Current Plans and Projects

INTRODUCTION

In November 2007, the government released its new national strategy for the criminal justice system (’CJS’). Called ‘Working Together to Cut Crime and Deliver Justice: a Strategic Plan for 2008-2011’, the document states the government vision for the criminal justice system founded on four key principles. By 2011, the CJS will be one that:

  1. Is more effective in bringing offences to justice, especially serious offences;
  2. Engages the public and inspires confidence;
  3. Puts the needs of victims at its heart;
  4. Has simple and efficient processes.

The vision incorporates the Criminal Justice System Public Service Agreement (‘PSA’) 24: ‘Deliver a more effective, transparent and responsive criminal justice service for victims and the public’.

Each year, central government allocates targets to all the individual Local Criminal Justice Boards of England & Wales that are designed to contribute to the overall delivery of the current strategy. Boards must then devise their own delivery plan, taking into account both the national strategic demands, their locally decided priorities and available resources.

The Cumbria Criminal Justice Board 'Business Delivery Plan 2008-2011' reflects the national vision for criminal justice and provides details as to what the Board aims to achieve in the current year (2008-2009).  The document will be refreshed annually for the next three years to incorporate future targets or areas of business which the Board intends to pursue. The Business Delivery Plan will also provide an overview of the key delivery programmes that will help us meet these goals.

A full copy of the Business Delivery Plan is available on request to the Board support team.

PROJECTS

To support our business delivery we are involved in developing new ways of working, on behalf of national projects.

Community engagement

The Community Engagement Strategy supports the aims of Key Principle 3 – The Public Confident and Engaged. Within this principle, we are striving to improve public confidence by strengthening the links between communities, courts and the wider justice system, whilst preserving judicial independence. Ongoing work is already in place within Police and CPS, so the following projects are designed to complement this existing work.

  • A research project will be undertaken across the criminal justice agencies and the wider organisations. The aim of this work is to successfully map our level of community engagement throughout the Cumbria criminal justice system and to identify areas and action plans for improvement.
  • The Cumbria Citizens’ Panel will be used to investigate public views on matters relating to community engagement by the local criminal justice system. It will assist with the drafting of a cross criminal justice system medium term strategy.
  • A temporary Community Engagement Coordinator will be raising awareness, supporting communities and carrying out local data gathering on behalf of the courts. The aim of this work is to ascertain how far the courts service presently meets the needs of the community and to identify areas for improvement. It is the intention that this will promote public confidence in the administration of justice in Cumbria.

Cumbria Implementation: The research project will run from May - December 2008. The Citizen’s Panel survey will take place in October 2008. The Community Engagement Co-ordinator is in post until March 2009. The resulting strategy for the Board will run from 2008-2011.

PROGRESS

The PROGRESS I.T. system will support effective case progression, with the aim of reducing the number of ineffective and cracked trials in the Crown Court and magistrate’s courts. It is linked in real time to the CPS system (COMPASS CMS) and will assist courts to comply with the Criminal Case Management Framework. The over-riding aim is to improve public confidence in the ability of criminal justice agencies, by managing cases effectively. Implementation of this project is still to be determined, dependent on the results of the pilot sites.

Cumbria Implementation: The evaluation of national Pilots will take place by March 2009. A decision on national roll-out will be taken in April 2009.

Exchange links

  • The objective of Bichard Recommendation 7 is to update the Police National Computer (PNC) with court hearing results by the Crown Court and Magistrates’ Courts. It delivers Recommendation 7 of the Bichard Inquiry by improving the quality and timeliness of court results entered onto PNC, thereby resulting in improved intelligence and speedier sharing of data.
  • The Exchange provides for automatic flows of information between the criminal justice agencies’ core I.T. systems (NSPIS, CMS and LIBRA). Information flows are through a central Exchange, which will result in improved processes, such as speedier transfer of case data, more effective management of trials and speedier updating of results. It is anticipated that this will all have a positive impact on the number of offences brought to justice.

Cumbria Implementation: Bichard 7 recommendations are due to go live in September 2008. Police to CPS (CMS) information due to go live in September 2008. Police to Courts (LIBRA) link is already live. A review of secure email links is taking place and due to report nationally by March 2009.

Victim Support +

This aims to support more victims, more quickly, through a range of improved services using a national business model and case management system. It is designed to develop a service that is tailored to the victim’s needs, providing a more comprehensive and focussed approach to victim care; thereby supporting Principle 4 – the needs of victims at its heart.

Cumbria Implementation: Go-live is planned for August 2008.

Electronic Justice

Cumbria fully supports the vision of electronic justice. The aim is to provide a criminal justice system that makes best use of all possible technology, thus creating a completely electronic system throughout the agencies. The following projects seek to improve Cumbria’s use of technology, thus supporting the aims of Principle 2 – Simple, Efficient Process.

  • New software and hardware enables the Police to provide a digital recording of interview at custody. This recording can then be accessed by police staff to produce a typed record of interview. The benefits of this digital process can be evidenced by the enhanced quality of recording, speedier transfer of data and the ability to completely eliminate the need for hard media.
  • A collaborative workspace enables information and case data to be shared electronically. This eliminates the need for paper based systems and supports the Flanagan report for reducing bureaucracy. This workspace will enable police to “post” information (such as the transcript from the digital recording of interview) onto a web space. This can then be securely accessed by partner agencies throughout the criminal justice process, thereby creating a lean, efficient transfer of data.
  • By maximising our ability to carry out video conferencing, we can assist in a speedy progress of cases through the system. This is particularly relevant in Cumbria given our vast geographical area. Not only does this encapsulate video conferencing links from prison to court and prison to probation, it also includes the capability to use video conferencing for statutory charging purposes. All of these functions, reduce the daily movement of staff and offenders, which in turn results in increased productivity and reduced travel time and costs.

Cumbria Implementation: Digital recording is scheduled to go live in one site in July 2008. In the interim, any significant changes in business delivery by CJS agencies are being considered by the Board, with reference to the e-justice strategy, to maximise benefits to the system.

CJSSS and Streamlined Process

  • Following the successful implementation of CJSSS in the magistrate’s courts for adults, this scheme is to be implemented for juveniles in the youth court. In support of Principle 2 – Simple, Efficient Processes, this scheme is devised to improve the speed and effectiveness with which cases proceed and are managed. Where possible, all guilty pleas will be dealt with and sentenced at first hearing, and all contested cases will be dealt with in two hearings.
  • Streamlined Process supports the overall delivery of CJSSS and aims to deliver a more proportionate and sustainable prosecution preparation for certain cases suitable for disposal in the magistrates’ court. The Streamlined Process introduces a much simpler file build procedure for first hearing and it is therefore anticipated that this will reduce administrative burden on the Police when preparing a prosecution file.
  • The implementation of this project is dependant on results of the pilot sites.

Cumbria Implementation: It is anticipated that Cumbria will go-live with CJSSS in the Youth Courts in all sites in September 2008. Once the Streamlined Process Pilots are complete, we intend to review the key recommendations and integrate any good practice identified. National roll-out is expected to begin late Autumn 2009.

Conditional Cautions

Conditional Cautions are a disposal method that places victims and witnesses at the heart of the justice process. It enables the victim or wider community to be directly compensated and, in turn, ensures that the behaviour of the offender is addressed through a restorative and rehabilitative condition. If the condition is not complied with, the offender will be prosecuted through the court.

Cumbria will seek to build upon the Conditional Cautions that have already been implemented, and look to develop further Conditional Cautions such as an alcohol intervention programme.

Cumbria Implementation: Cumbria has fully implemented Conditional Cautions. Any expansion of the scheme, in terms of, types of offences under consideration will be dependent on developing strategies outwith the control of the Criminal Justice Board.

Offender Management

Bringing offenders to justice and reducing re-offending is the key aim of Principle 1. Cumbria Criminal Justice Board are committed to supporting the introduction of an alcohol intervention strategy, which will provide treatment referral for offenders who commit ‘alcohol fuelled’ violence and other similar offences. In support of Principle 1, Cumbria will carry out the following projects to help achieve this aim.

  • We strive to build upon the success of the Scafell project, which is a joint initiative involving various criminal justice agencies in Cumbria. This initiative targets Prolific and Priority Offenders (PPOs) in the county, with the aim of reducing the likelihood of re-offending through customised ‘Rehabilitate and Resettle’ programmes.
  • Cumbria is committed to exploring the concept of making HMP Haverigg a ‘community prison’ for Cumbria. This involves prisoners being managed close to the community where they are going to be released, allowing better access for families and local support agencies. This, in turn, improves the development and sustainability of the rehabilitation processes into resettlement.
  • Domestic Violence Courts will be in operation throughout all areas in Cumbria. This ensures specially trained police, prosecutors and magistrates are involved in domestic violence cases and ultimately ensures that tailored support is provided to victims from Independent Domestic Violence Advisors.

Cumbria Implementation: The integrated offender management approach used with the Scafell Project will run throughout the period of the local area agreement. The Twin Peaks Community Prison Project is funded for two years ending March 2010.

Safeguarding Children/Protecting the Public

The public protection agenda is shared by both the criminal justice agencies and the local authority. In support of the Safeguarding Children Board the CJB arranged for process mapping the criminal justice side of the safeguarding work. This has been completed, and the finished maps offered to a variety of partners who sit on the Cumbria Safeguarding Board. The hope is that these other partners will continue the mapping work so we have a clear and coherent view of Safeguarding children processes across both the public and voluntary sector in Cumbria. The aim of such a process map would be to minimise miscommunication across agency boundaries, and help ensure the protection of young people in the county.

Cumbria Implementation: While the project to deliver process mapping is complete, the longer term aim of a fully joined up ‘Cumbria’ map remains, and to support this Board members with a dual role across both the CCJB and the Safeguarding Board have agreed to keep the work on the strategic agenda.

Restorative Justice for Youths

Effective early interventions are a key part of diverting young people form further offending. Restorative Justice is an intervention which supports both the victims and the offender. Cumbria was successful in bidding for funding to pilot a pre court ‘Restorative Disposal for Youths’. This project will be run in south Cumbria, and the results will be shared with the CJB through both the Police and the Youth Offending Service.

Cumbria Implementation: The Pilot will run through 2008 and will then be reviewed to consider any benefits achieved.

Minimum Dataset Project

The key aim of identifying and addressing race disproportionality at key stages in the criminal justice system, is a thread that is woven throughout PSA24.

Cumbria will collect ethnic minority data from all criminal justice agencies and identify key points where unfair race disproportionality is occurring. Following this identification, Cumbria will investigate the potential causes of disproportionality and will agree multi-agency action plans to reduce racial disparities. A crucial tool for identifying the key points where racial disproportionality occurs will be the Waterfall. Ethnicity data will be run through this I.T. tool to highlight areas and possible causes of the racial disproportionality.

Cumbria Implementation: This work forms part of the three-year strategy in support of Public Service Agreement 24. Cumbria will work with partners to improve access to ethnicity data in order to improve our performance in this area.

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