17
Recommendation
18th Report - The future of the Probati…
Accepted in Part
So far as Day 1 provision itself goes, we have heard convincing evidence that some services may not be available straight away and are not clear what will be provided for those people who would use them. We invite the Ministry of Justice to set out what initial provision will …
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So far as Day 1 provision itself goes, we have heard convincing evidence that some services may not be available straight away and are not clear what will be provided for those people who would use them. We invite the Ministry of Justice to set out what initial provision will be offered on Day 1 to those who need financial, benefits and debt services no longer available, a need that may be exacerbated by the conditions created by the covid pandemic. We recognise that suitable services will be made available at a later date, but we seek clear information on when that will be. We recommend that the Ministry set out a post-Day 1 procurement timeline for services not in scope for Day 1. (Paragraph 87) Through the Gate and the new Resettlement model
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Government response AI summary
The government has agreed that Probation Practitioners will support offenders in accessing services not commissioned on Day 1, with commissioning decisions to be driven by Regional Probation Directors' plans. It commits to developing and sharing commissioning pipelines, but does not provide a specific overall post-Day …
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Ministry of Justice
22
Recommendation
18th Report - The future of the Probati…
Accepted in Part
We recognise that newly qualified probation officers and those still in training need training, development and support, and should have smaller caseloads, but we are concerned that in the interim, caseloads for qualified probation officers will remain high. While we appreciate that many variables make setting a target caseload difficult, …
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We recognise that newly qualified probation officers and those still in training need training, development and support, and should have smaller caseloads, but we are concerned that in the interim, caseloads for qualified probation officers will remain high. While we appreciate that many variables make setting a target caseload difficult, it is clear from Inspectorate research that caseloads of more than 50 affect the quality of work, and thus the ability of probation to meet the aims of rehabilitation and public protection. We recommend that the MoJ commit to ensuring that individual caseloads do not exceed a baseline figure of 50. We recognise caseload numbers may fluctuate below this number, but they should not exceed it. The Ministry should also set out what work is being done to reduce caseloads, beyond the recruitment of additional probation officers and what support is available to staff with high caseloads, to ensure they are able to manage risk for all offenders in their caseload adequately.
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Government response AI summary
The government agreed that a caseload of no more than 50 is reasonable for cases requiring ongoing risk management, noting the national average is 32.5. It stated that caseloads for less complex cases will be managed by a new Unified Tiering Model implemented in May …
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Ministry of Justice