This month we have an exclusive interview with Justice Minister Bridget Prentice at a time when the sector is absorbing the news that the Ministry has dropped its targets to get charities involved in probation services.
This report was written before the announcement by the Ministry of Justice that it is dropping the target that 10% of probation services under the National Offender Management Service should be delivered by organisations within the third and private sectors.
However, Bridget Prentice's responses in this article indicate that the MoJ recognises the valuable role volunteers play within the justice field.
Q How do you plan to actively encourage voluntary organisations and other groups to contribute to Government policy and how will this in turn help to design and deliver quality services?
A The MoJ Third Sector Strategy will underpin our commitment to involving voluntary and community groups - the third sector - in the policy making process.
As part of this, we’ll consider ways in which third sector representatives can contribution to the design and delivery of public services and strategic objectives.
We know that the sector understands the needs of users on the ground - often having unique access to hard to reach groups - and we would like to harness this more fully to shape services.
We’re already working towards this. For example, the Roehampton Partnership (made up of local residents, clergy, voluntary groups and employers) identifies priority areas for improvement in the Roehampton area and has been closely involved in the development of the community justice court in Wandsworth.
As another example, the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) Third Sector Stakeholder Group for Contestability brings together a range of third sector providers who work to reduce re-offending to help develop commissioning plans, highlight barriers to engagement and think creatively about how these can be overcome.
The Third Sector Strategy has been out for consultation since December and we expect to publish the final Strategy this spring. The consultation closed on 20 March, though we’d still encourage those interested to read the draft Strategy at this link: http://www.justice.gov.uk/news/newsrelease201207a.htm
Q What is the role of volunteering infrastructure in your plans? “Better Public Services Through Social Partnership” mentions “community anchors” but this term often fails to pick up the crucial local role of Volunteer Centres.
A We are keen to support and raise the profile of volunteering schemes, especially as we take forward the Third Sector Strategy.
There are already a number of volunteering activities in place across the work of the Ministry, from volunteering in prisons, the work of Magistrates, and community desks in courts, which are staffed by local volunteers to connect defendants and their families to community resources.
Volunteering plays a unique role in reducing re-offending and the NOMS consultation document ‘Volunteers Can: Towards a Volunteering Strategy to Reduce Re-offending’, highlights our commitment to support the role of volunteering in reducing re-offending. Its aim is to increase the number and diversity of volunteers, improve the quality of support to volunteers and becoming more strategic in volunteer development.
Q How can Government encourage employers to support their staff to become involved in the justice system eg. magistrates, special constables, justices of the peace, prison visitors? There appears to be a reluctance on the part of a reasonable number of employers to support this kind of Employer Supported Volunteering (ESV).
A We encourage our employees to volunteer in the community as individuals or in teams and grant time off during working hours to allow for this.
The Ministry’s objective of improving access to justice provides a wealth of opportunities for people to get involved.
For example, as magistrates handling 95% of all criminal cases, volunteering in the legal advice sector, in prisons, or by working for one of the many organisations which receive funding from the Ministry.
We have particularly been working to raise the level of awareness amongst employers of the vital role that Magistrates play in society and the beneficial skills they can take back to the workplace, such as decision making skills, from the high quality training they receive.
Q In terms of diversity, how is the Ministry’s campaign to recruit more magistrates under 50 progressing?
A It‘s important that magistrates reflect the diverse communities they serve and in many areas this means recruiting more magistrates under 50.
The 101 local Advisory Committees who are responsible for recruiting and selecting magistrates in their respective areas are encouraged to target recruitment at under-represented groups.
We are seeing progress on reducing the age profile of the magistrates, although there is still some way to go: Magistrates under 50 rose from 17.9% in 2003/4 to 19% in 1 April 2007.
The figures for recent appointments indicate that 46% of this financial year’s new appointees to date are under 50.
Q Following on from Lord Goldsmith’s Citizenship Review, what role do you think mentoring has in engaging people in becoming “active citizens”?
A Lord Goldsmith’s recommendations emphasise the role of mentoring in helping different groups, eg. new entrants to the UK and young people trying to enter the workplace, to become full and active members of society.
We very much recognise that mentoring is a way of developing a person’s skills and experience and have a number of schemes in place, such as the Magistrates’ Shadowing Scheme, which provides those from under-represented groups with an opportunity to experience life as a magistrate.
Another example is the Aspire programme, which is a pilot the Legal Services Commission will take forward to engage with young people in schools and universities to encourage the next generation of legal professionals.
We also have mentoring schemes in prison. For example, peer support schemes can potentially develop skills to help resettlement as well as providing a stability factor between custody and reintegration into the community.
On release, offenders can use their experiences, new skills and confidence to get involved in other volunteering initiatives which can help them in their personal lives and act as a conduit to employment, training or education.
Q What role do you believe faith and BME communities can play in building better public services?
A We value the important contribution faith and BME communities play in building public services.
In prisons, faith-based organisations have been working with offenders for many years.
NOMS have published a faith consultation paper, ‘Believing We Can’, which seeks to promote the work of faith-based organisations with both adult and young offenders, and explores further actions that Government can take working in partnership to strengthen engagement with the faith-based sector.
Responses from the consultation will be used to inform a new Government strategic plan to reduce re-offending and a NOMS Third Sector Action Plan.
The Coroners Unit also hold an annual meeting with various faith groups to discuss faith issues around the current coroner service, coroner reform and burial issues.
The groups represented have changed over the years but the current faiths included are Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh, Pagan, Zoroastrian, Baha’i, Jain, Humanist and Buddhist.
Where possible we have the most representative group on the forum to enable feedback to the largest number of people
With regards to BME communities, the NOMS Third Sector Action Plan aims to ensure that BME, and other diverse groups, have a voice in the process and that their needs are understood.
This is supported by the key aim of the Plan to maximise the contribution made by the third sector to support NOMS’ objectives of reducing re-offending and protecting the public.
Q How can we encourage partnerships between organisations working in prison and probation environments?
A The consultation paper for the new NOMS Third Sector Action Plan outlines our commitment to build on the partnerships already working effectively between the third sector and prisons and probation across the reducing re-offending pathways.
An emerging theme of the consultation is the need to broker relationships between a broad third sector working in the justice sector and commissioners and funders at regional and local level.
We’ll look to identify actions that achieve this, including improved networking within the third sector.
At a national level, we’ve recently announced a new NOMS National Infrastructure Grants Programme. This amounts to £600k a year for three years from April 2008 to provide strategic funding for national third sector infrastructure organisations working to reduce re-offending.
This new money will support representation of third sector views, improve capacity building, communications and networking.
The umbrella organisations funded (Clinks, Action for Prisoners Families, and the Development Trusts Association) are already bringing together those that work in prisons and in the community and this new investment provides a real opportunity to further strengthen these relationships and links.
Q How can the Government help to support volunteers involved in delivering key activities and services to both offenders and victims?
A Thousands of volunteers work locally to support offender management in prisons and in the community to deliver services that help reduce re-offending and build public confidence.
As part of the new NOMS National Infrastructure Grants Programme, Clinks have been awarded £145,000 a year for three years to undertake a strategic role in promoting and supporting the effective recruitment, management and support of diverse volunteers and mentors working with offenders to reduce re-offending.
This will include establishing a Reducing Re-offending Volunteering and Mentoring Network, and there is an expectation that Clinks will sub-contract some activity including investigating the development of specific indicators within mentoring National Occupational Standards for offender and offender peer mentoring
Useful background information about Minister Bridget Prentice:
Bridget Prentice MP was appointed as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State on 9 May 2007.
She has responsibility for many areas within the Justice System, ranging from civil and family justice, to social exclusion, asylum and immigration, legal services reform and the democratic engagement of young people.
Third Sector Strategy – improving policies and securing better public services through effective partnerships can be found on the Ministry of Justice website: www.justice.gov.uk/publications/cp3307.htm
