The report of the Head of Scrutiny and Member
Development set out the progress made in response to the
recommendations arising from the previous Scrutiny Inquiry into
Integrated Offender Management.
The following were in attendance for this
item:
- Samantha Millar – Chief
Inspector, Community Safety
- Louise Hackett – Commissioning
and Development Manager (Criminal Justice)
- Neil Moloney – Head of Leeds Probation
Members were asked to consider the progress
made against recommendations and to agree those which no longer
required monitoring.
The following issues were discussed:
- Recommendation 1 – Reference
was made to pathways made available to prolific offenders for
rehabilitation and re-settlement.
- Recommendation 2 – Issues
discussed included how to support those on Job Seekers Allowance
and the potential impact of changes to the benefits
system. The use of European Social
Funding to support employment and training was discussed and
Members requested further information on this. It was reported that there was capacity to work
with between 75 and 80 offenders per month as part of the Leeds
Work and Skills Plan in conjunction with training providers
including support from the third sector. It was further agreed to
provide mapping information in relation to the Drugs Improvement
Programme (DIP).
- Recommendation 4 – In response
to questions regarding budgets, it was reported that there were
budgetary issues due to restructures and this influenced ways in
how to prioritise targets. There had
been regional collaboration between forces to tackle cross boundary
issues and it was recognised at a local and divisional level that
there was a need to share resources.
- Recommendation 7 – In relation
to the Deter Young Offenders Scheme, further information was
requested on numbers of offenders, targets and
timescales. Reference was made to a
team of 5 Police Officers that worked with young offenders across
the city.
- Recommendation 9 – Further to
the statistical information provided, it was reported that there
was an initial rise in the offending figures for Priority and
Prolific Offenders (PPOs) due to the
active management of this group and higher detection
rates. The Board was informed that
active management of up to 99 PPOs
could be carried out and it was estimated that there was over 260
PPOs in the City. The PPOs identified
were those who were predicted to be more likely to re-offend and
there was a target to involve those involved in
burglary. There had been a significant
reduction in the number of these kind of offenders being involved
with drugs in recent years and Members asked for details of the age
profile of PPOs. It was reported that there was a tendency for
these to be in the under 25s age group and Members requested a copy
of the report on Youth Offending Work in Leeds. Further reference was made to tackling organised
crime groups and families with different generations of career
criminals.
- Recommendation 11 – Reference
was made to sharing information with Ward Councillors through Area
Management.
RESOLVED – That those
recommendations that no longer require monitoring be agreed and
that the Board continues to track the remaining
recommendations.
(Councillor Jarosz declared a personal
interest in this item due to her employment with the Probation
Service as did Councillor Marjoram due to his wife’s
employment).