Minutes of the Meeting Crime and Disorder Scrutiny Topic Group 1 and 2 March 2011

MINUTES of the meeting of the CRIME AND DISORDER TOPIC GROUP held on Tuesday 1 March and Wednesday 2 March 2011 at 10.00 AM

ATTENDANCE

Members of the Topic Group

D Andrews, J R Barfoot, C A Mitchell, S L C Johnston, M A Watkin,

Also in attendance

Fiona Corcoran, Democratic Services Officer

Tony Cox, Community Safety Manager, Broxbourne Borough Council

Brian Gale, Drugs Strategy Manager, CountyCommunity Safety Unit

Marie Gibson, Head of Reducing Re-offending, HMP The Mount

Steve Johnson Proctor, Director of Operations, Hertfordshire Probation Trust

Manfred Kochinky, Deputy Head of Reducing Re-offending HMP The Mount

Sue McRitchie, Senior Commissioning Manager (Drugs and Alcohol) Joint Commissioning Team

Dawn Morrish Health Improvement Manager, NHS Hertfordshire

Gary Ray, Deputy Head of CountyCommunity Safety Unit & Strategic Performance Manager for Safer Communities

Natalie Rotherham, Scrutiny Officer

1. / APPOINTMENT OF CHAIRMAN AND VICE-CHAIRMAN
1.1 / It was noted that J R Barfoot had been appointed Chairman and
M A Watkin had been appointed Vice-Chairman of the Topic Group for the duration of its work.
2. / GENERIC TOPIC GROUP INFORMATION
2.1 / The generic topic group information was noted.
3. / REMIT OF THE TOPIC GROUP
3.1 / The Group noted its remit and scope.
4. / SCRUTINY OF CRIME AND DISORDER
4.1 / The Group received a series of presentations and took evidence from a number of witnesses during the course of the day. The main points arising from witness evidence and Member debate are summarised below. Presentations from witnesses and background information provided to Members may be viewed at

4.2 / Introduction and Overview of Health and Wellbeing Programmes – Brian Gale, Drugs Strategy Manager, CountyCommunity Safety Unit
The Topic Group received a presentation, giving an over view of key issues relating to health and wellbeing of drug and alcohol using offenders. The presentation can be viewed on the hertsdirect website at the link provided under minute 4.1.
The following points were highlighted:

• In December 2010 a new Drugs Strategy was introduced by the coalition government. The key themes of the Drugs Strategy are reducing demand, restricting supply and building recovery in communities. There is a strong focus on recovery rather than merely retaining people in treatment. The new strategy recognises the important role of housing, education and training and employment amongst other interventions to support the recovery journey.

• The potential outcomes of the drugs strategy were outlined and include freedom from dependence on drugs or alcohol; prevention of drug-related deaths and blood borne viruses; reduction in crime and re-offending; sustained employment; the ability to access and sustain suitable accommodation; improvement in mental and physical health and wellbeing; improved relationships with family members, partners and friends; the capacity to be a caring and effective parent.

• Nationally, there are 14 schemes being established to pilot a payment by results system. Hertfordshire is not one of these pilot areas. It was highlighted that some of the outcomes such as aspects of mental health and wellbeing would not be easy to measure, and other outcomes such as improvement in relationships may need to be monitored over a long period of time.

• The key agencies and programmes involved in the drug and alcohol treatment and the wellbeing of offenders were outlined and how they link together was clarified. The funding streams were also highlighted.

• The need to engage Problematic Drug Users (PDUs) and reasons for this were highlighted.

• The need to break the ‘revolving door’ cycle of crime was noted.

• Typical features of a Criminal Justice client were outlined and included unstable housing, poor education and social skills, lack of family or peer support, anger and trust issues and low self esteem.

• The difference between the impact of alcohol misuse and drug misuse was detailed. Drugs were linked to acquisitive crime that was pre-planned and daily, whereas alcohol was linked to violent one-off offences often committed under the influence. Drugs were likely to be initiated through peers and alcohol linked to family/parental drinking. There were more men in treatment than women for both alcohol and drugs. There were more cases of domestic violence linked to alcohol. More treatment and a wider rage of initiatives were available for drug misuse than for alcohol.

4.3 / In general discussion the following points were made:

• Volunteer mentors are recruited through Community and Voluntary sector Support (CVS) and Jobcentre Plus.

• Funding for the ‘Through the Gates’ project has been reduced from £60,000 to £45,000. The original funding included start up costs but now that there is less funding available it will be necessary to look at different, smarter ways of working. It has recently been identified that the Probation Service are carrying out similar work in this area, so opportunities to remove duplication and work together are being sought.

• The Joint Commissioning Team (JCT) has started negotiations with GP consortia, which will replace Primary Care Trusts (PCTs).

• The removal of benefits for individuals who misuse drugs can affect their whole family which can impact their relationships, making recovery even more difficult. Incentives rather than punishment tend to work more effectively.

• There are fewer people involved in the Drug Interventions Programme (DIP) in Watford & Hemel than in other areas in the county. Factors that may have contributed to this include DIP workers having access to cells and service users’ previous experience of treatment programmes. In Welwyn Garden City there are very strong links between the DIP workers and the custody teams, which is reflected in the high number of people coming through to the programmes.

• The Hertford service also covers Broxbourne but in future there should be availability to access a service within 10 miles for all Hertfordshire residents.

• There are plans for technology to be used more for communication with users, such as social networking sites and chat rooms.

• Treatment programmes such as the ‘Through the Gates’ programme provide a transition for users between prison based treatment services and community based services.

4.4 / Sue McRitchie, Senior Commissioning Manager (Drugs and Alcohol) Joint Commissioning Team

• The strategic commissioning group is chaired by a GP in order to ensure links with GPs are as robust as possible. Although the exact structure of the GP consortia is not known, work is being done to involve GPs at every level of the work of the JCT in order to prepare for this.

• As individuals involved in drug and alcohol treatment programmes may have relapses and may need to maintain regular contact with services to manage their drug and alcohol use, it would be challenging for commissioners to integrate payment by results.

• All the drug and alcohol treatment services offer support for family members and recognise the importance of treating service users in the context of their family/friends.

• The new Value For Money (VFM) tool had been introduced recently and the commissioning team were working to gain a better understanding of it. Officers were asked to provide Members with further information on the VFM tool at a later stage.

• Until the pilot schemes have completed their two year programmes, it will not be clear how effectively the payment by results system works. It will be important to ensure that payment by results does not disincentivise users from accessing treatment.

/ Sue McRitchie/Brian Gale
4.5 / In general discussion, the following points were made:

• All services have safeguarding leads within their teams who make links with families. Safeguarding is important for vulnerable adults in the system as well as children.

• The criminal justice element is essential to target the drug dealers and supply of drugs.

• Some women would have difficulty accessing services due to childcare issues. Some services are already connecting with Children’s Centres and there may be potential for more to do this.

• The importance of ensuring easy access to residential rehab at the time when the service user is ready to embark on the treatment programme was highlighted.

4.6 / Dawn Morrish Health Improvement Manager, NHS Hertfordshire

• The health needs of prisoners are known, as all offenders entering prison are given an obligatory health assessment. However offenders who are serving orders in the community are not given an obligatory health assessment.

• An early assessment of health needs is essential, even if an offender is not on a community sentence with a Drug Rehabilitation Requirement (DRR) or an Alcohol Treatment Requirement (ATR). Some offenders will have dual diagnosis of substance misuse and mental health needs.

• Alcohol misuse is linked with street drinking, assault and people being admitted to Accident and Emergency (A&E) at weekends. There is an information sharing protocol for Information about these cases to be shared by hospitals’ A&E departments, which enables localised discussions about problematic licensed premises.

4.7 / In general discussion, the following points were made:

• Family Interventions Projects could be access points to services. There currently tentative links to those services which support the Think Family approach, but future links to such projects are being explored.

• The following was noted:

-funding is available for drug treatment but not for alcohol rehabilitation;
-the night time economy is linked to higher numbers of reported sexual assaults and violent assaults;
-although there have been improvements with some co-located staff, more joined up working is needed between Health and Criminal Justice sectors.
4.8 / Marie Gibson, Head of Reducing Re-offending, HMP The Mount and Manfred Kochinky, Deputy Head of Reducing Re-offending HMP The Mount

• HMP The Mount is a Category C establishment which means it houses prisoners who cannot be trusted in open conditions but do not have the facilities or will to escape.

• At HMP The Mount prisoners can access drug treatment groups and anger management and alcohol behaviour courses.

• When offenders are admitted to the prison their risks are identified and appropriate targets are set.

• The Mount holds relatively few Hertfordshire prisoners.

• Various services are offered through the education department, including non-clinical counselling, liaison with healthcare, one to one counselling and assessment for intensive drug services in prison.

• Rehabilitation of Addicted Prisoners Trust (RAPT) is an abstinence based programme. There is also an integrated drug treatment system (IDTS) which is run in partnership with the Primary Care Trust (PCT) and provides detox and maintenance (methadone or subutex) treatments.

• Regular Alcoholics Anonymous meetings take place but there is no treatment programme in HMP The Mount that deals with alcohol issues alone.

• There are links with mental health services including a clinical psychiatrist, a clinical psychologist and three mental health nurses at HMP The Mount.

• A high proportion of prisoners have drug related problems. There are currently 41 prisoners undertaking the drug treatment programme.

4.9 / In general discussion, the following points were raised.

• There are a low number of releases from HMP The Mount because, as a Category C prison, prisoners will often move on to an open prison and will be released from there.

• Most Hertfordshire prisoners are at HMP Bedford which holds prisoners for shorter terms than HMP The Mount. It was noted that prisoners will be offered services appropriate to their length of stay and it was noted that the RAPT programme is suitable for long stay prisoners, and therefore is not provided at HMP Bedford.

• The number of prisoners involved in the RAPT programme at HMP The Mount has risen due to a change in ethos and word has spread about the quality of the services offered, which means that there is now a waiting list.

• Prison staff from other departments consider the Offender Management team to be helpful in easing issues with prisoners, and prisoners are keen to access services as a stepping stone to moving on to an open prison. These treatment programmes are mandatory and prisoners will be assessed in terms of their risk to others, which means that if they don’t address these issues, they will not be able to progress to a lower security prison or release.

• Prisoners are subject to random drug tests on arrival and can also be tested if it is suspected they are using drugs or if they are being considered for release or move to another facility. Prisoners can also take part in voluntary drug testing as a supportive measure to help them to remain drug free.

• Improvements have been made, such as the installation of netting in key areas to prevent drugs entering the grounds of the prison.

• Members requested statistics on the success rates of the RAPT programme.

• An outline of a typical day for a prisoner at HMP The Mount was given.

• RAPT is a 24 hour environment where all prisoners who are on the programme are housed together as a community.

• The prison would benefit from alcohol treatment for offenders as drug treatments are well established.

• It is important to ensure services in the community remain in order to support prisoners when they are released which can often be when they need it most.

• It is difficult and resource intensive to measure value for money. This is partly because prisoners are not obliged to inform the prison of their future plans or where they are going when they have completed their sentence.

/ Marie Gibson
4.10 / Steve Johnson Proctor, Director of Operations, Hertfordshire Probation Trust

• 100% of the funding for probation services is provided by the Ministry of Justice. The Herts Probation Service became a Probation Trust in 2010. There are strong links with the Prison Service.

• The Herts Probation Trust manages approximately 3500 offenders at any one time, with 750 of them in custody. Not all offenders will be under supervision, for example in cases where they are adults aged over 18 with custodial sentences of less than 12 months. However all offenders under the age of 18 are put on 3 months supervision.

• A very small number of women go to prison and this is usually for the most serious offences. It is significant that women’s reasons for committing crime tend to be different to men’s.

• 60% of offenders are aged 18-24 and 40% are 35 and above.

• 35.2% of male offenders have a substance abuse issue, compared with 26.6% of female offenders. 36.4% of male offenders have alcohol dependency issues, which is similar to the 32.6% of female offenders.

• There is a strong correlation between mental health needs, substance abuse and offending which means that people with mental health needs, such as personality disorders, are heavily represented in the area of criminal justice. The Probation Service works closely with health professionals.

• Alcohol features in a lot of offending as a disinhibitor. An individual’s response to the alcohol and issues of anger management and self control being key contributing factors to their actions.

• Specialist courts for drugs cases have been piloted in central Herts and have been successful so are now due to be implemented across the county. There is currently no similar initiative for alcohol cases.

• The C2 ‘Choices and Consequences’ programme is a Police initiated programme for top tier prolific offenders.

• The co-located team set up with Herts Constabulary set up at Hatfield Police Station ensures strong links and good communication. The relationship with the Police in Hertfordshire is excellent and the two organisations work together well.

• Drug treatment is effective but needs repetition.

• Accommodation was highlighted by staff as a key issue. Offenders may have a bad track record with housing providers which limits their opportunities to secure suitable housing.

• Education, training and employment were also highlighted as key issues. There was very positive feedback from staff about the Changing Lanes employment/training provision through the Community Safety Unit.

• The need for more random swab testing was also highlighted by staff.

• Lifestyle and relationships with partners, friends and family have an impact on the lives of offenders and influence their use of drugs and alcohol, accommodation, sexual behaviour and health.

• Staff emphasised that drug users who feel that they are hopeless and have failed often respond well to encouragement and positive feedback.

4.11 / In general discussion the following points were raised:

• The Herts Probation Trust has a range of targets for the number of drug and alcohol treatment requirements that are provided and completed, as part of its contract with the Ministry of Justice and continues to achieve these targets.

• The effects of care in the community for people with mental health needs and the impact that may have had on offending. It was suggested by Members that this may be an area for scrutiny in future.

4.12 / Tony Cox (Community Safety Manager, Broxbourne Borough Council)

• Serious acquisitive crime in Broxbourne per 1000 of the population is the highest in the county (18.1 incidents compared to a county average of 12.0.)

• The proximity to London and substance misuse both have an impact on crime in the borough.

• At the end of June 2010, there were 371 offenders from Broxbourne on the caseload of the Hertfordshire Probation Trust. Of the 10 clients from Broxbourne convicted for shoplifting, five had alcohol misuse issues and all 10 had drug misuse issues.

• There has been an increase in domestic violence incidents in the last 12 months (alcohol was involved in 39% of these) and tackling this has been identified as a priority for the borough.

• Targeting cross border criminality has been identified as an area for development along with addressing the issue of multi-use games areas for children and young people being targeted by drug dealers.

• There is inadequate support for drug and alcohol treatment in Broxbourne as service users often have to travel to Hertford to access services. Options are being considered to create a hub in Broxbourne as part of the re-designed system for delivering drug and alcohol treatment.

• Dealing with clearing drug paraphernalia is a concern and adequate provision for disposal of needles is needed, especially with large numbers of visitors expected for the 2012 Olympics.

• The importance of communication and community perception of crime and disorder was highlighted.

• Funding from the Safer, Stronger Communities fund is limited and has been reduced recently, with further significant reductions expected in the future.

4.13 / Written evidence was provided from Watford Borough Council and can be viewed at the following link:
4.14 / In general discussion, the following points were made:

• Licensing policy can be used to regulate opening times around key events and joint working with the police can help to manage this. This approach was used in Broxbourne during the World Cup and had a positive effect on social order issues.

• Members emphasised the importance of dispelling the myth that an individual’s children would be taken into care if they engaged with drug or alcohol treatment services and commended the distribution of education leaflets for mothers communicating this message, as mentioned in the report from Watford Borough Council. Members also suggested that these leaflets should be aimed at all parents/carers and not specifically mothers.

4.15 / Gary Ray, Deputy Head of CountyCommunity Safety Unit & Strategic Performance Manager for Safer Communities

• There is a need to look forward to the future treatment redesign when making recommendations.

• It is important for members to be aware of the risk of cuts in funding and services and the implications of this, including the financial vulnerability of priorities without ring fencing.

• A separate scrutiny topic group to focus on issues relating to alcohol was suggested.

• The need for communications and partnerships to be leaner in future and it is important to ensure that all staff involved know where to refer people with problems.

4.16 / In general discussion the following points were made:

• Members noted that service users they had spoken to at the site visit had shown them good examples of the success of drug and alcohol treatment programmes.

• Recovery champions will be important in order to show service users what is possible for them, and to highlight the range of different recovery options to local services.

5
5.1 / RECOMMENDATIONS
Members agreed broad areas for recommendation arising from the evidence and debates. These included:
(i) Community services need to be maintained and enhanced, delivered in proximity to users
(ii) Agencies develop strategies which focus on reducing re-offending rates through interventions such as community and family initiatives
(iii) Greater consistency is developed between agencies and between lead officers and frontline staff
(iv) Greater levels of interventions to address alcohol use in line with those to address drug use
(v) The topic group recommends to OSC that scrutiny of alcohol misuse is added as next year’s Crime & Disorder scrutiny focus
5.2 / It was agreed that the final wording of the recommendations would be agreed by the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Topic Group. A draft of the final report would then be circulated to all Members of the Group before being finalised. The final report will be sent to all witnesses. It was noted that Executive Members for Community Safety & Culture and Adult Care and Health would receive a copy of the final report and would be asked to provide a response to the recommendations within two months of its publication. Progress against the recommendations will then be monitored by the HSC Monitoring of Recommendations Topic Group.
5.3 / The Chairman thanked the Members of the Topic Group and witnesses for their valuable contributions.

Fiona Corcoran