Interventions News

Issue 24 – July 2006

Contents
Introduction 26/08: Unpaid Work
24/01: NPD Interventions Unit Contact Details 24/09: O-DEAT
24/02: Offender Employment 24/10: Prolific and other Priority
24/03: PS Plus Offenders
24/04: Revised Change Control Panel 24/11: Substance Use Modules
Arrangements 24/12: Alcohol Strategy Implementation
24/05: Cognitive Skills Booster Trainer/Treatment Events
Managers Event 28-29 June 2006 24/13: Referring Offender Learners to LSC
24/06: Helpdesk for Offending Behaviour Programmes Led Provision Under OLASS
24/07: Accredited Programmes Training Changes
INTRODUCTION Programme Implementation Manager
Phil McNerney 020-7217 0674
This issue of Interventions News covers a range Programme Implementation Manager
of innovative work designed to support probation’s Diane Anderson 020-7217 8895
aim of protecting the public, reducing re-offending Programme Implementation Manager
and punishing offenders. Jonathan Martin 020-7217 8081
Head of Psychology & Evaluation
Good outcomes depend on high quality offender Liz Bird 020-7217 8418
management as well as high quality interventions Principal Psychologist
and we hope that this issue will be of interest to all Joanne Day 020-7217 8999
probation staff wherever they work. Senior Psychologist
Karl Williams 020-7217 8991
Sarah Mann Psychological Assistant
Head of NPD Interventions Unit Sinead Bloomfield 020-7217 8813
Psychological Assistant
Vacancy 020-7217 0676
24/01: NPD INTERVENTIONS UNIT CONTACT Senior Research Officer
DETAILS Victoria Dawson Wheeler 020-7217 8815
National Training Manager
Just to remind you that our new address is: Tudor Williams 020-7217 8068
Training Development Advisor
National Probation Directorate Eileen Davis 020-7217 8211
Interventions Unit Training Development Advisor
st
1 Floor Alex Law 020-7217 8211
Abell House Training Development Advisor
John Islip Street Emma Myatt 020-7217 8211
London, SW1P 4LH Training Development Advisor
Karen Townend 020-7217 8211
Herewith our up-to-date telephone list: Executive Officer
Lesley Smith 020-7217 8336
Head of Interventions Executive Officer
Sarah Mann 020-7217 8432 Ruth Taylor 020-7217 1779
Personal Secretary Administrative Officer
Julie Taylor 020-7217 8546 Ali Moghal 020-7217 0679
Team Personal Secretary
fax 020-7217 8496 Delroy Blake 020-7217 0677

Business Support & Communications Manager

Offending Behaviour Programmes Team
John MacGregor 020-7217 8520

Head of Offending Behaviour Programmes

fax 020-7217 0693
Danny Clark 020-7217 0675
Programme Implementation Manager
Phil Mackin 020-7217 8044

2
Community Reintegration Team Team Personal Secretary
Alison Graham 020-7217 0686
Head of Community Reintegration
Jill Shaw 020-7217 0673 fax 020-7217 0693
Personal Secretary
Julie Taylor 020-7217 8546
Skills for Life Policy Manager Sex Offender Programmes
Roger Stevens 020-7217 8283 (from 1 September 2006, Interventions Unit will be
Employment Policy Manager taking over the management of sex offender
Ian Henshaw 020-7217 0682 programmes)
Unpaid Work Policy Manager
Janet Power 020-7217 8877
Policy Advisor Programme Manager
Marcus Smart 020-7217 0766 Elizabeth Hayes 020 7217 8401
Team Support
Olubusola Shokan 020-7217 8448
24/02: OFFENDER EMPLOYMENT
Team Support
Mark Chidwick 020-7217 0681
Getting offenders into work and keeping them in
Team Personal Secretary
work can make a significant reduction to re-
Alison Graham 020-7217 0686
offending rates.

fax 020-7217 0693 The past few months have been a very active
period for developments in offender employment
Intensive Interventions Team and these issues have been covered in detail in
NPS Briefing 34. This provides information on the
Head of Intensive Interventions 2006/7 employment target, the PS Plus
Claire Wiggins 020-7217 8646 programme in NPS Areas (see also article 24/03
Personal Secretary below), the evaluation of the Employment
Julie Taylor 020-7217 8546 Pathfinder and developments in the related
Policy Development Manager pathway of Finance, Benefits and Debt.
Robin Brennan 020-7217 0916
Drugs & Alcohol Implementation Manager The briefing can be accessed from the NPS
Fiona Bauermeister 020-7217 0768 Intranet (EPIC) via link:
Drugs & Alcohol Policy Developer
Robert Stanbury 020-7217 0767 http://npsintranet.probation.gsi.gov.uk/document_l
Drugs & Alcohol Policy Advisor ibrary/Briefings/nps_briefing_34.pdf
Richard Lockwood 020-7217 8003
Policy Development Officer FURTHER INFORMATION:
Corinna Griggs 020-7217 0760 Ian Henshaw, NPD Interventions Unit
Team Support Email: Ian.Henshaw@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
Liam Carolan 020-7217 0685 Tel: 020 7217 0682

3
4
24/03: PS PLUS
Probation Areas secure £8 million for
Employment Work
15 Probation Areas have been successful in
securing £8 million for European Social Fund
(ESF) support for work aimed at improving the
employability of offenders and help in accessing
the labour market.
PS+3, a partnership between the Prison and
Probation Services, will allow Areas to develop a
focussed approach to addressing offenders’
identified needs in relation to employment and will
address key issues including:
• Assessment of need
• Disclosure
• CV preparation
• Job search
• Housing
• Financial literacy
In addition, a beneficiary Access Fund has been
established to help respond to individual needs,
providing support for items such as childcare,
course fees, small items for work, tools and
equipment and other related items as required.
Areas will also be able to deliver the (non-
accredited) Workwise employment programme
that was developed and tested by Areas
delivering the ‘Employment Pathfinder’. Workwise
aims to address offenders’ needs in relation to
employment:
• Foundations for work
• Problem solving and work
• Dealing with others
• Working with others to achieve goals
• Personal development
• Problem recognition
5
Evidence from Pathfinder Areas has
demonstrated that Workwise can be an effective
intervention in addressing offenders’ employment
needs.
A link manager will shortly be appointed within the
NPD Community Re-integration Team to support
Areas and act as liaison between PS+ and Areas.
FURTHER INFORMATION:
Ian Henshaw/ Marcus Smart, NPD Interventions
Unit
Email: Ian.Henshaw@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
Marcus.Smart@homoffice.gsi.gov.uk
Tel: 020 7217 0682 (Ian)/020 7217 0766 (Marcus)
24/04: REVISED CHANGE CONTROL
PROCEDURES FOR PROGRAMMES
We are currently reviewing the change control
procedures and are exploring how we can involve
the regional EPTMs in this process. However to
make sure we can progress matters this year we
will have to use existing practices.
I will be writing to the relevant Interventions ACOs
to ask them to collate the appropriate information
from their Area and to forward that to me by the
end of August. It will be very helpful if facilitators
can start this process now by informing their
Treatment and Programme Managers of items of
good practice and any concerns encountered
within the programmes they are involved in. The
panel will sit in October and the outcome of the
procedures will be circulated by the end of the
year.
This exercise is an excellent opportunity for
practioners to feed back to programme designers
and implementation staff their opinion of all
aspects of current programmes. Please have your
say as it is important that programmes are
adapted where necessary to ensure they maintain
their relevance and responstivity.
FURTHER INFORMATION:
Phil Mackin, NPD Interventions Unit
Email: Philip.Mackin3@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
Tel: 020 7217 8044
24/05: COGNITIVE SKILLS BOOSTER
TRAINER/TREATMENT MANAGER EVENT
28-29 JUNE 2006
I was pleased to co-chair this event alongside
Bruce Cunningham, South East EPTM with
responsibility for the cognitive skills booster
programme. The event started on the afternoon of
the 28 June with a group of national trainers from
both prisons and probation outlining their
experiences of training and suggestions of how
the current system could be improved. Danny
Clark started the next (full) day of the conference
with a very positive presentation outlining the
research that demonstrated the effectiveness of
the cognitive skills booster and that of all the
programmes that we deliver the cognitive skills
programme is unique as it offers the participants
the opportunity of practising real life issues within
the challenging exercises.
Two workshops were successfully facilitated by
Mari Bell and Stephen Bradley with the theme of
responsivity and how that can be in incorporated
into the video monitoring process. Following
lunch, Linda Blud continued the theme of
responsivity with a very dynamic presentation
challenging those of us involved in this
programme to constantly review our practice and
to keep up to date with the current thinking and
research in both this programme and others.
Linda also mentioned the Tony Ward “good lives”
theory which is now being incorporated into sex
offender programmes.
6
Trainers and Treatment Managers split up to
discuss their respective experiences from prison
and probation settings and again suggestions
were made as to how elements of both key tasks
could be considered in order to eliminate some of
the concerns identified.
Bruce and I concluded the event with an overview
of the current position of the cognitive skills
programme and of how we would endeavour to
put into practice the suggestions made over the
two days.
This event was also the last one that Bruce would
be involved in as he leaves his current position at
the end of July to commence a new post. Bruce is
a very good champion and supporter of the
cognitive skills booster programme and has
played a significant role in its development and
expansion; his expertise will be greatly missed to
the programme
It was agreed that I would collate all the handouts
and prepare a more detailed account of the issues
that I intend to take forward and these will be
made available shortly either by contacting me
direct or via the Programmes Helpdesk.
FURTHER INFORMATION:
Phil Mackin, NPD Interventions Unit
Email: Philip.Mackin3@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
Tel: 020 7217 8044
24/06: HELPDESK FOR OFFENDONG
BEHAVIOUR PROGRAMMES QUERIES
A helpdesk is available for queries about
Offending Behaviour Programmes and can be
contacted using email address:
npd.obp.helpdesk@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk.
A collection of frequently asked questions will also
be produced and will be published twice yearly in
Interventions News.
24/07: ACCREDITED PROGRAMMES
TRAINING STREAMLINING
Major changes are to be brought into effect in the
training of trainers and facilitators of accredited
programmes.
The current system demands separate training for
each accredited programme which is to be
delivered. This training has been based on
manuals which assume delivery to staff with no
core skills or previous knowledge of accredited
programmes theory. With an increasing number of
facilitators needing to become competent in a
number of programmes, the training is often seen
as repetitive and over long.
Programmes staff from the Prison and Probation
services have jointly agreed a set of tutor
competences, a core skills training manual is
being piloted which will enable staff to be trained
in theory and in the basic skills required of
facilitators, and a range of programme specific
materials are also being developed which will
enable facilitators to learn about particular
programmes and apply their skills to the delivery
of those programmes. The core skills modules (5
days training) will in future need to be undertaken
only once, and, on successful completion, the
candidate will be eligible to receive programme
specific training, as required.
It is intended that the new system be introduced
for general Offending Behaviour Programmes in
the first instance. ETS, Think First and One To
One materials have been developed and piloted
successfully in this regard. Additional programme
specific materials will be developed during this
financial year with the intention of a complete
7
changeover of systems in 2007/8. In the interim
period it is anticipated that the pool of facilitators
necessary to sustain delivery will continue to be
sustained as at present.
The Accreditation Panel will advise on the
suitability of the core materials to Sex Offender
facilitators in due course. A parallel model will be
adopted for the development of accredited
programme trainers, with a core skills training
package and programme specific additions.
Current tutors and trainers may continue to deliver
programmes for which they have been trained.
Staff currently delivering an accredited
programme will be eligible to become trained in
another programme using the new materials, as
and when the materials become available.
Current programmes trainers will need to
familiarised with the core generic materials. A
series of two day training events is being arranged
regionally by Regional Training Consortia. These
events will be underwritten by NPD and will take
place during September and October 2006. A
provisional timetable is with regional training
consortia. On successful completion of the two
days, trainers will be eligible to deliver the new
core materials. Further information and
programme specific familiarisation is being
devised for trainers and will be rolled out following
the core generic training. It is not anticipated that
the programme specific modules for trainers will
exceed one day in duration.
When completed the new arrangements will
enable Areas to train staff more easily and
economically to deliver accredited programmes.
The Prison Service and partner agencies
delivering programmes under contract to
probation Areas have been successfully involved
in the pilots.
FURTHER INFORMATION:
Tudor Williams, NPD Interventions Unit
Email: Tudor.Williams@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
Tel: 020 7217 8068
24/08: UNPAID WORK
This continues to be a busy time for Unpaid Work.
Its popularity with both sentencers and Ministers
continues to increase (12% up on last year), with
more extensions of its use under discussion and
the likelihood of more agencies delivering it to
offenders.
The last copy of Interventions News contained an
article about the use of Unpaid Work in the
Conditional Cautioning pilots these are due to
start in September in six Probation Areas. Unpaid
Work is also being piloted in several Areas for
fines defaulters. Discussions are underway to trial
the use of Unpaid Work with those who breach
Family Court Orders or who default on Child
Support payments. The extension of partnership
pilots between Probation Areas and their local
Resettlement Prisons is also under consideration.
So too is the idea of more unemployed offenders
being able to work their hours in full-time blocks;
current discussions with NOMS and the
Department of Work and Pensions are aiming to
remove any barriers involving their entitlement to
benefits.
Opening up the delivery of interventions to
agencies other than the Probation Service
continues to be a priority for Ministers as the drive
towards a mixed economy in public service
delivery continues. Some Areas are planning to
consider this as part of their required 5% spend
on external partnerships. There may be real
opportunities here for both staff and offenders in
imaginative service delivery developments.
Quality service delivery will remain essential in all
future developments for Unpaid Work. The recent
HMIP thematic inspection on ECP reported a lot
of excellent practice at the front line of Unpaid
8
Work delivery although it also highlighted
shortcomings in risk assessment and
management and in Areas’ capacity to deliver
consistent work to offenders. The recent PC20/06
gave Areas advice and guidance about assessing
and managing the risk posed by Unpaid Work
offenders. All Areas are also now required to
report regularly to NPD about the use of stand-
downs or send-homes and there has already been
a national reduction.
The revised Unpaid Work Manual is nearing
completion and will be published in the Autumn for
use by both Probation Areas and any other
agency delivering Unpaid Work. It aims to be a
shorter, simplified, up-dated, user-friendly Manual
which incorporates the best principles of quality
delivery from ECP. There has been wide
consultation on the draft with both Areas and NPD
staff.
Areas are also continuing to implement the
offender management model and the offender
management/interventions split is being
developed in a number of different ways
throughout the country.
The recent Living Leadership Conference for
Middle Managers in Northampton included an
Unpaid Work workshop in which many of these
themes were discussed by a lively and committed
group of staff who will be leading Unpaid Work
into what is bound to be an exciting future.
Although I am taking early retirement at the end of
August, an announcement about my successor
will be made shortly.
FURTHER INFORMATION:
Janet Power, NPD Interventions Unit
Email: Janet.Power3@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
Tel: 020 7217 8877
24/09: O-DEAT
There have been recent staff changes to the
OASys - Data, Evaluation and Analysis Team (O-
DEAT). Three new staff members joined the team
in February 2006. Mia Debidin replaced Natasha
Garnham as the head. Dexa Kanbi and Wendy
Smith-Yau filled two vacancies for research
officers. Michelle Burns (senior research officer)
left the team in early June. Philip Howard and
Robin Moore remain as two senior research
officers.
Assessing the validity and reliability of OASys,
particularly its ability to predict reconviction, has
been a key research focus within O-DEAT.
Analysis of OASys assessments found that drug
misuse, criminal history and lifestyle and
associates were among the strongest predictors
of reconviction. The analysis also suggested that
the predictive ability of OASys might be improved
by amending and re-weighting questions and
incorporating OGRS scores. A full report of the
OASys evaluation is available on the NOMS
website and a summary of the findings was
published in June as Home Office Research
Findings 278: The Offender Assessment System:
An evaluation of the second pilot. Future
reconviction projects within O-DEAT will focus on
revising the scoring system and developing
prediction of the likelihood of violent offending and
non-violent offending separately, and on exploring
the relationship between reconviction and the self-
assessment questionnaire (SAQ).
O-DEAT is undertaking further research on the
inter-rater reliability (IRR) of OASys. The IRR
study aims to measure the levels of consistency
between different OASys users by comparing
their assessments of the same offenders. It will
examine important offender variations such as
age, gender, ethnicity, criminal history, likelihood
of reconviction and risk of harm. Assessors’
details such as grade and OASys experience will
9
be collected to help explore the reasons behind
any differences in scores. This research is set to
begin in July 2006.
Raising the quality of OASys completion is also
a key focus for O-DEAT, particularly following
the successful implementation of OASys across
both the prison and probation services and after
having achieved full connectivity. The quality
management plan published last year is being
reviewed in order to summarise lessons learned
and to establish a clear system of quality control
and improvement. A regular report on quality of
data completion is under development to look at
the standard of completion rates of individual
items within the assessment framework. This
report will be available in July 2006.
O-DEAT continues to provide management
information to policy colleagues, individual
probation areas and prison establishments. The
O-DEAT database now holds one million
assessments from both the probation and prison
services. Offender profiles are routinely
produced. We have recently produced data for
the ROMS comparing the levels of different
types of criminogenic needs amongst offenders
to the content of sentence plans and the
completion of interventions in 2005-06, to
provide an analysis of the gaps in provision. A
National Reporting Project is currently being
piloted to assist probation areas and regions
produce their own specific management
information reports. Results of the pilot phase
will be evaluated in September 2006. National
rollout is scheduled for October 2006.
Finally, O-DEAT is forging closer links with the
youth justice risk/needs assessment tool Asset.
Currently, there are no connections between
Asset and OASys. Recent O-DEAT research has
demonstrated that there is a sufficient level of
concordance between the total scores, section
scores, and individual items within Asset and
10
OASys (Moore, 2006). The findings (The
compatibility of Asset and OASys: How do the
risk/needs assessment systems for young and
adult offenders compare?) will be published as a
development and practice report later this year.
Future Asset-OASys projects will focus on how
and when Asset information should be viewed by
OASys assessors and also explore the
technological capabilities such as the role of
secure email and the potential for creating an
interface between the Youth Offending Team
management systems and NOMIS.
FURTHER INFORMATION:
Mia Debidin, Head of O-DEAT
Email: Mia.Debidin@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
Tel: 020 7217 0699
24/10: PROLIFIC AND OTHER PRIORITY
OFFENDERS
In order to ensure that Areas provide a high-class
premium service to this group, work is ongoing to
spread good practice across the NPS by visiting
various agencies involved with the PPO
programme including NPS Areas, PPO schemes
and Government Offices. A toolkit is being
developed to help manage PPOs.
The Home Office and EPIC websites are to be
updated in the next quarter to link to the Crime
Reduction mini PPO site as follows:
www.crimereduction.gov.uk/ppominisite01
PPO National Conference
The PPO National Conference was put on hold in
light of the NOMS Protecting the Public and
Reducing Re-offending conference on 5-6 July.
Instead Robin Brennan (NPD Interventions Unit)
held workshops on both days with Tim Scotson
(Strategic Manager for PPOs in Leicestershire
11
and Rutland Area) and Paul Dawson (Senior
Research Officer for the PPO Project in the Home
Office). The workshops were received well.
Nine bids were received in total for the workshops
at the PPO National Conference. The NPS Areas
and topics for the workshops are as follows:
1. London Borough of Newham – MAPPOM
and regular meetings.
2. London Borough of Hammersmith and
Fulham – Multi agency review panel.
3. West Mercia – Relationship with the
Youth Support Services.
4. Staffordshire – Research and
recommendations.
5. S.Wales – Research and
recommendations.
6. Lincolnshire – Issues with managing
PPO’s in a rural, low intensity DIP area.
7. Leicestershire & Rutland – Badging,
funding, interventions and LOMPs (local
offender management panels).
8. Middlesbrough – Identification and
relationship with PSA1.
We still hope to run a conference in conjunction
with the Home Office PPO Policy Team. We are
also planning to resource a series of regional
workshops during the course of the year which will
aim to share good practice.
PPO DVD
West Midland Police launched a DVD ‘ your journey
your choice ’ on the 27 June 2006. They believe the
implementation of the PPO strategy is making a
substantial contribution to crime reduction and wish to
demonstrate how joined up multi-disciplinary working
can contribute to the Government’s vision of safer and
stronger communities. The DVD is to be used to
inform and raise awareness of offenders, demonstrating
how Community Safety Partnerships work together to
manage offending behaviour, in addition to assisting as
a training resource for agencies represented in the Local
Criminal Justice Board and the Community Safety
Partnership.
For further information and copies of the DVD:
Sergeant Kevin Borg, Offender Management Unit,
West Midlands Police
Email: k.borg@west-midlands.pnn.police.uk
Tel: 0121 626 5088
J-Track
We are working on plans to get J-Track lists sent
regularly to NPS Areas through NPS Information
Managers. Further information is due to be
released shortly in the form of a Probation
Circular.
What Works
The interim evaluation of the PPO programme
reported a 10% drop in recorded offending
reflected in convictions. Some NPS Areas
(Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and Rutland and
Staffordshire) are reporting significantly higher
percentage reductions. A full evaluation is due to
be published by NOMS RDS in autumn. If you
are conducting research locally we are keen to
hear about it.
For further information please feel free to contact
us to request copies of: Home Office,
development and practice report no 46; early
findings from the Prolific and other Priority
Offenders Evaluation.
Drug Testing
The majority of Areas have now confirmed that
they have drug testing in place for PPO’s on
licence who have committed a trigger offence (see
PC34/05 for details). Moreover, most have
treatment in place for those who test positive. Two
Areas have yet to make returns, and one Area
has yet to begin any testing. The full
12
implementation summary will be published in the
next edition of Interventions News.
While it is a minority of Areas which use these, we
have sought to extend both national contracts for
the next six months. We envisage that there will
continue to be a national framework arrangement
for Areas wishing to use it though this may be
provided through co-operation with other parts of
the Home Office.
PSR quality
We are planning to review a set of PPO PSR’s,
seeking to establish whether not ‘naming’ PPO’s
as such in reports makes a difference to the
outcome. SPO’s from Norfolk, Humberside,
Northants, Suffolk, Gwent and Northumbria have
offered to take part in the exercise this month,
while West Yorkshire, Humberside, Norfolk and
Gwent have offered to supply reports.
PPO National Reference Group
Each Region has put forward representative for
this group, which has the main aim of sharing
good practice. The membership is:
Tina Ridge – Dorset Area
Deirdre Bryant – Lewisham DIP
Jan Chaplin – South Wales Area
Jim Atkins – Staffordshire Area
John Crawley – Merseyside Area
Mark Boother – HMIP
Shelagh Wray – Derbyshire Area
Alan Davies – Gwent Area
Alex Bamber – Essex Area
Andrea Saunders – Sussex Area
Hutchinson Andy – Dorset Area
Barbara Bate – Manchester Area
Darian Mitchell – London Area
Hana Knotek – Northumbria Area
Ian Houghton – Manchester Area
Jim Cowley – Nottinghamshire Area
John Davidson – Cheshire Area
Julia Sharp – Suffolk Area
Stuart McPhillips – North East Regional Manager
Mike Ruffles – Devon and Cornwall Area
Neil Appleby – West Midlands Area
Peter Wright – Humberside Area
Peter Pettit – PPO Policy Team
FURTHER INFORMATION:
Corinna Griggs, NPD Interventions Unit
Email: Corinna.Griggs2@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
Tel: 020 7217 0760
Robin Brennan, NPD Interventions Unit
Email: Robin.Brennan@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uj
Tel: 020 7217 0916
24/11: SUBSTANCE USE MODULES
Low Intensity Alcohol Module (LIAM)
The initial design stage for this module is now
complete, relevant staff trained, and it is being
delivered in four pilot areas – North Wales,
Leicestershire & Rutland, Lincolnshire and
London. It is hoped to review and commence
evaluation of delivery with a view to making
required amendments by the end of this calendar
year. Thereafter the amended version will be
delivered, a final evaluation take place, then
issued nationally to probation Areas as a
consistent national resource to be utilised with
alcohol misusing offenders.
At present this module is envisaged as being
predominantly delivered as an Activity
Requirement. The prospect of seeking
accreditation is being explored as part of the pilot.
Similarly, exploration of the different ways in
which it might form part of a community sentence
or licence provision will be undertaken. The
module is of 12 session duration and being
delivered both in groups and on an individual
basis during the pilot stage. The most effective
13
method of delivery and relevant guidance is
hoped to be gained from the evaluation results.
Relapse Prevention Module (RP)
This has similarly been designed, staff trained and
about to go live in three pilot areas – North Wales,
Leicestershire & Rutland and London. The
process will be similar to that for LIAM; however
the time frames are less clear cut as the numbers
and throughput are dependent upon substance
misuse accredited programme completions. A
specific date for review is therefore not able to be
clearly established.
This module is of 10 session duration, consisting
of 5 areas of recapped work from substance
misuse accredited programmes and application to
current situations through skill development
sessions. Again it is planned to be delivered both
in groups and to individuals throughout the pilot of
the modules.
FURTHER INFORMATION:
Diane Anderson, NPD Interventions Unit
Email: Diane.Anderson3@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
Tel: 020 7217 8895
Victoria Dawson-Wheeler, NPD Interventions Unit
Email:
Victoria.Dawson-Wheeler@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
Tel: 020 7217 8815
24/12: ALCOHOL STRATEGY
IMPLEMENTATION EVENTS
NPS Alcohol Strategy Implementation Events will
take place on 12 October 2006 at the Menzies
Waterside Hotel, Bath, and on 18 October 2006 at
the Sheffield Marriott Hotel, Sheffield.
These events will assist probation Areas in
implementing recommendations contained in the
recently launched Working with Alcohol Misusing
Offenders – a strategy for delivery and inform the
next stage of activity at the centre in relation to
key strategy commitments.
The events are mainly aimed at probation
managers and practitioners involved in managing
or delivering interventions to alcohol misusing
offenders but there will also be limited
representation from a range of other key
stakeholders e.g. Alcohol Concern, NTA .
Further details will be available shortly on EPIC.
Models of Care for Alcohol Misusers (MoCAM)
Models of Care for Alcohol Misusers (MoCAM)
was published on 29 June. MoCAM provides best
practice guidance on a framework for
commissioning and providing interventions and
treatment for adults affected by alcohol misuse. It
describes a four tier system of stepped care for
alcohol misusers.
MoCAM will be followed later this year by a
Review of the effectiveness of treatment for
alcohol problems and Alcohol treatment
pathways: guidance for developing local
integrated care pathways for alcohol. These
documents all form part of the Department of
Health’s Programme of Improvement for Alcohol
Misuse, which also includes the previously
published Alcohol Needs Assessment Research
Project (ANARP) and Alcohol Misuse
Interventions: Guidance on developing a local
programme of improvement.
MoCAM is available on EPIC or via the
Department of Health website at:
http://www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/Pu
blications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/Publica
tionsPolicyAndGuidanceArticle/fs/en?CONTENT_I
D=4136806&chk=iA9Ogu
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FURTHER INFORMATION:
Robert Stanbury, NPD Interventions Unit
Email: Robert.Stanbury@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
Tel: 020 7217 0767
24/13: REFERRING OFFENDER LEARNERS TO
LSC LED PROVISION UNDER OLASS
The Offenders’ Learning and Skills Service
(OLASS) will be introduced to the six remaining
regions in England (East and West Midlands, East
of England, Yorkshire and Humberside, South
East and London) on 31 July 2006. The new
service will integrate learning and skills provision
for offenders in custody and in the community with
all offender learning and skills provision planned
and funded by the Learning and Skills Council
(LSC).
However, the LSC’s contractors will only be able
to achieve suitable outcomes if NPS areas
continue to encourage participation by referring
learners to LSC funded learning and skills
provision. From 31 July 2006 all NPS areas in
England will therefore be responsible for referring
Offender Learners to LSC led provision and not
‘starting’ them as in the past (unless the NPS area
is a sub-contractor and so delivering the provision
themselves). Under OLASS responsibility for
“starting” offenders in provision along with
delivering the outcomes will be assumed by the
LSC and its contractors.
The NPS Skills for Life targets for 2006-07 have
therefore been re-defined to account for this
change in emphasis. The referrals target for 2006-
07 has been set at 48,000 referrals and an Area
breakdown was included with PC 06/2006 :
Business Planning in 2006-07. (Please note that
this breakdown is shown under the old heading of
basic skills “starts”). Areas should also note that
Skills for Life referrals are included on the
weighted scorecard for 2006-07 (weighting = 5).
There is, however, no NPD awards target for
2006-07 as responsibility for outcomes has
passed to the LSC and its providers.

In order to ensure that NPS areas have a secure

audit trail for the numbers referred to LSC led
provision Areas are strongly encouraged to
ensure that they have robust procedures in place
to monitor/evidence their involvement in the
referrals process. Probation Circular 27/2006
provided a template for this (the Individual
Referral Record – IRR) and Areas are
encouraged to make use of this template (or a
version of it tailored to meet local business
needs).

Welsh regions are adopting a separate strategy in

partnership with the Welsh Assembly Government
and the Director of Offender Management
Services, Wales.

Further guidance on referring offenders to LSC

led provision and advice on NPD monthly/
quarterly reporting can be found in Probation
Circular 27/2006.

FURTHER INFORMATION:
Roger Stevens, NPD Interventions Unit
Email: Roger.Stevens@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
Tel: 020 7217 8283

Many thanks to all contributors to this edition of

Interventions News.

If you have a story to tell about implementation of

what works/ interventions, why not write an article,
preferably with a photograph, and send to:

JohnA.MacGregor@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

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