop responsible citizenship means that PBNI will support offenders to become more responsible citizens and better integrated into the community. PBNI is able to carry out its role by having professionally trained probation officers deliver front line services to both those who have offended and those who are victims of crime. Those staff members are qualified social workers and

3 Page3 trained to challenge offenders on their behaviour, motivate them to change, and minimise harm. It is probation officers distinct and professional training that enables them to engage with individuals and in the challenging work of assisting them to repair and rebuild their lives, thereby reducing crime. PBNI s Purpose: Changing Lives for Safer Communities Probation delivers a critical role in the criminal justice system to ensure compliance with sentences imposed by the courts: and assisting people who have offended change their behaviour in order to make NI a safer place. PBNI s Response to the NI Executive s draft Programme for Government The Board members of the Probation Board for Northern Ireland welcome the opportunity to respond to the Northern Ireland Executive s draft Programme for Government (PfG). The PBNI welcomes the intent of the PfG to move to Outcomes Based Accountability. It is an approach which is compatible with the PBNI s organisational purpose of Changing lives for Safer Communities. In the PfG, Outcome 7 We have a safe community where we respect the law, and each other - is particularly relevant to the PBNI. We believe that we can contribute to many of the Outcome s identified indicators. PBNI also welcomes the PfG s emphasis on the importance of collaborative working. In this, we believe that we can contribute to many of the elements set out in the Executive s role for the successful delivery of Outcome 7. We believe contributing to those elements will encourage collaborative and partnership working. PBNI welcomes this facilitative approach. Our expectation is that there will be a requirement to work across Departments and PBNI will do so when we have a role to play to help others deliver on other outcomes. In relation to Indicator 1 PBNI suggest that an additional measure should be the PSNI s annual recorded crime statistics. In respect of Indicator 39 PBNI would ask that the lead indicator is also presented by sentence disposal, as per

4 Page4 the current DOJ s annual Adult and Youth Re-offending in Northern Ireland report. PBNI believe collaborative working on mental health issues, which affect so many people who come into the justice system, will be particularly important. PBNI works in partnership with a range of statutory partners including the Health and Social Care Trusts, the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, the Housing Executive, the Public Health Agency and the Department of Education. Over 70% of the offenders who are currently supervised by PBNI have addiction problems and 35% state that they have a mental health condition. PBNI also works closely with a range of partners including Police, Prison Service, Youth Justice Agency, the Court Service and the community and voluntary sector. We believe there are opportunities for further collaboration with these partners. Currently PBNI is developing its Corporate Plan for the period In doing so, the PfG has been a critical consideration, even though it is currently undergoing consultation. We have used Outcome 7 and the 3 indicators: Reduce Reoffending, Reduce Crime and Increase the effectiveness of the justice system in the development of our proposed Corporate Plan. PBNI s primary task is of ensuring compliance with sentences handed down by the Courts. At the end of March 2016, the Probation Board was supervising 4,209 people subject to 4,576 court orders. As part of ensuring sentence compliance PBNI staff work to help people address their behaviours, which will help prevent reoffending in the future. Part of PBNI s current role involves tackling the causes of reoffending and ensuring that issues such as addictions are tackled through our extensive programme work. From working with offenders, the PBNI has many insights and a depth of knowledge on the causes of the offending behaviours. We can inform partners and policy makers on what can be done to reduce crime. PBNI also contributes to the effectiveness of the justice system, most obviously through the preparation of pre-sentence reports. In , the Probation

5 Page5 Board provided 4,445, Pre-Sentence Reports to assist judges decisions regarding the types of sentences to give at criminal courts. PBNI provide a Victim Information Scheme and manage the co-located victims unit. There were 132 new registrations to the PBNI Victims Information Scheme during At the end of March 2016 there were 242 victims registered on the Scheme. PBNI will continue with this work and look to how its performance may be improved. The expectation is that the next Corporate Plan will use the 3 indicators to guide the actions to reflect how the PBNI can most effectively to the delivery of Outcome 7 and other Outcomes as well. Conclusion To summarise, PBNI welcomes the PfG and will work collaboratively to contribute to the delivery of the relevant Outcomes. Vilma Patterson Chairman, PBNI 22 July 2016