Source · Select Committees · Justice Committee
Recommendation 18
18
Paragraph: 101
We welcome the additional investment the Ministry of Justice has made to improve Through the...
Conclusion
We welcome the additional investment the Ministry of Justice has made to improve Through the Gate service provision until existing contracts end. We are pleased that this additional investment has resulted in an improved service for those in need of resettlement support and we hope that the service continues to improve under the new model of probation. We particularly welcome the Ministry’s intention to improve the integration between prison and community. All this being said, we have heard from several witnesses that the new resettlement model lacks clarity, with some uncertainty about how the model will be delivered in practice.
Paragraph Reference:
101
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
Agreed The resettlement approach in the unified model is based upon the principle of the Community probation practitioner responsible for managing people post release from prison, becoming responsible for pre-release activities. They will hold the single sentence plan including all resettlement planning, ensuring risk planning and victim issues are addressed within preparation for release. This will include the following: • An enhanced Offender Management in Custody (OMiC) model for determinate sentence prisoners, bringing more people in scope of allocation to a Prison Offender Manager and moving the current handover to a consistent 7½ months pre-release, along with introducing 2 further pre-release meetings. • Community probation practitioners responsible for referrals to the Commissioned Rehabilitation Services (CRS) providers and maintaining contact as the service is delivered to ensure co-ordination and sequencing with sentence management activities. • CRS providers based in the communities where prisoners are released to, with the majority of services delivered post release. • Accommodation services would start pre-release to sustain existing tenancies and support obtaining accommodation for release. • A mentoring service starting pre-release to support people in prison with little or no community-based support to build social networks post release. • Short Sentence function will be established in all Probation Service Regions to provide a responsive, multi-agency approach for all people in prison serving short prison sentences. • A Resettlement pack with local information provided to all who leave prison, including from Court and those unconvicted. In order to ensure pre-release contacts with community probation practitioners are taking place, performance measures are being developed to provide assurance.