News

Integrated Offender Management 'promising'

Thursday, 27 March 2014

A new joint report by the Probation and Police Inspectorates on integrated offender management (PDF, new window) has concluded that it is 'a promising approach'.

In their joint forward Paul McDowell and Tom Winsor, HM Chief Inspectors of Probation and Constabulary respectively, wrote:

'It was clear to us that the right offenders were targeted; there were some indications that offenders’ lives had improved because their problems, such as substance misuse, had been addressed. Although reoffending rates could be regarded as disappointing, we saw this as symptomatic of the entrenched pattern of offending among the Integrated Offender Management cohort, rather than as a failure of the approach itself.'

They also pointed to a lack of high quality evaluation studies, which made it difficult to understand the impact and value of the work, and they call for integrated offender management to be embedded within the proposed new privatised probation structures:

'This report is published as the Transforming Rehabilitation programme moves into its next phase. The programme will have a significant impact on local arrangements and, if we are right about the potential of Integrated Offender Management, it is vital that both the National Probation Service and the Community Rehabilitation Companies are incentivised to continue to develop Integrated Offender Management in the immediate future.'


Related items

File on four covers probation privatisation (19 February, 2014)
The House Magazine review probation plans (10 February, 2014)
The coming probation privatisation disaster (22 January, 2014)
Grayling warned to postpone privatisation of probation (29 October, 2013)