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On 1 April 2001, the Cheshire Probation Area became one of 42 Areas comprising the National Probation Service for England and Wales. As a key agency within the local criminal justice system, the Cheshire Probation Area will, during this year, supervise at any one time, nearly 3000 offenders subject to community sentences or prison post-release licences as well as producing some 3000 reports for sentencers in the Magistrates' and Crown Courts. We will supervise offenders undertaking some 100,000 hours of unpaid work across the Cheshire communities each year. The 19th largest of the 42 Areas, Cheshire employs some 400 staff within a total budget of £12 million and following our 2003 Effective Supervision Inspection carried out by HM Inspectorate, we have the second highest overall quality score of the first 30 Areas inspected.
We work in close partnership with the other criminal justice agencies as part of the Cheshire Criminal Justice Board » and the Chief Officer is the current Chair of that Board. Additionally, Area staff contribute to the work of the Prison Service in the North West and the Youth Offending Services (Cheshire and Halton & Warrington) through the secondment of staff to individual prison establishments and the Youth Offending Teams.
Following the publication in January 2004 of the Carter Report - Managing Offenders, Reducing Crime - the Government has taken forward its plans to create a National Offender Management Service (NOMS). This will have a significant impact upon the future of local Probation Areas and their Boards as the Government seeks to introduce contestability (competition) to determine who provides services to offenders. During this year we will functionally separate offender management from interventions. The NOMS vision also requires the Probation and Prison Services to work jointly to ensure the end to end management of offenders and prisoners so that opportunities for individuals to lead crime free lives are maximised. Specifically, we are centrally involved in the North West Offender Management Pathfinder on behalf of NOMS.
As one of the 42 Areas comprising the National Probation Service, Cheshire will reflect this over-arching vision and the key national objectives within its 2005/06 Area Business Plan ». Our Business Plan for this year reflects the work we will undertake to influence as well as to operate within the future NOMS environment. It also incorporates the need to maintain and improve our current performance in line with the National Probation Service Business Plan 2005/06. Once again we have a significant number of performance measures against which we will be expected to deliver during 2005/06. We also have the very significant task of contributing to the implementation of the sentencing provisions within the Criminal Justice Act 2003 as well as working towards the implementation of the National Reducing Re-offending Action Plan.
Our Business Plan, and the work we will undertake with both offenders and victims during the coming year, will continue to reflect the importance we attach to working with partners, not only through the Cheshire Criminal Justice Board but also with the nine local authorities and the independent sector. We will continue to ensure that all our services - to victims, offenders and all our key stakeholders - are designed and delivered to encompass both individual need and the needs of our diverse communities within Cheshire.
Finally, we strive to ensure that all our services - to victims, offenders and all our key stakeholders - are designed and delivered to encompass both individual need and the needs our diverse communities within Cheshire.
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