Martin Partington: Spotlight on the Justice System

• In May 2013, the Ministry of Justice published “Transforming Rehabilitation: A Strategy for Reform”. The strategy sets out the Government’s plans for transforming the way in which offenders are managed in the community in order to bring down reoffending rates.

The key aspects of the reforms are:

• Creation of a new public sector National Probation Service (see separate blog item).

• Providing that every offender released from custody will receive statutory supervision and rehabilitation in the community. The Offender Rehabilitation Bill, introduced into the House of Lords in May 2013, will – when enacted – extend this statutory supervision and rehabilitation to all 50,000 of the most prolific group of offenders – those sentenced to less than 12 months in custody.

• Putting in place a nationwide ‘through the prison gate’ resettlement service, meaning most offenders are given continuous support by one provider from custody into the community. This will be supported by ensuring that most offenders are held in a prison designated to their area for at least three months before release.

• Opening the market up to a diverse range of new rehabilitation providers, designed to get the best out of the public, voluntary and private sectors, at the local as well as national level.

• Introducing new payment incentives for market providers to focus on reforming offenders, giving providers flexibility to do what works and freedom from bureaucracy, but only paying them in full for real reductions in reoffending.

For further information on the Government’s plans see http://www.justice.gov.uk/transforming-rehabilitation

For further information on the Offenders Rehabilitation Bill 2013 go to http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2013-14/offenderrehabilitation.html