Summary And Background
3.Under the current legislation the statutory duty to make arrangements for the provision of probation services rests exclusively with the local probation board. Probation services cannot currently be provided by any other organisation unless sub-contracted directly by probation boards themselves. This Act will transfer to the Secretary of State the statutory duty to make arrangements to provide probation services, so enabling him to commission services from providers in the public, private and voluntary sector. It will establish probation trusts, as public sector providers with whom he may make such arrangements.
4.The Secretary of State will not commission everything directly: commissioning will be a national, regional and local activity, with providers of probation services also acting as commissioners where appropriate. The Secretary of State may contract only with a probation trust or other public body for the giving of assistance to courts, unless this restriction is lifted by means of an order subject to affirmative resolution.
5.The Act also:
enables information to be shared between relevant bodies and persons for offender management purposes;
removes some of the inconsistencies between the powers of staff in public and private custodial institutions;
reforms existing offences of bringing articles into prison and taking articles out of prison;
removes the requirement for the appointment of a prison medical officer;
Changes the name of “Boards of Visitors” to “Independent Monitoring Boards” and removes the requirement for two magistrates to be members of a Board;
makes technical amendments to enable more efficient management of juvenile offenders sentenced to custody; and
introduces polygraph testing of sex offenders on licence from a sentence of imprisonment of 12 months or more.
