Source · Select Committees · Justice Committee
Recommendation 9
9
Deferred
Paragraph: 94
Ensure all IPP prisoners have access to a community probation officer with adequate contact
Recommendation
It is unacceptable that some prisoners do not have access to a community probation officer. HMPPS should set out why this is the case, and what work is being done to ensure that all IPP prisoners have access to a community probation officer to support them to progress through their sentence. We are also concerned that in some cases, the probation officer may have little knowledge of, or prior contact with, the offender. There needs to be sufficient resource for community-based offender managers to provide IPP prisoners with the support needed to prepare for parole hearings. HMPPS should set out what it is doing to ensure that probation officers have an adequate level of contact with the offender prior to their parole hearing.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government states it will not reduce the eligibility period for licence termination from 10 to 5 years, but will review the policy and practice for suspending supervision in appropriate cases. The response does not address the core recommendation regarding access to community probation officers or the adequacy of officer contact.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
94
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government · verbatim extract
Deferred
Reasoning: The staffing challenges faced by the Probation Service extend to its work in prisons, supporting IPP prisoners to prepare for parole hearings. To address the staffing issues, the Probation Service has a number of existing measures in place which aim to address the shortage of staff. In hard-to-recruit regions, Public Interest Transfers are enacted to incentivise Professional Qualification in Probation (PQIP) candidates to apply to work in these regions. Since July 2022, there has been a centralisation of recruitment in 6 priority regions which lead on the recruitment of Case Administrators and Probation Services Officers with funded media and marketing. Place based support and detached duty has been deployed in red sites in London and we will be extending this provision. We have launched flexible career pathways for staff approaching retirement, to help encourage them to remain in service for longer if they choose to do so. By March 2023, our ongoing recruitment endeavour will have brought 1,500 more PQIPs on board and by the same date we will have introduced a system of financial incentivisation to support recruitment in hard-to-fill sites. In addition to recruitment, a prioritisation framework has been implemented to ensure regions focus resources on areas of highest risk. IPP Progression Panels, an initiative introduced by the Probation Service to provide multi-disciplinary consultation on case progression and support, are delivered in custody as well as in the community. These can be used to further prepare for critical events such as a parole hearing. HMPPS does recognise that IPP prisoners are in a challenging situation, and we will review the way in which these individuals are currently case managed whilst in custody, including the allocation and access to probation officers throughout their sentence and where additional support is required at key points in that sentence. Within this, we will also consider how we might increase resilience where it is necessary for a change of 8 IPP sentences: Government and Parole Board Responses to the Committee’s Third Report probation officer in an IPP case. Further, we will review and refresh the guidance on IPP Progression Panels, informed by this report, to ensure it continues to meet the needs for supporting IPP progression.
Read the full response on Parliament ↗