Staff in North Yorkshire Probation Area have delivered a solid performance during 2008-09, according to the Area’s annual report, published today (Monday 20 July 2009). This is the eighth report published since North Yorkshire became one of the 42 Areas that form the National Probation Service.
The annual report identifies how North Yorkshire Probation Area performed last year, against the priorities and targets that the Government set for North Yorkshire, in order for the National Probation Service to achieve its aims.
One of probation’s most high profile areas of activity is ‘Community Payback’ or Unpaid Work as more commonly known. This proved to be an enormously successful year for North Yorkshire, with offenders working over 121,795 hours of unpaid work on projects that directly benefited communities and organisations throughout North Yorkshire. Projects, branded as ‘Community Payback’, ranged from renovating village halls, to the restoration of hundreds of grave stones!
North Yorkshire Probation continued to play an increasingly important role in the partnership arena, both locally and regionally. We were recognised as strong partners in both Local Area Agreements and the range of Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships across the county.
We also continued to make significant contributions to the Local Criminal Justice Board, the MAPPA Strategic Management Board and the York and North Yorkshire DAATs. Being properly involved in local multi-agency partnerships is critical in ensuring the right levels of involvement from our partners in the task of reducing re-offending. This is probation’s core business, but not ours exclusively, and we actively sought to encourage a range of organisations to contribute to achieving this key goal for our communities.
Key achievements included:
- We are delighted that overall our performance remained strong. This is particularly the case in Offender Management, where we were one of the best performers nationally. We once again maintained a green star status in the Offender Management domain for performance .
- This should not overshadow broadly strong delivery in both accredited programmes and unpaid work. Of particular note is the independently assessed excellence of delivery at our Southview Approved Premises.
- A highlight of the year was the outcome of our Offender Management Inspection which was very positive, identifying us as one of the top performers in the country. Particularly pleasing was the identification of real strength in our assessment and management of risk. Staff worked incredibly hard to achieve these standards. This was recognised by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation, who said of North Yorkshire; “…a very pro-active organisation,…forward thinking and engaged in open partnership.”
- The Area supervised offenders completed over 121,795 hours of unpaid work. This represents an increase over 10% on the hours worked in the previous year. This equates to nearly £700,000 pounds of free labour, on minimum wage, for the benefit of local communities in North Yorkshire (calculated according to the National Minimum wage of £5.73 per hour).
Ken Bellamy CBE, Chair, North Yorkshire Probation Board said:
“The considerable achievements set out in the report are a tribute to the valued skills, commitment and professional approach of our managers and staff. The continuing and progressively high standards of performance are focused clearly on national and local aims of reducing re-offending and protecting the public. These, of course, seek to secure fewer victims of crime and make communities safer.”
Pete Brown, Chief Officer, North Yorkshire Probation Area added:
“Despite challenging budgets, the Area continued to deliver high standards in terms of both quality delivery and outcomes. We are confident we can deliver best value in terms of community sentence provision in North Yorkshire. The skills and commitment of staff and their managers puts this organisation in a strong position to face the challenges ahead and to continue contributing effectively to the safety of communities in North Yorkshire.”
During 2008-09, North Yorkshire Probation Area workload included:
- supervising approximately 1,800 offenders at any one time, on new and existing community sentences.
- supervising over 400 offenders released from prison on licence.
- preparing over 2,500 professional reports for the courts to assist with their sentencing. Of these, 100% were on time, against a national target of 95%.
- the continued delivery of accredited behavioural programmes for offenders, designed to change the way offenders think and consequently how they behave.
Some 212 offenders completed a general offending behavioural programme. In addition a further 57 offenders completed an alcohol treatment programme, 41 offenders completed a domestic abuse programme and 16 offenders completed the intensive sex offender treatment programme.
- supporting 250 unemployed offenders to gain employment; this is the biggest factor in helping to reduce re-offending.
- the management of 829 offenders to complete an Unpaid Work Requirement, against a target of 580 completions.
