§ Lord Hyltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
What meaning they attach to the phrase "a national roll-out of accredited programmes" in relation to the supervision in the community of offenders; whether both young people and adults will be included in work to be done from April 2000 onwards; and by when "best practice" will be available for the whole of England and Wales. [HL3693]
§ Lord Williams of MostynBased on evidence that properly targeted, well-designed and well-delivered programmes can result in significant reductions in re-offending, our "What Works" strategy is to deliver consistent improvements to work with offenders in prison and the community. For community based approaches, "What Works" was launched last year, with the publication by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation ofEvidence Based Practice—A Guide to Effective Practice, to provide sound, practical advice on the design and delivery of effective programmes; and the setting up of three pilot programmes referred to under this initiative as "pathfinders".
From 1999–2002, additional funding of £14.5 million is being provided from the Crime Reduction Programme. This year, a further 32 pathfinder programmes are being set up and evaluated. The new joint prisons/probation service Accreditation Panel, under the chairmanship of Sir Duncan Nichol, will take on the first tranche of programmes for accreditation towards the end of this year. It is hoped that these will include three programmes suitable for the majority of persistent male offenders, a community reintegration programme for women offenders and a programme for sex offenders.
A new joint prisons/probation service offender assessment system, OASys is being developed. From August 2000, probation services will be able to use OASys to match offenders to appropriate programmes, and will have the first accredited programmes to deliver. Guidance, practice manuals and training will be provided. As other pathfinder programmes are designed, tested and accredited, they too will be made available, to provide a core curriculum of high quality accredited programmes for widespread delivery.
188WAThis initiative addresses adult offenders only. The Youth Justice Board for England and Wales is developing an assessment tool to underpin the work with young offenders of the youth offending teams established under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and is drawing up national standards for the provision of youth justice services. It is intended that the assessment tool and national standards will be in place from April 2000. The board is also administering a development fund of £85 million over three years to identify and develop good practice in work with young offenders and those at risk of offending.