Memorandum submitted by the National Probation Service (South Wales Area)

1. Staff and Managers in the South Wales Probation Area welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on the best means of managing those offenders sentenced to custody from Courts in Wales or whose domicile is in Wales.

2. The South Wales Probation area covers the Unitary Authorities of Cardiff, Vale of Glamorgan, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr Tydfil, Bridgend, Neath Port Talbot and Swansea. It includes within its area 2 public sector prisons, and 1 contracted out prison which between them, accommodate a significant number of offenders from South Wales who have be sentenced to custody. However, of the 1600 offenders currently in custody for whom we have a statutory responsibility, 36% are accommodated in prisons outside Wales. The prisoners for whom we have a statutory responsibility include all those between the ages of 18 and 21 and all those over the age of 21 whose sentence is 12 months or more. Over 21 year olds sentenced to under 12 months, are currently released without any period of statutory license, a situation that will change once the requirements of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 in relation to short term custody cases are fully implemented.

3. Of the nearly 600 prisoners for whom we have a statutory responsibility who are accommodated in prisoners outside Wales, 68 are women. The consequences of this number of prisoners from South Wales being accommodated in non-Wales institutions are significant. The allocation to prison places involves 75 male establishments and 12 female establishments across England, in all regions. The implications of this for family ties are self evident.

4. The requirements of the Offender Management Model of service delivery include regular contact by the Offender Manager identified in the home probation area through visits to the institution and the chairing of sentence planning meetings. Although this aspect of Offender Management has not been fully introduced yet (it is scheduled over the 18 months from November 2006 - May 2008), this is expected to happen and will clearly have very substantial resource implications with prisoners being held in institutions in every region of England, in many instances in single figure numbers.

5. The committee will be well aware that there is no current custodial provision within Wales for women and little for young adult offenders. Both of these are issues that require action if we are to maximise the opportunities of working effectively with prisoners and their eventual reintegration into the communities from which they come. Whilst it is recognised that this is a particular issue for Mid and North Wales where there are no institutions, the numbers involved, even in South Wales where 3 prisons are placed and where the 4^th Welsh prison is in the adjourning area of Gwent, are still very significant. Given the pressure on prison places at a time of increasing prison population, the need for prisoners to be moved more frequently to different categories of prison, depending on their security and risk status, cuts across the continuity of engagement in prison programmes and in liaison within Prison and Probation staff over rehabilitation and release plans. This is particularly the case with the more vulnerable prisoners.

6. It has long been a strategic objective of the Criminal Justice System to achieve a position whereby people sentenced to custody could be located in an institution near their home. Although ⅔^rds of those from South Wales sentenced in our Courts are held in prisons within South Wales, even this involves some significant transport challenges given the distances, geography and transport issues involved. In the context of Probation, Prison and Police staff working closely in partnership, both in terms of rehabilitation and public protection, the local placement prisoners within the same area throughout their sentence experience would be a distinct advantage as well as giving prisoners a better opportunity to take initiatives of their own aimed at enhancing their prospects of reintegration with family, community and employment.

7. Alongside the obvious issues and opportunities for developing a more integrated Criminal Justice System in terms of Prison location within people's home area and the way in which prisoners are managed and their prospects on release enhanced, it is also important to have a continuum of accommodation to assist an effective resettlement process. There are currently 4 Approved Premises managed by the Probation Service in Wales (2 in South Wales, 2 in North Wales) which provide a secure accommodation base with night-time curfew and a measure of surveillance as well as positive programmes of activity for a number of offenders. These facilities are all focussed on male offenders but there is no equivalent within Wales for females. The availability of such a facility would enable the courts to exercise wider options in passing sentence and could have the consequence of reducing the number who are sent into custody or the duration of that custodial sentence. Discussions are already advancing through the NOMS Wales Reducing Reoffending Action Plan Pathway Group on Accommodation to develop a continuum of accommodation related to support needs as well as supervision and surveillance requirements so that there is scope for moving offenders through the system into positive and suitable independent living arrangements within communities staged so as to be linked to reduction in the assessed risk of harm to the public. There are substantial resource implications in taking this agenda forward but any move towards a wider range of options available to sentencers to deal with offenders on the basis of the seriousness of their offence, the risk of reoffending and the risk of harm could achieve savings, both in terms of resource and pressure to the prison population, particularly at a time when there is insufficient prison accommodation within Wales to house all those currently sentenced to custody.

27 November 2006