This active offender population is not static; 20,000 individuals leave this pool every year and are replaced by another 20,000 offenders. The most active 5,000 of this group are estimated to be responsible for one in ten offences.
There are three strands to the Tackling Prolific Offenders Framework:
- Prevent and Deter - to stop young offenders escalating into prolific offenders and to prevent children and young people from becoming involved in criminality in the first place
- Catch and Convict - approach with all partners focusing on the same key groups of offenders who are causing the most crime
- Rehabilitate and Resettle - to provide prolific offenders coming to the end of their sentence with a choice: 'Reform or face a very swift return to the courts'.
In the South East
There are currently 1,453 Prolific and Priority Offenders (PPOs) in the South East, who are managed by the 66 local Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs) in the region.
We monitor the progress of the region's PPO schemes on a regular basis through a number of performance management tools. This information provides details on the number of offenders, where they are in terms of their PPO journey through the criminal justice system, as well as performance against the Government's Public Service Agreement (PSA) targets.
We use this information to support and advise the region's partnerships on the development and successful implementation of each of their respective local PPO programmes and, in doing so, enable them to effectively respond to locally identified crime priorities. This support and advice includes the promotion and sharing of best practice, policy interpretation, direct support to programmes through local reviews and the provision of an effective communication route between schemes and the Home Office.
The South East has achieved considerable success in reducing re-offending amongst this very specific group of offenders. For example in 2007-08, Brighton & Hove recorded a 94 per cent reduction in re-offending amongst this group, Kent a 56 per cent reduction, Oxfordshire a 74 per cent reduction, Slough an 87 per cent reduction and Portsmouth a 71 per cent reduction.
Such success has resulted from very effective multi-agency partnership working, committed leadership as well as a very real dedication and enthusiasm from those working with offenders to help them move out of a life of crime.
