Cheshire Probation Area

Role of the Board

A Brief History

The Probation of Offenders Act 1907 empowered courts to appoint Probation Officers but it was not until the late 1920s that 'Probation Committees' were formed to provide oversight of the work of Probation Officers. From that time until the 1970s the Committees comprised mainly of Magistrates with the local Clerk to the Justices as the Secretary to the Committee. From the 1970s onwards, to acknowledge the contribution of local authority funding, Committees co-opted local authority Councillors but only in token numbers. Occasionally, and at local discretion, other co-opted members appeared on the main Committee or Sub-Committees, for example representatives of local Universities (where Probation Officers at that time undertook their training) or voluntary organisations who worked with the Probation Service, e.g. voluntary accommodation providers.

As the Probation Service expanded its work not only in courts and prisons but in the community, there was a further national debate as to whether Committees comprising of mainly sentencers should be replaced by Boards with a smaller but broader representative mix from local communities. The debates in the 1990s eventually led to the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 which laid the basis for the statutory functions of Probation Boards.

Cheshire Probation Board

The appointment of Cheshire Probation Board on the 1st April 2001 coincided with a number of other critical developments affecting the Probation Service:

• The creation of a National Probation Service for the first time with a National   Director reporting directly to the Home Secretary.
• The amalgamation of some of the previous 54 Services to form 42 Probation Areas (now a mix of Areas and Trusts) which were co-terminus with the boundaries of Police Areas as well as those of the Crown Prosecution Service and the newly-organised Magistrates’ Courts Services.
• The establishment of a Regional Framework for the new National Probation Service ( Cheshire is part of the North West Region which includes Cumbria, Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside.)

The Cheshire Probation Board has the same aims and objectives as apply to the Probation Service nationally:

• The protection of the public
• The reduction of re-offending
• The rehabilitation of offenders
• The proper punishment of offenders
• Ensuring offenders' awareness of the effects of crime on the victims of crime and the public

The key performance targets and indicators relating to these objectives will be determined by the Home Secretary and set out in the Board's business plan. For the first time in the history of the Probation Service, the respective responsibilities of Ministers, the Permanent Secretary at the Home Office, the National Probation Directorate, the Chair of the local Board and the Chief Officer are laid down in a single Management Statement.

The Board has corporate responsibility for the proper discharge of its statutory functions within the requirements and framework laid down by the Home Secretary. Important areas of responsibility include:

• Ensuring that high standards of corporate governance are observed at all times.
• Establishing the overall strategic direction of the organisation within the policy and resources framework determined by the Home Secretary.
• Arranging for the appointment of employees.