Delivering on reducing reoffending works for
everyone: for the public and local communities because every offender
who becomes an ex-offender means safer streets and fewer victims; for
taxpayers because turning people away from crime means less pressure on the
resources of the criminal justice system and its delivery partners; and for
offenders because they get the chance to repay their debt to society, leave
behind a life of crime and improve their life chances and those of their
family.
From 1 April 2010 statutory changes to Crime and
Disorder Partnerships (CDRPs) in England implemented under the Policing and
Crime Act 2009 will come into effect. Under these changes probation
will become a responsible authority of CDRPs having previously been a
cooperating body and the existing duties of CDRPs will be expanded to
include a new duty to formulate and implement a strategy to reduce
reoffending by adult and young offenders. In addition the remit of bodies
listed under section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (with existing
duty to consider crime and disorder reduction when exercising their
functions) will be extended to include reducing reoffending.
Key drivers for these changes are the strengthened link
between crime reduction and reducing reoffending in
Public Service
Agreement 23 - Make Communities Safer; the broadening in focus of
local activity from offences to also consider offenders, particularly
through Prolific and other Priority Offenders (PPO) and Drugs
Intervention (DIP) Programmes and the development of Integrated Offender
Management (IOM); the need to recognise and increase the accountability
of local partners for reducing reoffending at an operational level; and
the need to improve probation’s engagement with Local Strategic
Partnerships (LSPs) and CDRPs in order to improve equality of
access to mainstream services and the joint commissioning of services
for offenders.
GOSE's
role in reducing reoffending
At regional level, GOSE works closely with the
National Offender
Management Service’s (NOMS) regional arm – the Director
of Offender Management – to co-ordinate strategic approaches to
reducing reoffending and to deliver a more joined-up support for
offenders’ needs in the areas of skills, employment,
accommodation, family links, finances and altogether to support their
resettlement in the community.
GOSE is working with regional and local partners to
promote and embed the new responsibility for CDRPs on reducing
reoffending.
GOSE is represented on the South East Reducing Reoffending Delivery
Board (RRDB), contributing to the development of the Regional Reducing
Reoffending Strategy and the ongoing review of the RRDB delivery
structures.
