Contents · maximising the opportunities to reduce re-offending. We will ... In these ways we each...

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Contents

Foreword ................................................................................................................................................ 3

Welcome from our CRC Director .................................................................................................... 4 1

Our Purpose, Our Values, Our Behaviours ..................................................................................... 6 2

Our Strategic Priorities ................................................................................................................... 7 3

4 Our CRC………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………..8

4.1 Our locality ............................................................................................................................. 8

4.2 Our caseload ........................................................................................................................... 9

4.3 Our Staff ................................................................................................................................. 9

Improve the Quality of Life of Service Users ................................................................................ 10 5

5.1 Strategic Overview................................................................................................................ 10

5.2 CRC Delivery ......................................................................................................................... 11

5.3 Key Objectives for 2018/19 .................................................................................................. 13

Improve the Quality of Life of our People .................................................................................... 15 6


6.2 CRC Delivery ......................................................................................................................... 15


Develop and Grow our Services ................................................................................................... 18 7


7.2 CRC Delivery ......................................................................................................................... 18


Increase our value through innovation ........................................................................................ 20 8


8.2 CRC Delivery ......................................................................................................................... 20


Annex A. Our performance metrics for 2018/19.................................................................................. 22

Annex B. Quality Assurance Framework ………………………………………………………………………………………....23

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Foreword

Janine McDowell Chief Executive Officer, Sodexo Justice Services UK & Ireland

Jacob Tas Chief Executive Nacro

Sodexo and Nacro are pleased to be continuing the partnership into our fourth year of operations across six Community Rehabilitation Companies as part of the UK Government’s Transforming Rehabilitation Programme. The past year has seen the embedding of our new regional structures creating better synergy across our CRC business. Together with our supply chain partners we remain committed to reducing reoffending, change lives for the better, and improve the quality of life of those under our supervision and care. Whether service users are accessing our services after a custodial sentence or as a direct result of a community order, we are committed to supporting them to move beyond a life of crime and address the root causes of their offending behaviour. Our model of delivery ensures that service users have more direct contact with CRC practitioners, encourage them to better engage in their own rehabilitation as well as receive the support that’s most appropriate to their needs. At the same time, our enhanced partnerships enable them to benefit from the expertise of a range of voluntary and community-based groups. In the coming year we will continue to focus our attention on both quality and innovation in order to ensure we are maximising the opportunities to reduce re-offending. We will also continue with our service user engagement programme through our CRC Service User Council. Ultimately we are a people business. Our staff are our biggest asset so we are fortunate to have skilled, experienced and committed people in our organisations who have worked though significant change over the past three years. We believe it is our staff that sets us apart from other providers and we are proud that we all share the same values, behaviours and sense of purpose. We look forward to another year ahead and working in partnership to achieve our ambitions.

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Welcome from our CRC Director 1

As I reflect on what has been achieved during the past year and look to what is yet to be delivered during 2018/19 I am proud of the progress BeNCH CRC has made as an organisation and our contribution to the reducing reoffending agenda across the four counties we represent. Our staff are as always our greatest asset and have worked hard during the year to bring us to this point. Our engagement with strategic partners remains central to our success and we have welcomed support from our PCCs for the approach we have taken to addressing housing challenges for example, by co-commissioning rent deposit schemes through Nacro, one of our strategic and operational partners, with PCCs’ and HMPPS financial support. In addition we are working closely with HMP Peterborough, also owned by Sodexo, to enable a more substantial offer of housing for service users leaving the prison. The provision of accommodation for BeNCH service users has dominated much of our broader strategic discussion this year and we welcome the priority that our partners place on this important provision, without which reducing reoffending becomes that much harder. There are no quick fixes, especially given BeNCH’s scope across 4 counties, so we are working collaboratively with HMPPS colleagues and others to agree the steps and deliverables that are within our gift, as well as seeking to influence others to fully engage in this agenda. BeNCH is keen to partner with those who share our vision for our region and are fortunate to have some of those vital alliances in place. BeNCH is managed by the Ministry of Justice through a set of contractual service levels and for the most part we are performing well against these. We have secured successful completion rates for community orders of 79%; licences of 78%; programmes of 90%; and Community Payback of 91%. During 2017-18 BeNCH delivered 255,736 hours of unpaid work to our local communities and received feedback from a number of beneficiaries regarding the quality of our work. Where enforcement action is required for non-compliance we take timely action in 90% of cases. Increasingly as performance levels have stabilised we have turned our attention to embedding quality improvement agenda; to enhancing our engagement with strategic partners and considering how to share most effectively and meaningfully with the range of partners we have across the 4 counties; and to developing our operational partnerships, including the work that is delivered under the banner of Through the Gate. We have focussed this past year on developing a clear strategy for engaging our young adults and following a period of consultation with HMPPS, Youth Offending teams and User Voice have piloted the accompanying Rehabilitation Activity Requirement (RAR), ‘Fearless Futures’. This will form part of our mainstream provision from April 2018. Additionally we have reviewed our suite of RARs and developed a broader package of delivery, taking feedback from our staff and operational partners and comparing this against service user need to inform those developments. Our delivery of Accredited Programmes remains strong and Building Better Relationships remains a core feature of our provision for those service users who need to address offending behaviour that is related to domestic abuse in a specialist way.

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BeNCH is proud to have built on the success of our well established involvement with Hertfordshire County Council’s multi-agency Safeguarding project, and we have now seconded staff into an extension of these arrangements across Peterborough and Luton, following a national review which applauded the successful and significant outcomes for children subject to care plans across Hertfordshire. During 2018-19 we will continue to work in a way that enables reductions in reoffending to be achieved and improved upon, ensuring that our focus remains on protecting the public from harm and safeguarding children and vulnerable adults. As an employer committed to equality and inclusion we plan to analyse and understand the needs and protected characteristics of our service users more effectively in order to develop a more responsive service both internally and as part of our commissioning arrangements. We are committed to a learning culture and welcome feedback from audit, inspection and surveys with stakeholders and service users alike as a way of enhancing our provision and ensuring quality across our range of services. Collaboration and partnership remain key elements for BeNCH during the coming year and we welcome your continued engagement with us. Ali Hancock, CRC Director

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2 Our Purpose, Our Values, Our Behaviours

Our Purpose

To change lives for the better by reducing reoffending and improving the quality of life of those in our supervision and care.

Our Values

SERVICE SPIRIT

TEAM SPIRIT

SPIRIT OF PROGRESS

Proud to provide services to others

Take care in getting to know our clients and customers. We listen to their needs and pay attention to detail

Make ourselves available and responsive, welcoming and efficient

What we say is what we do; we believe we must always keep our promises.

Strong teamwork is essential to deliver our services

Working together successfully means recognising our diverse qualities and skills

Open honest communication and respect for each other, with everyone pulling together to achieve our goals.

Excellence in service means finding every opportunity for improvement

Going the extra mile, taking the initiative, looking for better ways of doings every day

We learn from our mistakes when they occur. In these ways we each make progress and the company as a whole succeeds.

Our behaviours

Commit to improve

Act collaboratively Dare to think innovatively

Own performance Develop and grow Challenge with humility

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3 Our Strategic Priorities

Sodexo Justice operates 5 prisons and owns 6 Community Rehabilitation Companies in the UK. The Sodexo Justice Strategy consists of four strategic priorities for both our custodial and community operations. The information below shows the key deliverables under each of the strategic priorities for community operations.

Improve the quality of life of service users:

Reduce re-offending and risk of harm

Employ ex-offenders and service users

Promote the health, safety and well-being of service users

Enable personal growth through learning and opportunities for change

Improve the quality of life of our people:

Improve staff engagement

Introduce different ways of working to meet changing employee needs

Improve the health, safety and well-being of staff

Encourage and enable our people to realise their full potential

Develop and grow our services:

Deliver quality and high performing services to deliver the Sodexo 5 year Plan

Improve our ability to shape and influence the market

Invest in future growth

Demonstrate and deliver value for money in our services

Increase value through innovation:

Enable and innovate through secure, user-friendly digital capabilities

Build effective partnerships

Develop the Sodexo Justice brand

Deliver our Public Service Pledge commitments

This Annual Service Plan presents our CRC’s delivery plans for 2018/19 under each strategic priority.

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4 Our CRC

4.1 Our locality

BeNCH relates to four Police Areas, and four Police and Crime Commissioners respectively; three of the four Police Areas work within a strategic alliance, which does not include Northamptonshire and this sometimes brings challenges to BeNCH’s move towards a single organisation approach. Within BeNCH then there are four Criminal Justice Boards, and a total of 26 Community Safety Partnerships. We work with four NPS clusters, Courts and Sentencers across the four counties, each of whom operate slightly differently, and have the following resettlement prisons within our area as well: • HMP Peterborough (male and female) • HMP The Mount • HMP Bedford • HMP Woodhill • HMP Littlehey (whilst not a designated resettlement prison, BeNCH has chosen to support

resettlement activity here)

The Hub is the central point for all our administration, performance and corporate services activity. The Hub carries out an ‘arms length’ offender management function, using our operational partners to undertake interventions on our behalf. Staff in the Hub undertake all key processes involved in managing a community order, including case allocation, reporting, dealing with breaches and the purchase of interventions.

Local Management Centres (LMCs) are our primary offices within our areas of operation where service users report in person. Staff will work on a ‘hot desk’ arrangement supporting the new approach to mobile working. Programmes delivery takes place within our designated group rooms

Neighbourhood Centres (NCs) are smaller offices and do not have a dedicated reception facility, but staff can ‘hot desk’ and meet service users there.

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4.2 Our caseload

BeNCH CRC Workload Snapshot February 2018

Allocated Service Users – Community Order/Suspended Sentence Order

4657

Allocated Service Users – Custody/Licence/Post Sentence Supervision

3017

Allocated Service Users - total 7674

Active Unpaid Work requirements 2069

Rehabilitation Activity Requirements (RAR) 2883

Accredited Programme Requirements 748

Other requirements: Drug Rehabilitation Requirements (DRRs), Alcohol Treatment Requirements (ATRs), Mental Health Treatment Requirements (MHTRs) and Curfews

908

Average number of case commencements a month during 2017

596

Analysis of our sentencing trends during the last year indicates a steady state of order volumes allocated to BeNCH CRC, with consistent numbers of new allocations each quarter. The split between community and suspended sentence orders and short (less than 12 month) and longer term custody orders has also stabilised at: Community and Suspended Sentence Orders 1,158/quarter 65.4% Short term custody (less than 12 months) 504/quarter 28.5% Longer term custody (12 months and over) 108/quarter 6.1% Sentencing of Community Payback has stabilised at 787 requirements per quarter amounting to approximately 91,000 hours of Community Payback sentenced each quarter. Sentencing of Accredited Programmes averages out at 145 per Quarter during 2017, which is a 22% reduction in quarterly Accredited Programme sentencing compared to 2016. Section 5.2 outlines our plans and objectives for 2018-19 as we develop our services in response to this – notably, strengthening our Through the Gate delivery and providing a wider range of specific interventions as part of the RAR.

4.3 Our staff

BeNCH CRC currently employs 263 FTE staff and our operational delivery is supported by the staff and volunteers employed by our operational partners. In addition we are supported by Sodexo UK and Ireland for the delivery of business support and central services.

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Our organisational structure is outlined below:

A regional team supports core CRC delivery by providing specialist HR, Training and Development, Finance, Heath and Safety, Estates, Business Development and Communications provision.

5 Improve the Quality of Life of Service Users

5.1 Strategic Overview

Our ambition is to deliver a sustained and continuous reduction in reoffending. We will continue to focus our energy on developing the right services, interventions and partnerships to drive positive change in the behaviour of our service users whilst ensuring risks posed to the community are effectively monitored and reduced. We will build on previous success and knowledge to further develop our RAR offer ensuring the services we deliver are targeted, accessible and responsive to the needs of those we supervise. Within this framework, we will also develop a strategy to enhance our partnerships, outlined in more detail in section 8, and will increase employment opportunities for ex-offenders and service users in our CRC, in Sodexo and its partner companies. We will continue to develop our Through the Gate services to ensure those leaving custody have the right level of support and reoffending is minimised. As part of this, we will proactively work alongside and assist the Authority as the new specification is implemented.

Regional CEO

Emma Osborne

CRC Director

Ali Hancock

Deputy Director

Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire

Doug De St Aubin

Huntingdon & Cambridge:

SPO: Clare Powney

SPO: Laura Sanders

Peterborough & Fenland

SPO: Sophie Talbot

SPO: Paul Woods

Northampton Office:

SPO: Debs Presbury

Claire Todd

Jenny Woodward

Kettering:

SPO: Karen Burnell

Wellingborough:

SPO: Claire Todd

Partnerships Manager

Jim Kellock

Acting Programmes

Manager

Tom Moreton

Acting CP Manager

Tina Hall

Deputy Director

Cambridgeshire &

Northamptonshire

Jo Curphey

Deputy Director

Marie Prior

Quality Team & Hub Oversight

Deputy Director

Hayley James-Mangan

CP and Programmes Teams

Through the Gate

Bedford Office

SPO: Elaine Delmar

Luton Office:

SPO: Rachel Sheard

Stevenage

Jon Cowen

Lauren Kane

Cheshunt

Jon Cowen

Hemel Hampstead

Sally Leng

Ruth Simons

Head of Performance

Keith Faulkner

Performance Management

Information Security

Data Assurance

Contract Management

Acting Head of Hub

Clare Martindale

Hub RO:

Kelvin Bushell

Admin Managers:

Audrey Morrison

Tracy Pavard

Administrators

Steve Moore

Chris Pereira

Steve Willson

Quality

Anna Watkin

Hub

Clare Martindale

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We have been successful in reducing the numbers of people who re-offend against predicted levels, but those service users who have re-offended are committing offences more prolifically than expected. We will be creating plans in 2018/19 to address the particular group of service users most at risk of prolific offending.

5.2 CRC Delivery

Our ‘New Direction’ meetings at the start of an order or licence represent a collaborative induction, assessment and planning meeting with a service user that brings together the risk of reoffending and harm presented, alongside any needs that should be addressed. The risk management and sentence planning reviews, which follow, ensures delivery of the court ordered requirements and interventions to reduce reoffending. We use Justice Star in assessing need, which is an engaging tool that is used collaboratively to assist individuals to take responsibility for their journey of change, as they move towards self-reliance. We recognise the importance of responding to individual protected characteristics, needs and circumstances and are taking on board the recommendations as set out in the Lammy Review. BeNCH CRC is committed to placing equality and inclusion at the heart of our service and each year we seek to be more responsive both in our sentence planning and in our delivery; additionally we will be driving up our reporting against protected characteristics. This year we are committed to increasing our portfolio of Rehabilitation Activity Requirements (RARs) which includes ‘Fearless Futures’, a programme designed specifically to respond to the diverse needs of young adult service users, and those transitioning from Youth Offending. POEM is a Motivational RAR that equips Service Users to start on their journey of change; CHOICES is an attitudes, thinking and behaviour RAR which considers the decisions service users have made in the past and their choice to stop repeating the same behaviours. We are increasing our Education, Training and Employment (ETE) portfolio to assist service users into employment. In addition the relationships and parenting RARs will equip our service users to build and promote positive social circles. These RAR sessions are designed to promote greater engagement with BeNCH CRC from the outset. Within BeNCH CRC we are proud of our provision for our women service users. We work closely with our operational partners to continue to strengthen our women’s services, not only providing more of our interventions in a women’s only environment, but also improving these services to meet the specific needs of BeNCH women facing the criminal justice system. We will continue to support victims of domestic abuse and individuals in sex work through multi-agency work, which includes our Partner Link Workers and supported referrals to specialist services. We will be working this year to strengthen our women’s provision in Hertfordshire where we currently do not have a prescribed women’s centre.

We will continue to contribute to the Mental Health Treatment Requirement (MHTR) project in Northamptonshire, which secured funding in 2017 to bring together partners from health and drug treatment agencies with flagship women’s services provider The Good Loaf, to focus on the provision of services to women across the county. This has resulted in the increased use of MHTRs for women as they have been proposed for lower level mental health issues than would previously have been in scope, and have also been proposed for women with co-morbid substance misuse problems who would ordinarily have been excluded. An Assistant Psychologist employs a trauma-informed approach to working with the women who are also closely supported by a specific

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Keyworker from our Operational Partner C2C. The During 2017-18 thirty women were given MHTRs, twenty-nine of who are supervised by BeNCH and at the time of preparing this report none had breached their orders so far. We are committed to training our staff in a Trauma informed approach to ensure that women have the best opportunity to exit from the criminal justice system. Our Education, Training and Employment Officers and operational partners will continue to provide support to improve housing options for our service users; assistance to manage issues linked to finance, benefit and debt; and increase access to training and employment through links with local colleges and employers to result in tangible outcomes for our service users. We are proud to offer Accredited Programmes relating to Thinking Skills, which addresses problem solving, self control and positive relationships and Building Better Relationships, which addresses domestic abuse. This is further supported by our partner link workers who keep victims informed of progress and safety planning for the future. Community Payback will continue to be a cornerstone of service delivery in BeNCH CRC, supporting a comprehensive range of beneficiaries as service users make visible reparation to their communities. Whilst ‘Unpaid Work’ often forms the punitive requirement of a sentence, we ensure that there are opportunities for learning and improving skills, as well as developing a beneficial ‘work routine’. Our Community Payback Supervisors spend significant periods of time with our service users, and undertake the important role of engaging, motivating and supporting the process of change. We will continue to welcome and respond to project nominations from our local communities whilst also ensuring we work strategically with our stakeholders, ie PCC, police and local authorities, to target anti-social behaviour areas and improve the lives of local communities. We continue to develop our ‘Through the Gate’ service and will implement the enhanced specification when issued by the Authority, whilst supporting the ‘Offender Management in Custody’ model. We will strengthen our provision ensuring a more robust offer for those service users who are homeless and have previously been recalled, to reduce the likelihood of their return to custody. In addition we will be working with the in-custody education and training providers to link the skills learned in the custody setting with opportunities in the local labour market.

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5.3 Key Objectives for 2018/19

Objectives By when Supplementary

Detail Lead

1. Implement local initiatives to increase employment options for ex-offenders and service users Action: We will support the Sodexo pledge of recruiting 40 ex-offenders across the Justice Services Business within the financial year.

March 2019 Sodexo PS Pledge Revised ETE Specification in place ETE Strategy in place

CRC Director

2. Work with local partners to improve housing options for our service users Action: We will fund an accommodation project which enhances the opportunities for service users; focussing on those released from custody. Action: We will align our accommodation strategy with the strategic plans of NPS colleagues, local authority, operational partners and the needs of our service users, with support from our Strategic Partners NACRO.

March 2019 Revised Housing Specification Housing Strategy in place NPS Delivery Plan/Business Plan

Partnerships Manager

3. Embed and further refine our TTG model, taking account of prison reform developments Action: We will support the development of the new TTG specification and roll out services as agreed.

March 2019 Enhanced Specification CRC Response

CRC Director / TTG Lead

4. Engage with HMPSS on the development and roll out of OMIC Action: We will engage with the development and roll out of OMIC and adjust our TTG processes to align with the custodial key worker role.

March 2019 NPS Business Plan

CRC Director / Deputy Director

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5. Review the range and effectiveness of our interventions Action: We will assess the criminogenic needs of service users across the CRC and ensure that RAR delivery is available to meet that need. Action: We will assess the effectiveness of interventions by analysing re-offending rates and map new interventions accordingly.

March 2019 TR MiS Get the Data research NPS Delivery Plan 2018/19

CRC Director/ Regional Business Development Manager

6. Implement new contracts and services as outlined in the CRC Commissioning Strategy for 2018

March 2019 Commissioning Strategy in place for both CRC and NPS

CRC Director

7. Introduce a learning disability screening tool as part of assessment plans Action: We will introduce a learning disability screening tool in this financial year.

March 2019 In new Stand-alone assessment tool

CRC Director

8. Improve assessment and service delivery, taking account of protected characteristics and diversity of our service users Action: We will do service user needs analysis to assess if those with protected characteristics have appropriate interventions in place to match their needs. Action: We will review and implement where appropriate new Lammy recommendations.

March 2019 Service user needs assessment Review Lammy recommendations

CRC Director/Deputy Director

9. Harmonise operational policies and strategies across CRCs Action: We will ensure that with operational staff and union support, the Human Resources Policies and Procedures are harmonised across the region.

March 2019 6 Policies / Strategies in place

CRC CEO / Director

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6 Improve the Quality of Life of our People


Our workforce is our most valuable asset and we aim to create an outcome driven environment where our staff understand their contribution to delivering our key priorities and feel equipped and empowered, not only to manage their own performance and quality agenda but also to shape our future. We will ensure staff have the opportunity to develop their skills and experience so that we not only deliver against our contract but exceed it. This will include opportunities for career progression, investing in additional training, qualifications and a range of CRC and Sodexo wide development opportunities. We will continue to develop our engagement activity and ensure that staff are able to play their part in the continued transformation of our CRC and in our ability to effectively collaborate with partners to deliver services that have optimum impact to reduce reoffending. A strong diversity and inclusion culture will continue to be integral to all we do.

6.2 CRC Delivery

This financial year we will develop and roll out our workforce planning document, which will look at the make-up of our staffing group characteristics compared to the service user groups we are working with to support more representative recruitment, further demonstrating our commitment to valuing equality and inclusion, our public sector pledge to employ a greater number of ex Armed Forces personnel and ex-offenders and to make sure that we have a staff group that can meet the changing needs of our service user population. This year we will also develop our first staff charter outlining strategic aims and objectives for the year and how staff at all levels can contribute to these objectives. This charter will set out our vision and values, pledges from the senior team and middle managers on how they aim to improve the working environments, organisational communication and manage our economic challenges and will also clearly outline what we will expect from our staffing group in order to achieve these aims. We will continue the great progress we have made with our regional staff engagement group, quarterly staff communication workshops and welcome our new intranet in the support of better communication with staff across the organisation.

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Objectives By when Supplementary Detail

Lead

1. Conduct a staff engagement survey, identify and take action for improvement Action: We will improve our staff engagement level by 10% compared to the pulse survey conducted in 2017-18. Action: We will continue to improve our staff engagement activities by growing our staff engagement forums and our quarterly staff workshops and will embed our Team Engagement Ambassadors across each CRC.

March 2019

None identified CRC Director

2. Embed and develop our staff recognition schemes including links to wider Sodexo staff arrangements Action: We will increase and develop our staff recognition schemes and provide access to other schemes such as the Butler Trust and Probation Awards.

March 2019

Bright Ideas Scheme Recognising You Platform Internal and external recognition / awards

CRC CEO / Regional Comms Manager

3. Develop and implement an employee well-being strategy Action: We will implement our reducing stress in the workplace strategy. Action: We will ensure that all staff that are impacted on by the nature of the work such as domestic abuse have access to appropriate support. Action: We will implement our workforce planning strategy to support improved workload management and operational efficiencies across the business.

March 2019

Stress Survey Development of Strategy

Regional HRBP

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4. Implement a strategy for staff development, including VQ5, to enable staff to develop their full potential Action: We will ensure that we will select and train Practice enhancement programme candidates and support them to take on more complex cases, making sure they have appropriate supervisory oversight and practice enhancement instruction. Action: We will support candidates to access the Professional Qualification in Probation.

March 2019

Action Plan Regional Learning and Development Manager

5. Embed new intranet and develop and deliver new website

August 2018

Intranet in place Website in place

CRC CEO / Regional Comms Manager

6. Implement new CRC Resource Management Tool with supporting Workload Priorities Framework

July 2018 Tool available for use Framework agreed and in place

CRC Director

7. Improve communication with staff and stakeholders Action: We will introduce an intranet across all six CRCs and improve communication and access to policy. Action: We will create a monthly sentencer newsletter which will provide an at a glance performance and quality update.

April 2018 New intranet launched April 2018 Sentencer newsletter developed

CRC CEO/Regional Comms Manager CRC Directors

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7 Develop and Grow our Services


We are committed to ensuring our current services are high performing, deliver value for money and adapt to changing requirements. We will sustain and improve on our contract performance, notably the agreed service levels for 2018-19, and through positively responding to monitoring activity particularly via our regular meetings with the Authority. In addition, we will continue to deliver a strong performance culture, learning from both internal and external quality assurance audits and inspections that take place and utilising and responding to feedback from a range of stakeholders. Our Service User Council will continue to be instrumental in helping us to continually develop and improve our services by taking into account the views of those who are, or have been, under supervision. Growth is an essential element of our strategy. It enables us to offer a more diverse service provision to our service users and to those managed by the National Probation Service. This naturally includes looking at how we can collaborate with other local partners and organisations to bring about improved, holistic and joined up services that ultimately have a direct and positive impact to make our communities safer. As part of this agenda, we will continue to develop our rate card offer to meets the needs of the NPS, other CRCs and Commissioning Bodies and seek to bid for new services either directly or through support to our partners.

7.2 CRC Delivery

We manage performance closely in BeNCH to ensure that we deliver a quality service both to reduce re-offending and to meet our contractual requirements. Our Quality Assurance and Continuous Improvement Framework (Annex B) outlines the arrangements for this and we utilise daily performance information to support managers and staff in their work to achieve this. Data accuracy is an equally important element of assurance for both the CRC and the Authority. We work closely through regular data review meetings to consider any anomalies and patterns emerging through our data audit activity. Service user and stakeholder feedback provides extremely valuable feedback. This year we are taking steps to improve communication with both service users and partners, as well as providing continuity of staff working directly with our service users. We will continue to provide a presence strategically and operationally in all localities with a named manager for partnership contact. We are proactive in our response to inspection and audit as this is a primary driver for continuous improvement. During 2017/18 we created a Deputy Director post for Quality so that our commitment to embedding improvements could be properly overseen and realised. Internally BeNCH managers and staff undertake internal quality assurance audits on a monthly basis to ensure that the ownership of continuous improvement remains everyone’s business and not just a ‘top-down’ activity. In response to audit we routinely identify and scrutinise the learning from HMIP Inspections in other areas as well as our own and through our managers’ Leadership Forum we cascade our analysis to teams; to ensure a full picture we draw not only on Serious Further Offences, but also Serious Case Reviews, Domestic Homicide Reviews, Deaths under Supervision,

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and other audits such as Joint Thematic Area Inspections and the Ministry of Justice’s Operational Assurance. Whilst our local activity around the quality agenda has gathered momentum this past year, we are also well supported by a robust National Operational Assurance Group which has representatives from Sodexo’s 6 CRCs and provides a consistent approach to the various programmes of quality work undertaken. During 2018-19 our continuous improvement work will be focussed on embedding consistently effective assessment and sentence planning; safeguarding children and vulnerable adults; responsivity to changes in risk; improving timely delivery of offence focussed work; and domestic abuse. We will be using reflective practice and also ensuring that staff have access to good practice guides and policies through our recently launched intranet, which enables our 4 counties to draw on one central resource bank.


Objectives By When Supplementary Detail

Lead

1. Work with Authority to respond to ARSA notifications including Contract Change Notices

March 2019

Change notices / PIs – to include:

Revised SFO Process

Accommodation Verification

Face to face contact with SUs

CRC CEO / Sodexo Deputy Director

2. Maximise impact of learning from the HMIP/audit via pan-CRC QA forum to achieve continuous improvement Action: We will ensure that learning from all external and internal reviews and inspections are integrated into organisational learning and communicated and monitored effectively. Action: We will use our Pan CRC QA group to develop quality and consistency across all CRCs.

March 2019

QA Plan for 18-19 CRC Director

3. Utilise learning from service user to aid business improvement Action: We will ensure that we use service user feedback to improve delivery and work closely with our User Voice partnership to identify areas of the business that require further enhancement.

March 2019

User Voice Council CRC Director

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4. Update our rate card offer on a bi-annual basis to reflect changing requirements and demand in discretionary services Action: We will keep our rate card in review and ensure that it is responsive to internal, NPS & PCC need. Action: We will deliver services within the NPS Approved Premises directed at purposeful

activity.

March 2019

Revised Rate Card Regional Business Development Manager

5. Expand our CRC service officer through increased opportunities for business development

March 2019

NPS Delivery Plan 2018/19

Regional Business Development Manager

8 Increase our value through innovation


We are committed to continuously improving our services and to introduce new ideas and innovation across all areas of our business to learn and to improve outcomes. This year, we will be implementing our Reducing Reoffending Strategy, which will be based on a detailed analysis of who within our service user group is reoffending most frequently and why. Our intention is to identify areas of unmet need and the services or interventions required to address this. Partnership working is at the heart of everything we do and we will continue to maintain and forge ever stronger local relationships with our statutory and non-statutory partners maximising the potential for collaborative working to reduce reoffending. Our innovation fund will be directed to supporting this strategy and co-commissioning services where opportunities arise.

8.2 CRC Delivery In BeNCH we are proud to work closely and collaboratively with a range of partners, both strategically and operationally, including the co-delivery of services. An example of this is the contribution that we make to working with perpetrators of domestic abuse through the Safeguarding projects now running across children’s’ services in Hertfordshire, Peterborough and Luton, where BeNCH managers and practitioners are working within those respective projects. In addition to this innovative project we are committed to keeping our victims safe by contributing to MARAC and working with victims through our partner link workers. BeNCH contributes to a wide variety of effective partnerships across the 4 counties and welcomes the opportunity to work together on our shared priorities and strategic objectives.

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We will continue to contribute to Safeguarding Children’s Boards, our Criminal Justice Boards (CJBs), Safer Peterborough Partnership, the Domestic Abuse Boards, Reducing Reoffending Boards, several of which BeNCH co-chairs, and the Homelessness Trailblazer Groups where these still operate. BeNCH services a large number of Community Safety Partnerships, 26 in total, and we have been working with the CSP chairs to agree how best to ensure CRC representation and participation going forward. Additionally there are local strategic and operational groups and sub-groups where BeNCH is well placed to contribute, and does so. The Homelessness agenda is increasingly significant for us as for many other agencies and our CJBs are providing a useful challenge to all partners to grip this agenda in the coming year, which we welcome. We will continue to work closely with BeNCH’s operational partners to maximise utilisation of their services. Through regular analysis of performance, feedback and changing service user need we will work together to develop or re-model their service offers accordingly, with our focus continuing on the integration of their work as part of the CRC’s core delivery.


Objectives for 2018/19 By When Supplementary Detail

Lead

1. Develop and deliver our Reducing Reoffending Strategy by focusing on those who most frequently offend and continuously improve our effectiveness. Action: We will focus our attention on the service users who are offending -most frequently.

March 2019 Central Finance and performance Team

CRC Director

2. Deliver an initial commissioning strategy to determine future requirements for CY5 Action: We will use a needs analysis to create a commissioning intentions document and revise our delivery of services.

December 2018

Staff survey NPS Business Plan/Delivery Plan

CRC Director/ Regional Business Development Manager

3. Review and update Schedule 8 in partnership with the Authority to ensure ongoing successful delivery of the contract

September 2018

Revised Schedule 8

CRC CEO / Sodexo Deputy Director

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Annex A. Our performance metrics for 2018/19

Our Service Level measures Target performance

SL001 Initial Offender Contact (CO & SSO) 93%

SL002 Initial Offender Contact (License) 93%

SL003 Plan Completion (CO & SSO) 97%

SL004 Plan Completion (Licence) 97%

SL006 Priority of Arrangement of Unpaid Work 75%

SL008 Completion of Community Orders and Suspended Sentence Orders

75%

SL010 Contractor Delivery of Unpaid Work Requirement 90%

SL011 Contractor Delivery of Programme Requirement 90%

SL013 Completion of Resettlement Plans 95%

SL015 Contribution to Assessments for Discharge 97%

SL016 Quality of Breach Referral 90%

SL018 Recall Referral Timeliness (within 24 hours) 95%

Our Assurance Metrics

AA Quality of Engagement (positive offender surveys) 75%

AB SFO Reviews (acceptable action plans within 3 months of further offence)

100%

AC Settled Accommodation - Release from custody 90%

AD Accredited Programme Quality 90%

AE Breach Referral Timeliness (presented within 8 days) 95%

AH Recall Part B Timeliness 90%

AI Completion of Sentence 99%

AJ Completion of Licenses and Post Sentence Supervision 65%

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Annex B Guidance

Quality Assurance Framework

Name of Author:

Marie Prior

Job Title:

Deputy Director – BeNCH CRC

Date:

April 2018

Expiry Date:

March 2019

Date of Issue:

April 2018

Content: 1. What is the Quality Assurance Framework 2. Quality Assurance Process 3. Learning from Quality Assurance Process 4. Staff Responsibilities 5. Quality Assurance Plan

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What is the Quality Assurance Framework?

BeNCH CRC is committed to delivering excellent services and understand the importance of quality in achieving this. Reducing re-offending is a core feature of our work and we recognise that our staff and supply chain partners bring a skill set that is unique in delivering life-changing services for our users. We will support the delivery of this work as outlined within this Quality Framework.

The Quality Assurance Framework sets out how we ensure that all staff working with Service Users:

Protect the Public

Deliver the sentence of the Court

Reduce the impact of offending on communities

Improve outcomes for service users The Quality Assurance Framework therefore helps to answer the following the questions:

Are we doing the right things, for the right people at the right time?

Are we making a difference to service users, victims and communities?

The purpose of the framework is to improve the outcomes for Service Users and keeping communities safe by improving the practice of staff and services we deliver. The framework achieves this through:

Measuring and monitoring performance against practice standards, HMIP, Operational Assurance expectations and delivery of our contract

Identify areas of strength as well as areas for improvement

Whole system approach linking individual supervision, staff training and findings from internal and external quality assurance activity

Assists staff understanding of their roles and responsibilities in improving quality

Provides feedback which drives a learning culture

Implementation of a regional quality plan

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Quality Assurance Process

The quality assurance process involves the following key activities:

Performance against the Contract Performance against the contract as defined against schedule 9 is subject to management scrutiny to analyse trends and identify areas requiring improvement. Management information reports are used to check our compliance to practice standards, service levels and assurance measures. The contract management team holds the organisation to account for compliance with the contract . Data accuracy audit checks form part of our assurance that what is reported is an accurate reflection on our service.

Service user feedback

Performance against contract

Delivery of practice standards

learning for external audit/inspection/ccase

reviews

learning from internal audit inspection

Stakeholder /Staff feedback

SEEDs

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Practice Standards Our staff work to agreed set of Sodexo practice standards for CRC’s which provides consistency of practice. These standards build upon probation instructions and the National Standards Practice Framework 2015.

External Audits/Inspections HM Inspectorate of Probation: HM Inspectorate of Probation reports to the government on the effectiveness of work with adults, children and young people who have offended with an aim to reduce reoffending and protect the public. HM Inspectorate of Probation works with the Ministry of Justice. From 2018 probation providers will be subject to an annual rated inspection. HMPPS Operational Assurance: provide structured in–depth assessments of the operational delivery of offender services in custody and in the community and report to the HMPPS Executive Committee and the Ministry of Justice commissioners of services. Part of their role is to assess whether services are of a sufficient standard and quality, so that desired outputs and outcomes are more likely to be achieved. Joint Targeted Area Inspections: Joint targeted area child protection inspections was launched. These short, focused inspections are carried out on a multi-agency basis, led by Ofsted and also involving HMIC, the Care Quality Commission and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation. Serious Further Offence Reviews, Domestic Homicide Reviews and Serious Case Reviews: We will be subject to scrutiny following a serious further offence committed by a service user that we work with. This is scrutinised by the completion of a SFO review and subsequent action plan that is monitored by the SFO team in the Public Protection Casework Section. We also have a duty to co operate with multi agency Domestic Homicide and Serious Case Reviews. This could relate to either a perpetrator of the harm caused or we could be working with the victim.

Internal Audits: Case Audits : case audits are facilitated by the Quality Leads and can be undertaken as self audit, peer audit and line manager audits. 10 % of completed audits are re audited to support benchmarking. Internal case audits will include thematic audits on key areas of practice. Practice observations: these will be embedded across BeNCH CRC to provide an opportunity to develop reflective practice with RO and manager. The SEEDs approach will form the basis of observations. Accredited Programmes Audit: Programme Integrity Framework Audit will be undertaken on an annual basis ensuring that accredited programmes are delivered according to the framework. Operational Partners Audits: Quality assurance of our operational partners delivery are being developed It will include case audits and observations against an agreed set of standards, as well as service user and stakeholder feedback. This will be alongside operational partners internal quality assurance provision. Stakeholder Feedback: Annual stakeholder survey invites feedback from our key stakeholders. The responses inform service delivery going forward. Staff Feedback: Regular feedback from staff through formal surveys, staff engagement events and other forums allows us as organisation to reflect on our service delivery. Staff who feel supported and invested in by their employer’s are more likely to provide good standards of practice. Staff feedback allows us to focus on areas identified by our staff and support staff buy in.

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Service User Feedback: Annually there is an expectation as part of our contract that we implement a service user survey. The survey provides an opportunity for service users to reflect on their experiences with us. Feedback from the survey can inform how we deliver services. We will also provide an opportunity for service users to reflect on their experiences through the development of exit questionnaires. BeNCH CRC has the privilege and benefit of a Service User Council in partnership with User Voice. Council members continually engage with service users to gather feedback to develop services and meet with BeNCH senior leaders on a quarterly basis, bringing proposals for consideration. Skills for Effective Engagement Development and Supervision: SEEDS will be implemented to support staff to refresh their skills and understanding of service user engagement and desistance. It is acknowledged that the relationship between practitioners (RO or partner agency) can be ‘a powerful vehicle for changing behaviour and reducing re offending’. SEEDS can assist staff to practice their skills and reflect on their work as individuals, with their managers and their peers. Development of SEEDs includes reflective practice for all practitioners and their managers. This is through reflective supervision, case discussions in peer learning groups, and observations. SEEDS will enable all staff to reflect on their work with engaging service users and support staff to improve practice. There is an expectation that managers arrange observations of practice and local peer learning groups. The learning sets should focus on the current theme.

Learning from Quality Assurance Process

Learning from the QA process is delivered through the following key processes: Management Meeting (Leadership forum) Facilitated by the Director of Operations and Head of Performance, middle managers along with key identified staff from the Hub meet to discuss performance against the Contract, comparing performance across the LDU’s and

Audit against agreed standards

Analyse findings

Cascade

learning

Agree activities

Embed changs to improve outcomes

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seeking the adoption of best practice across the organisation. The meeting will also review learning from SFO and SCR reports and any other reports on performance or assurance activity, audits, inspections and surveys. Supervision Staff supervision is undertaken on a 4-6 week basis depending on role. Part of supervision is to share learning, feedback on practice and support staff development. Team Meetings Monthly team meetings are the vehicle for delivering learning and good practice as well as other information to staff. The agenda will include information shared at the leadership forums. Briefings and Workshops Significant practice improvement areas require additional support via delivery of staff briefings and workshops. Good practice guides Development and publication of good practice guides to reinforce key learning.

Staff Accountability Quality management is not driven from the top down but runs through the heart of all roles and grades within the CRC. Senior Leadership Team The senior leadership team led by the CRC director oversees operational delivery. They are responsible for scrutinising information on service quality and ensure effective plans are in place to drive improvements. Managers and Practitioners Management teams have a clear and explicit responsibility for managing and improving performance and quality, continually reviewing working practices. The role of the manager and practitioners are to ensure that the service they provide is consistently of high quality and results in improved outcome for service users, safety of victims and communities. All staff must follow legislation, policies and procedures, and are accountable for ensuing practice standards are met. All staff are responsible for their continuous professional development and managers are responsible for supporting staff with this. This is achieved through:

1-1 or group supervision on a 6 weekly basis.

Embed SEEDs culture

Delivery and attendance at monthly team meetings.

Accessing training through Ingenium and other sources.

Participation in the annual appraisal/ EPA process.

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Quality Leads Quality is everyone’s business but there will be quality leads in each CRC whose role is to drive the quality agenda such as facilitating audits, managing external inspections and develop good practice guides and events.

National Operational Quality Assurance Group All 6 Sodexo CRC’s have representation on the National Operational Quality Assurance Group. This group provides an opportunity to learn from each CRC and develop consistent approaches to improving quality of our service delivery. The governance of this group is through the Operations Business Meeting (OBM). April 2018-March 2019 Our priorities over the next 12 months are to ensure our quality improvements are embedded across the organisation in readiness for the new HMIP regime. As we continue to embed quality improvements being inspection ready will be a by product of this. We will be delivering a series of train the trainer events to encourage ‘champions’ across the organisation.

Domestic Abuse-April 2018

Risk-May 2018

Engagement-June 2018

We will continue with the monthly case audits completed by Team Managers and Practitioners as well as undertake the following thematic audits.

Prevent-tbc

Safeguarding-June 2018

RAR-September 2018

Domestic Abuse-Jointly with the Contract Management Team tbc

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