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

in 16 (26%) cases, the information was recorded in both the visits
attachment and an entry was also made in the activity log
in 11 (18%) cases, the information was recorded in the visits
attachment, visits section of the RMP and within the activity log
in 6 (10%) cases, the information was recorded only in the activity log
in the remaining cases, either no visits had been carried out or there
was yet a further combination of recording mechanisms.
7.21 Differences in recording practice had developed partly because ViSOR had been
implemented prior to the development of any national standards. Although
standards for ViSOR were published in 2008, they were interpreted in different
ways, causing problems when cases were transferred between forces where
recording practices differed.
7.22 Similarly, different mechanisms had been adopted to identify when an offender
was scheduled for the next home visit. Forthcoming visits can be ‘flagged’ using
the ViSOR diary attachment. However, due to some early technical difficulties, its
use varied and was not widespread in all of the six forces visited. Even where the
diary was being used, forces tended to rely on spreadsheets and desk diaries as a
back up. These practices had implications for supervision and monitoring of
frequency of home visits.
7.23 As expected, police home visits were unannounced wherever possible. However,
this approach can be resource intensive as it may take several attempts before a
successful visit is made. Whilst the unsuccessful attempts were recorded on
ViSOR, public protection officers felt that, often, performance management
information did not fully reflect staff effort in relation to this part of their work.
7.24 Police home visits were completed on time in 90% (56) of cases. In two of the
remaining six cases, the scheduled home visit was late, but not unacceptably so.
In the remaining four cases, there were unacceptable delays in completing the
initial home visit following registration.
SOPOs
7.25 Where an offender is behaving in a way that suggests they might commit a sexual
offence, an application for a SOPO should be considered. A court can make a
SOPO when it deals with a person in respect of specific sexual offences. The police
can also make an application for a SOPO if the relevant conditions are met. A
SOPO prohibits an offender from doing anything stipulated in the order, e.g.
owning a home computer. The period of the order must be specified and last for a
minimum of five years. It is a criminal offence to breach a SOPO or an interim
SOPO.
7.26 The following data provided by the PPMHG shows that the number of SOPOs
granted has risen consistently since 2003/2004:
Table 2: Number of SOPOs. Source:PPMHG
SOO/SOPO
granted
2003/
2004
2004/
2005
2005/
2006
2006/
2007
2007/
2008
122 503 937 1114 1440
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