UNCLASSIFIED

NOTIFICATION AND REVIEW PROCEDURES FOR SERIOUS FURTHER OFFENCES
This instruction applies to :- / Reference :-
Probation Trusts / PI 10/2011
Issue Date / Effective Date
Implementation Date / Expiry Date
07 July 2011 / 1 August 2011 / 06 July 2014
Issued on the authority of / NOMS Agency Board
For action by (PI) / Probation Trusts Contract Managers.
For information / Chief Executives and Chairs in Trusts, Trust SFO Leads and Single Points of Contact (SPOC), other Trust staff, Head of PPMHG (NOMS), NOMS Director of Probation and Contracted Services, NOMS Deputy Directors for Probation, Head of Probation Trust Unit, NOMS Director for Operational Services, Head of Dangerous Offenders Section, PPMHG (NOMS), PPMHG SFO Team (NOMS)
Contact / Matthew Ryder, Head of Serious Further Offences Team,
Dangerous Offenders Section
Public Protection and Mental Health Group
National Offender Management Service

Telephone 020 7035 1320
Associated documents / PI 01/2011, PI 04/2011, PC 05/2005, PC 60/2005, National Standards for the Management of Offenders, NOMS Risk of Serious Harm Guidance (2009), Offender Assessment System (OASys), MAPPA Guidance, Offender Management Inspection 2 Case Assessment Guidance (HMI Probation)
Replaces the following documents which are hereby cancelled :-
Probation Circular 22/2008
All hard copies of these Instructions must be destroyed
Audit/monitoring :
Compliance with this instruction will be monitored by the Director of Probation and Contracted Services and/or their representative(s). Probation Trusts and other contracted providers of Probation services must demonstrate compliance with the mandatory actions in this PI when required to do so by the Director of Probation and Contracted Services and/or their representative.
Introduces amendments to the following documents : -
None.

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CONTENTS

Section / Title / Relevant to
1 / Executive summary / All Probation staff involved in Offender Management and Courts
2 / Operational Instructions / All Probation staff involved in Offender Management and Courts
3 / Policy and strategic context / All Probation staff involved in Offender Management and Courts
Annex C / Serious Further Offences qualifying list / All Probation staff involved in Offender Management and Courts
SFO Document Set Consists of Annexes D to J / SFO Review Authors, Trust SPOCs and Trust SFO Leads, PPMHG SFO Team
Annex D / SFONotification
Annex E / Standard Review form
Annex F / Shortened SFO Review form
Annex G / Review Chronology
Annex H / Action Plan Update
Annex I / Quarterly Summary of Action on Learning Points
Annex j / Outcome
Annex K / Media communications template
Annex L / SFOUser Guide / Trust SPOCs, Trust SFO Senior Leads, PPMHG SFO Team
Annex B / Equality Impact Assessment / Authors

1. Executive summary

Background

1.1There have been procedures in place for the reporting of serious further offending by offenders subject to supervision in the community by the Probation Provision for over 10 yearsand these have developed over time. Revised Notification and Review Procedures for Serious Further Offences (SFOs) were introduced in December 2008 with the publication of Probation Circular (PC) 22/2008 and there was always an intention to take stock of this revised SFO Process within two years of implementation. In addition, the interrelated challenges of the Spending Review and the Restructuring of NOMS have provided impetus to the need for further streamlining of these procedures. This Instruction introduces revisions to the arrangements for the Notification and Review of Serious Further Offences (SFOs) and re-iterates those elements of the last set of procedures (PC 22/2008) that remain in force.

1.2The SFO Notification and Review procedure is intended to ensure rigorous scrutiny of those cases where specified offenders under the supervision of the Probation Provision have been charged with a violent or sexual offence (please refer to the list of qualifying offences in Annex C), in order that:-

• the public may be reassured that NOMS is committed to reviewing practice in cases where offenders under supervision are charged with certain serious offences;

• areas of continuous improvement to risk assessment, risk management and offender management practice and policy within the Probation Provision (together with other parts of the NOMS Agency or beyond as appropriate) may be identified and disseminated locally and nationally, as appropriate; and

• Ministers, the NOMS Chief Executive, other senior officials within NOMS and the wider Ministry of Justice (MoJ), where appropriate, can be informed by the NOMS Public Protection and Mental Health Group (PPMHG) of noteworthy cases of alleged serious further offences committed by offenders whilst under the supervision of the Probation Provision.

1.3The revisions within this Instruction retain the ability of the SFO Notification and Review procedure to achieve the above purposes but target the resource demands on Trusts to fulfil the SFO process more effectively. The key revisions that have been made are:-

• introducing a streamlined Review process for all eligible offenders charged with a SFO who have been assessed as low risk of serious harm and are subject to either a community order or a suspended sentence order, even where the qualifying offence attracts a mandatory review. In these cases, the SFO Review will focus chiefly, but not exclusively, on the area of risk assessment;

• a new process for Trusts to give account for progress with SFO Review Action Plans, in particular to cease the requirement for routine reporting back to PPMHG on each individual case and to adopt an arrangement whereby Trust Chief Executives report on progress with review action plans to their local board; Trusts will be required to submit to PPMHG a quarterly summary report only providing assurance that learning points arising out of reviews from a specified reporting period have been taken forward to further improve practice and/or policy.

• reducing the frequency of the SFO Review Validation process from once a quarter to once every six months.

1.4This Instruction, in outlining the above changes, aims to reflect the new and emerging structures within NOMS and will reference areas of relevant policy change, where this is known. It also acknowledged that, as providers other than Probation Trusts are contracted to deliver probation services over time, Probation Trust Contract Managers will need to ensure that compliance with SFO reviews is accounted for within future contracts or advise if they consider that SFO procedures may need to be further amended to take account of this change. All other elements of existing SFO Procedures, as laid down in Probation Circular 22 /2008 and repeated in this Instruction, remain unchanged.

.

Desired outcomes

1.5This Instruction aims to ensure that all instances of serious further violent or sexual offending that fall within the remit of the SFO scheme are identified, notified and reviewed in line with the requirements of this PI. This includes in particular that:-

  • the criteria for placing the cases of offenders charged with a SFO under these procedures are known and understood;
  • offenders charged with a SFO are promptly identified at local level and notified to PPMHG in a timely manner;
  • SFO Reviews are appropriately rigorous, produce findings that are supported by clear and comprehensive evidence and draw out all relevant learning points; and
  • the role of the PPMHG in informing Ministers and senior officials about noteworthy SFOs is understood by Probation Trusts and relevant stakeholders.

Application

1.6Section 2 of this Instruction sets out actions that must be taken to ensure that all SFOs are identified, notified and reviewed in line with current procedures. All staff with responsibility for courts, offender management, case administration and MAPPA must be familiar with this section.

1.7Section 3 briefly sets out the policy and strategic context that relates to SFO procedures.

1.8The revised SFO Document set is given in Annexes D to J and further guidance is given in Annexes C and K.

Mandatory actions

1.9Probation Trust Contract Managers must ensure that this Instruction is included in the Trust contractual requirements and that all Trust staff are aware of and comply with this instruction. The National Director for Probation and Contracted Services, or their representative, must ensure that, as part of their routine oversight of Probation Trusts, arrangements are in place to monitor the compliance with the requirements in this instruction.

1.10Chief Executives for Probation Trusts must ensure that all staff are made aware of these revisions to SFO procedures and that this Instruction is implemented from 1st July 2011. They should particularly ensure that there are effective local procedures in place in order that relevant staff in their organisation:-

  • identify and notify PPMHG of all qualifying SFOs in accordance with the operational instructions in this Instruction;
  • undertake SFO Reviews in accordance with the operational instructions in this Instruction and in such a way that key lessons that arise out of reviews are shared with their staff and used to further improve policy and practice;
  • provide additional information relating to a SFO case to assist with any briefing for Ministers and senior officials being prepared by PPMHG, as required.

1.11Trust Chairs must ensure that regular updates on progress with acting on SFO Review learning points are given to PPMHG in line with operational actions in this Instruction.

Resource impact

1.12These changes will reduce the burden on Probation Trusts. There will be no direct resource impact on staff in prison establishments.

Employee care

1.13In dealing with cases of serious further offending, which can be stressful for those staff involved, it is important that Trusts exercise good employee care practice. It must be remembered that the review process is not about apportioning blame, even though in a very small number of cases the review process may result in capability and/or disciplinary proceedings being invoked. Good practice will include ensuring that any staff involved in the management of a case that leads to a SFO are made aware when a Review is being undertaken, are able to prepare for any interviews that may be required and are given feedback on those outcomes of the SFO Review that relate directly to them. During this process, line managers will provide appropriate support for their staff in line with HR policies, as they would in any other case where staff need support to deal with challenging issues at work. Probation Trusts should also ensure that any of their staff who are interviewed as part of a SFO Review are given a copy of ‘Serious Further Offence Review Process – A Guide for Staff’, which can be accessed on EPIC via the ‘Public Protection’ link. Although the SFO Review is the key process for reviewing how the case has been managed, the ongoing management of the case will normally require that the offender manager and their line manager discuss the case, review risk and adjust sentence plans and risk management plans accordingly. In those few cases where the reviewing manager decides that they need to interview staff members before this takes place, they will inform the line manager in the case accordingly.

Contact

For further information about this PI please contact:

Matthew Ryder, Head of Serious Further Offences Team,

Dangerous Offenders Section

Public Protection and Mental Health Group

National Offender Management Service

Telephone 020 7035 1320

(signed)

Colin Allars

Director of Probation and Contracted Services

2. Operational Instructions

All staff must familiarise themselves with this section to ensure that they understand the nature of these instructions and when they are mandatory.

2.1Cases that qualify for a SFO Review

2.1.1Trusts must notify the PPMHG using the Notification form in the SFO Document Set when an eligible offender is charged with a qualifying offence, i.e. a violent or sexual offence listed in Annex C, and meets the criteria to qualify for a Review, details of which are given in this section and sections 2.2 and 2.3 below.

2.1.2Reviews will be required in any of the following cases:-

- any eligible offender who has been charged with murder, manslaughter, another offence causing death, rape or a sexual offence against a child under 13 years of age (including attempted offences) committed during the current period of supervision by the Probation Provision; or

- any eligible offender who has been charged with another offence on the SFO qualifying list committed during a period of supervision by the Probation Provision and is or has been

assessed as high/very high risk of serious harm during the current sentence or has not

received a formal risk assessment during the current period of supervision; or

- any eligible offender who has been charged with an offence, whether on the SFO list or

another offence, committed during a period of supervision by the Probation Provision, and the Trust or NOMS has identified there are public interest reasons for a review; or

- if the offender has died and not been charged with an eligible offence but where the police state he/she was the main suspect in relation to the commission of a SFO.

2.1.3In respect of those SFOs relating to offenders who are assessed as low risk of serious harm at sentence, and remain so up to the point of the SFO, and who are subject to either a community order or a suspended sentence order, there is a requirement to undertake only a shortened review as opposed to a standard review. The only possible exception would be any cases fitting this profile where the individual SFO has been flagged as a high profile case likely to attract significant public interest. In such cases, Probation Trusts retain the option of completing a standard review. Any decision to proceed to a standard review would need to be formally agreed between PPMHG and the relevant Trust, usually by the Head of the SFO Team and the SFO senior lead officer in the Trust, either at the point of the Notification being sent to PPMHG or immediately afterwards. It is anticipated that cases of this nature will be very rare.

2.1.4Other than the category of SFOs referred to in 2.1.3 immediately above, all other SFOs will undergo a standard review.

2.2Offender Eligibility

2.2.1 The following types of offender are eligible for inclusion in SFO procedures:-

• those under any form of supervision by the Probation Provision on the date of the SFO (excluding offenders where a court or recall warrant had been issued three months or more prior to the date of the SFO);

• those who were under any form of supervision by the Probation Provision which terminated no more than 28 days prior to the SFO; and

• those who are under supervision and charged with an equivalent eligible offence in another jurisdiction.

2.3Offence Eligibility

2.3.1The list of SFO qualifying offences is at Annex C and is based on, but not identical to, Schedule 15a of the Criminal Justice Act 2003. This remains unchanged as under PC 22/2008. All offences on this list attract either a maximum of 14 years imprisonment or a Indeterminate Sentence.

2.3.2Any subsequent amendments to the list will be formally notified to Chief Executives, and a revised list placed on EPIC.

2.4Subsequent changes in eligibility

2.4.1.A case will cease to qualify for Review if it subsequently falls outside the SFO eligibility

criteria, as a result of:-

• a finding at court of not guilty, other than for reasons of fitness to plead or not guilty

by reason of insanity

•the discontinuance of proceedings either pre-trial or at court;

• the reduction of the charge to one that falls outside the SFO eligibility criteria;

2.4.2Trusts must inform the PPMHG using the SFO Outcome section of the document set whenever a SFO case that has been notified to PPMHG subsequently falls outside of the SFO eligibility criteria, for example, where charges are reduced. Trusts can decide to continue with a local review in these cases, particularly if there are clear indications of important lessons to be learned.

2.5Cases that do not need to be reviewed.

2.5.1If an offender is charged and appears in court for a SFO committed more than five years ago, PPMHG will make a decision on whether it will be reviewed as a SFO, in consultation with the Trust, bearing in mind that the amount of case material available may be limited and there is less likelihood of any significant lessons to be drawn from the case.

2.6SFO procedures when the victim is a child

2.6.1. When the SFO eligibility criteria are met, and an associated Serious Case Review (SCR) will be or is likely to be undertaken by the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB), the senior lead manager and/or the reviewing manager for the Trust must liaise with the LSCB to ensure that all necessary information is provided in a timely manner for the LSCB. This may include information from the SFO Review but also other information derived from case and other records. Where the bulk of the SFO Review is of direct relevance to the matters under consideration by the LSCB, it must be forwarded to the Chair of the LSCB as a restricted document, whereas in other cases the Trust must share a summary of findings from the SFO Review, not the SFO Review itself, with the LSCB.