Restriction and Rehabilitation: Getting the Right ... - Ministry of Justice

2. STRATEGIC AND LEGISLATIVE DEVELOPMENTS
Summary
This section provides an update on developments since the 2005 thematic inspection on
the management of sexual offenders.
Strategic developments
2.1 The prison and probation services were brought together by the establishment of
the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) in 2004. The national Public
Protection Unit, now known as the Public Protection and Mental Health Group
(PPMHG), which includes police as well as probation and prison staff, was set up
within NOMS at the same time. The NOMS Reducing Reoffending Policy Group
(RRPG), formerly the Interventions and Substance Misuse Group, who have policy
responsibility for accredited treatment programmes, assumed responsibility for the
development of SOTPs in April 2010.
2.2 In April 2007, the Government published the Cross Government Action Plan on
Sexual Violence and Abuse 7 . The paper took forward the agenda set by the 2006
Criminal Justice Review 8 , which emphasised the importance of reducing
reoffending in meeting wider crime reduction objectives. Reducing reoffending was
then incorporated into the Safer Communities Public Service Agreement and a
performance framework, known as the National Indicator Set, developed to
support the delivery of priority targets. National Indicator 31 related to the
reoffending rates of registered sexual offenders. This indicator supported a multiagency
approach and was particularly relevant to sexual offenders, for whom
securing appropriate accommodation and employment, both important factors in
reducing the likelihood of further offending, had often proved difficult to achieve.
2.3 In October 2007, the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) produced
national guidance on managing sexual and violent offenders on behalf of the
Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) 9 . The guidance defined the standards
for the police in public protection and provided clear information about their role
and its management. It made a number of strategic recommendations directed at
chief officers, including: implementing force policy; developing information
management processes; developing and sustaining partnerships; ensuring
appropriate staffing; and training needs.
2.4 ViSOR was implemented across the police forces in 2005. It was rolled out to the
probation service in 2007 and to the prison service in 2008. ViSOR is a national
database of all offenders who have sex offender registration conditions imposed
upon them following criminal conviction and information on violent and potentially
dangerous people. Access by the probation service is restricted to certain
individuals/roles, severely limiting its effectiveness as an operational tool * . It is,
however, used by the police as an offender management system, but also enables
* As this inspection did not include sexual offenders held in custody, we are unable to comment on its
use within the prison service.
Restriction and Rehabilitation: Getting the Right Mix 13