Process for Community Rehabilitation Companies …

1 Process for Community Rehabilitation Companies to refer cases in custody or the Community to National Probation Service for Risk Review, including escalation. This instruction applies to:- Reference:- Providers of Probation Services Prisons PI 57/2014 PSI 41/2014 Issue Date Effective Date Implementation Date Expiry Date 24 October 2014 24 October 2014 31 October 2016 Issued on the authority of NOMS Agency Board For action by (who is this instruction for) All managers and staff responsible for implementation and monitoring of these revised procedures in.

2 NOMS HQ Public Sector Prisons Contracted Prisons* Governors National Probation Service (NPS) Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRC) NOMS Rehabilitation Contract Services Team Other Providers of Probation and Community Services * If this box is marked, then in this document the term Governor also applies to Directors of Contracted Prisons Instruction type Service improvement For information All NPS, CRC, Public Sector Prisons and Contracted Prisons staff. Provide a summary of the policy aim and the reason for its development / revision A key principle of the Rehabilitation Programme, outlined in the extant Target Operating Model, is that all offenders who pose a high Risk of Serious Harm (RoSH) are managed by the NPS (National Probation Service).

3 This Instruction provides mandatory requirements for CRCs, Prisons and NPS to ensure that cases where there are concerns that RoSH may have increased to high are referred by CRCs to NPS for review without delay. An Instruction is being developed to provide a similar Process for Prison initiated referrals, in those custody cases that do not fall within the criteria for a CRC initiated referral. In the interim, Prisons will continue to use the current OASys based escalation Process for offenders in custody not covered by this Instruction (ie offenders sentenced to imprisonment for 12 months or over, who are not within 12 weeks of release) and will manage RoSH in accordance with the Public Protection Manual and the requirements of the Manage the Custodial and Post release Periods service specification.

4 Note: in this Instruction any reference to a CRC in relation to the management of a custodial case is a reference to the Home CRC to which an offender has been allocated. Contact Associated documents National Delius TR Briefing Note 03 (2014) on interim recording arrangements for Risk Review. PI 05/2014 PSI 14/2014 Case Allocation outlines the mandatory Process for NPS to use when informing CRCs of a requirement to refer specified cases for review. NOMS RoSH Guidance (2009) and Supplement to RoSH guidance (2014) EPIC PI 07/2014 Case Transfers HMPS Public Protection Manual (Jan 2009) Replaces the following documents which are hereby cancelled: PI 08/2014 Process for Community Rehabilitation Companies to refer cases in custody or the Community to National Probation Service for Risk Review, including escalation.

5 Audit/Monitoring: Director of NPS in England, Director of NOMS in Wales, and NOMS Director of Rehabilitation Services for CRCs will monitor compliance with the mandatory requirements in this instruction. Deputy Directors of Custody and Controllers will monitor compliance with the mandatory actions set out in this Instruction. NOMS contract management will hold providers to account for delivery of mandated instructions as required in the contract. Notes: All Mandatory Actions throughout this instruction are in italics and must be strictly adhered to.

6 PAGE 1 CONTENTS Section Subject Applies to 1 Executive Summary 2 Operational Instructions Annex A Risk Review Document Set Risk Escalation Decision Tree All managers and staff in CRCs and Prisons who manage offenders subject to Community orders, suspended sentence orders, and custodial sentences (pre- and post- release). All managers and staff in NPS who are responsible for Risk Reviews and/or who manage offenders subject to Community orders, suspended sentence orders and custodial sentences (pre- and post-release). PI 57/2014 PSI 41/2014 ISSUE DATE 24/10/2014 PAGE 2 1.

7 Executive Summary Background This Instruction sets out the mandatory instructions for: a) CRC offender managers to escalate CRC Allocated cases to NPS where they have concerns that the RoSH level of an offender that they are managing in custody or the Community has increased to high b) CRC offender managers to refer CRC Allocated cases to NPS, when requested to do so at case allocation stage, where case specific circumstances have been identified by NPS at allocation stage; by a specified date and/or if those circumstances materialise c) NPS staff to consider whether the RoSH level of an offender referred to them, in accordance with a) or b) has increased to high and, if so, to assume management of the case.

8 D) Prison staff to continue to share information with CRC offender managers (and subsequently with NPS if necessary) where they have concerns that the RoSH level of an offender eligible for risk escalation by a CRC may have increased to high. During any period in custody or under statutory supervision in the Community , it is likely that the behaviour of an offender will change. In many cases such behavioural changes will be positive, as the offender engages with interventions and services, and takes steps to avoid offending.

9 In other cases, however, the behaviour of offenders may deteriorate, either in ways that had been anticipated as possible at the point of allocation, or in new ways that had not been anticipated. For many, this may be a minor or temporary deterioration which is amenable to prompt remedial action and will not pose an increase in RoSH to the point where it requires escalation. For some, however, particularly those with a previous history of causing serious harm, a significant deterioration in behaviour may indicate the possibility of an increase in RoSH to high.

10 That means that the offender could commit at any time an offence that would be life-threatening and/or traumatic, and from which recovery, whether physical or psychological, can be expected to be difficult or impossible (NOMS RoSH Guidance Summary Sheet- EPIC). Factors other than the current behaviour of the offender may be significant in some cases, including those where the vulnerability of victims or the effectiveness of external controls fluctuate over time, or where hitherto unknown information about previous behaviour comes to light.