Work of the Probation Service in County Durham

More than 50% or Probation Service staff are working directly with offenders and in the region's four prisons. The remaining staff work in supporting roles. This includes admin and clerical; IT and information services; finance; personnel; training and research.

Every year, the Police force across England and Wales make 1.3 million arrests. The majority of those arrested plead guilty. Of those convicted, 71% receive a fine; 11% receive a community sentence; 9% receive a discharge and 8% receive a custodial sentence. Of those people who have been convicted of an offence, around half do not go on to be convicted of any further crime. However, statistics show that the more crimes a person has committed, the more likely they are to re-offend.

Reports for Courts

An important role of the Probation Service is providing reports to the courts to help Judges and Magistrates decide on the most effective and suitable sentences.

Examples of the reports produced by the service are "Pre Sentence Reports" which contain an analysis of the offence and assessments of the offender, their risk of harm and their likelihood of reoffending. And, "Specific Sentence Reports" which help the court to determine the suitability of an offender for a particular sentence.

Types of Order

A Community Rehabilitation Order typically requires one or more supervision sessions per week with a Probation Officer for between six months to three years. The aim is to help offenders accept responsibility for what they have done and to avoid any further offending. This may include helping them to deal with issues relating to their offending; for example, homelessness, marital breakdown, addiction, unemployment, literacy, and so on.

Community Rehabilitation Orders, or CROs, are suitable for those over the age of 16 where clearly defined factors have contributed to their offending. They have been shown to be an effective way of tackling offending behaviour and helping to prevent further crime. Often, Judges and Magistrates will impose additional requirements to the Order; for example a condition for mental health treatment, or a condition to attend a sex offender programme.

Community Punishment Orders require offenders to carry out unpaid work that will benefit the local community. This is sometimes referred to as Community Service. Specially trained Probation staff supervise the work and act as positive role models.

Community Punishment Orders, or CPOs, are suitable for those over the age of 16 and whose offence is serious enough to warrant a community sentence. It may be for between 40 hours to 240 hours and must be completed at a rate of 5-21 hours per week. Across England and Wales, offenders carry out about eight million hours of unpaid work every year.

Community Punishment and Rehabilitation Orders, or CPROs, are a combination of 1-3 years of Probation supervision with 40-100 hours of unpaid work.

Drug Treatment and Testing Orders, or DTTOs, require offenders to undergo treatment for drug misuse and requires on-going testing for the presence of illegal drugs in the body. This sentence is suitable for people aged 16 and over who are responsible for serious or persistent offending relating to long standing drug dependence. Offences are likely to include persistent burglary, theft and car crime.

DTTOs are divided into two categories; High Intensity and Low Intensity.

Accredited Programmes

The County Durham Probation Area runs a number of Accredited Programmes targeted at specific areas of offending behaviour. These programmes follow a national core curriculum which is laid down very specifically by the Home Office.

These programmes are courses that offenders may have to attend as part of their community sentence. They can include, for example, "Think First" which confronts, challenges and changes thoughts, attitudes and values that cause offending behaviour; or "Drink Impaired Drivers" which is a group work programme for people who have been convicted of serious drink/drive offences.

Custodial Sentences

Of those offenders who receive a custodial sentence, most will not serve the whole of their sentence in custody. At a predetermined stage they are released to serve the rest of their sentence in the community.

Prisoners report to their probation office immediately after release and a supervision plan is drawn up. This can address issues such as housing, employment and reintegration into the community. Through this approach, it aims to prevent re-offending.