Probation staff work inside each of the prisons in the Cheshire area - HMP Risley, HMP Styal and Thorn Cross YOI.
Probation staff work with prison staff in the preparation of structured sentence plans and provide information and risk assessment on prisoners being considered for release. They also liaise with Probation staff in the prisoner's home area to devise plans for effective resettlement in the community.
Most prisoners do not serve all of their sentence in prison. Some are supervised by the Probation Service on a licence from the prison or Parole Board. This requires the offender to have regular contact with the supervising officer and submit to certain restrictions on movement and behaviour.
A basic licence issued by the governor will contain the following rules:
If, at any time, the offender's behaviour gives cause for concern to the supervising officer, he or she can be recalled to prison to finish off the rest of the original sentence.
For more details on custodial sentences, go to the CJA 2003 page »
This is a custodial sentence, but is suspended for a period ranging from six months to two years. During this period, the court sets community requirements from the same set of options that are available for the Community Order.
There are four key differences between this new determinate sentence and the ACR and DCR arrangements from the previous sentencing regime:
A sentence imposed on adult offenders convicted of sexual and violent offences where there is "significant risk to members of the public of serious harm" from further offences and where the offence carries a maximum penalty of 10 years or over. On release, the offender will be subject to supervision on licence for at least 10 years, after which time the Parole Board may revoke the licence, otherwise it will continue.
Where the sexual or violent offence committed carries a maximum penalty of less than 10 years, this sentence is required in the same circumstances as the IPP. The court must set a custodial period and extended licence period. The offender may be released on the Parole Board's recommendation at any time between the halfway point and the completion of the custodial period. The extended licence period may be up to five years for violent offenders and eight years for sexual offenders.
Custody Plus will replace the current custodial sentence of less than 12 months, the major difference being that all offenders who serve less than 12 months imprisonment will be subject to a period of licence on release, whereas now the Probation Service is not involved with this group.
A sentence of up to twelve months may be served intermittently either at weekends or weekdays. Between periods of custody the offender will be on licence which can include the same requirements as a Community Order with the exception of the treatment requirements (mental health, alcohol and drug treatment). Licences should also include 'standard conditions'.
The power to defer a sentence can only be exercised where: "the offender undertakes to comply with any requirements as to his conduct during the period of the deferment that the court considers it appropriate to impose." If the offender commits another offence during the deferment period the court may have the power to sentence for both the original and the new offence at once.
Sentence cannot be deferred for more than six months and,
in most circumstances, no more than one period of deferment can be granted.
Prisoners given a life sentence and then released, have to live under the basic licence conditions and other extra conditions until a decision by the Home Office rules otherwise. For the rest of their life, they are liable to be returned to prison to continue their sentence if they get into further trouble.