Probation services

Introduction

Probation services are a key part of the criminal justice system. They are overseen by Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), which is an executive agency within the Ministry of Justice.

Probation services are responsible for:

  • Advising courts on sentencing decisions
  • Supervising people in the community who have offended and been released from custody on license and people who have received community sentences
  • Working with people in custody to prepare them for a life after release
  • Monitoring the risk posed by people supervised in the community and ensuring the public is protected
  • Planning and delivering rehabilitative support, often in partnership with voluntary sector organisations
  • Enforcing compliance with court orders and licence conditions.

Since 2015, under the Ministry of Justice’s Transforming Rehabilitation programme, probation services are delivered by the National Probation Service (NPS) and 21 Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) across England and Wales.

The NPS oversees the writing of all pre-sentence reports, conducts all initial risk assessments and supervises people who are deemed to be of high risk of harm to the public. CRCs are responsible for the supervision of people who are assessed as low to medium risk of harm to the public.

Last year following a consultation on the structure and services provided by the probation system, the government announced that from spring 2021, CRC contracts will end and all sentence management in England and Wales will be brought back under responsibility of the NPS.

Over the past year the Ministry of Justice and HMPPS have delivered a number of events and webinars to provide further details on their plans for probation services. Under the new model, the government will:

  • Establish 11 NPS areas in England and one NPS area in Wales, with each area overseen by a regional probation director who will be responsible for the overall delivery and commissioning of probation services in their area
  • Establish a Dynamic Framework to commission rehabilitation and resettlement services
  • Establish a Regional Outcome Fund which will provide funding for “innovative, cross-cutting approaches” to reducing reoffending.
The new probation system
  • The Target Operating Model (TOM) sets out in detail the latest plans for how the future probation system will look.
  • All responsibility for sentence management will move back to the National Probation Service (NPS).
  • In each area, NPS operational delivery will be reorganised around Probation Delivery Units.
  • There are 12 probation regions in England and Wales, and 12 National Probation Service Regional Directors have been appointed to lead probation services in their region.
The commissioning process
  • The dynamic framework is the mechanism through which rehabilitation and resettlement interventions will be procured for the future probation model. The framework is the main opportunity for voluntary organisations of all sizes to deliver services through the new probation system.
  • Market warming is the stage where preparatory documents are released to potential bidders so they can prepare.
  • Jaggaer is the esourcing portal/website (formally known as Bravo) through which documents on the commissioning process can be found and organisations can complete the qualification and call-off process.
  • Qualification is the process by which organisations apply to be on the framework.
  • The Selection Questionnaire (SQ) is something organisations must complete to qualify on the framework and will cover basic information about the organisation and the services they deliver.
  • Call-off is the stage at which organisations can compete for a contract on the dynamic framework. Commissioners will announce their intention to run call-off for specific services, at which point organisations who have qualified onto the framework can compete for the specific contracts.
  • Day one call-offs are for contracts to deliver core services that are needed from the first day of delivery of the new model.
  • Service categories are the types of services that will be commissioned under the dynamic framework. There are 14 Service categories:
    • Accommodation
    • Finance, Benefits and Debt
    • Education, Training and Employment
    • Dependency and Recovery
    • Family and Significant Others
    • Lifestyle and Associates
    • Emotional Wellbeing
    • Social Inclusion
    • Women
    • Young Adults (18-25 years old)
    • Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic (BAME)
    • Restorative Justice
    • Cognitive and Behavioural Change
    • Service User Involvement
  • Prime providers/contractors work directly with the government to deliver services. They can subcontract work to other providers, manage subcontractors, and are responsible for ensuring that the work is completed as defined in the contract.
  • Values refers to the overall cost of the service and the volume is the number of service users HMPPS are buying the service for.
Additional interventions
  • Accredited programmes are aimed at reducing reoffending. They are pre-set programmes that have been specifically designed to support desistance and have been approved by the MoJ through an accreditation process. The Thinking Skills and the Building Better Relationships programmes will be the most widely available under the new system, but a range of accredited programmes are available in each area.
  • Structured interventions are aimed at people deemed to be of lower risk of harm and who do not meet the threshold of an accredited programme. The interventions have a fixed number of sessions and pre-set content that everyone receives.
  • The Regional outcomes and innovation fund is an HMPPS fund which regional probation directors will be able to access to commission outcome-related services.

Our members

Voluntary organisations working in the criminal justice system have a long history of providing services that complement and supplement probation services. Indeed, the probation service has its roots in the voluntary sector.

In modern times, the role of voluntary organisations has become distinct from that of statutory probation services. Probation services are responsible for delivering the sentence of the court. Voluntary organisations provide wrap-around services to enable and support individuals to undertake and complete their sentence and go on to live fulfilling lives.

This support includes help with accommodation, employment and education, drug treatment, and debt advice as well as projects or services specifically for particular cohorts such as women and young adults.

Clinks thinks

Voluntary organisations working in the criminal justice system must be properly engaged and treated as an equal partner in the design and delivery of probation services.

To nurture local partnerships, each probation region should develop a multi-agency network that brings together key partnership organisations to inform the design and delivery of services.

What Clinks is doing

Throughout the probation reform process, Clinks has worked to ensure the voices of voluntary organisations working in criminal justice and the people they support are heard by HMPPS and the Ministry of Justice:

In March 2020, HMPPS published a target operating model for probation which supersedes the blueprint. The target operating model provides further information on the department’s intentions for how the future probation system will work. It outlines the structures and responsibilities of probation and its partners, how the system intends to support people under probation supervision and transition planning. Clinks published a briefing that summaries the key information in the target operating model and considers how the proposals will impact the voluntary sector.

Since the target operating model has been published, there have been further developments. Firstly, the commissioning of Unpaid Work, Accredited Programmes and Structured Interventions will now be delivered by the NPS, instead of being commissioned out to delivery partners. Secondly, the government has launched the Dynamic Framework. 

Dynamic Framework

The Dynamic Framework is the mechanism through which rehabilitation and resettlement interventions will be procured for the future probation model. The framework is the main opportunity for voluntary organisations of all sizes to deliver services through the new probation system.

All relevant information is hosted on Jaggaer (formerly Bravo). To access this, organisations need to log in to the system. If you do not already have an account you will need to register here. If you are unsure whether you already have an account, you can email esourcing@Justice.gov.uk and the team will check for you.

Once you are logged in, follow these steps:

  1. Click on ‘PQQs open to all suppliers’.
  2. In the search bar type ‘Probation Dynamic Framework Market Warming’. Click on the event titled ‘PQQ_199 - Probation Dynamic Framework Market Warming’.
  3. Click ‘Express an Interest’ in the green box,
  4. Relevant information can be found under ‘Buyer Attachment’ and ‘My Response’.

For more information and help using the e-sourcing platform Jaggaer, watch this video recording of a webinar from the Probation Dynamic Framework Commercial Team which takes you through the platform and the documents that you are required to use when submitting a response for the Dynamic Framework.

To support organisations to understand the Dynamic Framework and what it means for them, we ran a series of online events alongside HMPPS, which covered the commissioning processes, IT standards, and information and guidance on building partnerships and consortia.

Introduction to the probation Dynamic Framework

This session introduces the commissioning of probation services via the Dynamic Framework and explains the IT security standards required to engage in the Dynamic Framework. It was held on 24th June 2020.

Building partnerships for the probation Dynamic Framework

This session gives information and guidance on building partnerships and consortia, covering best practice in all areas of consortia development and implementation in the context of the multi-service lots being commissioned. It was held on 1st July 2020.

Ensuring probation reform meets the needs of BAME* people

This briefing event explains how the reformed probation service intends to meet the needs of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME*) people under probation supervision and engage BAME-led and BAME-specialist organisations in service delivery. It was held on 16th September 2020.*We acknowledge that the term BAME can be problematic as it refers to a group of people who are far from homogenous. The intersection of race, ethnicity, faith, and culture makes social identities multi-faceted and shifting – the experiences of individuals within these groups will vary. Wherever possible, we seek to be specific when describing groups of people but at times use the term BAME – albeit reluctantly – to describe inequality and discrimination across groups when necessary.

Information security and data protection requirements

This session covers the information security and data protection requirements for the probation Dynamic Framework with a focus, in particular, on the requirements for day one call-offs. It includes a discussion of what, if any, further support organisations think they might need to be able to meet the requirements. It was held on 15th September.

If you have a specific question relating to the Dynamic Framework, please ask this via Jaggaer as a clarification question. All questions submitted are logged and answers are published on Jaggaer. 

Voluntary organisations working in criminal justice can also send questions to us at probation@clinks.org. Through this mailbox we will answer your question if we can and collect feedback from organisations to inform our influencing of the probation review programme but we may need to refer you to the clarification process on Jaggaer if we can't answer your question. We will answer as many enquiries as we can and will work to provide an initial response within 48 hours. Please do consult the questions below and those published on Jaggaer before contacting the mailbox.

Below we have provided a list of the questions and answers collated from our recent Introduction to the Dynamic Framework events.

What is the timescale/deadline for initial qualification?

In response to feedback from the market and to ensure that organisations have suitable time to qualify and prepare to bid, Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) has decided to amend the commencement dates for Day 1 call-off competitions for the Dynamic Framework.

The revised competition start dates are:

  • Education, Training and Employment - 7th September 2020
  • Accommodation - 28th September 2020
  • Personal Wellbeing (including Young Adult Personal Wellbeing in Wales) - 19th October 2020
  • Women - 23rd November 2020 (Updated 28/10/20).
  • Accommodation (Wales) – mid/end January 2021 (Updated 23/12/2020).

All providers that wish to be invited to bid for any of the above call-off competitions should have completed and passed the Standard Questionnaire 30 days prior to the competition start.

HMPPS encourages everyone to submit qualifications as early as possible. If there is an issue with your submission you may be asked to make changes and resubmit. If you leave submission to the deadline and have to resubmit, you may then miss the deadline to qualify.

Competition deadlines are:

  • Education, Training and Employment - 2nd October 2020
  • Accommodation - 23rd October 2020
  • Personal Wellbeing (including Young Adult Personal Wellbeing in Wales) - 13th November 2020
  • Women - 4th January 2021 (Updated 28/10/20).
What is the expected turnaround time from issue of call off competitions to submission deadline?

HMPPS are looking at a minimum of four weeks from the formal launch of each call off competition to the submission deadline.

What will the minimum mobilisation period be?

HMPPS haven’t finalised timings for upcoming contracts yet but they have released the order in which call off competitions will take place. They are hoping that for day one services that the contract award will be this year, so there will be a minimum of six months for the mobilisation period.

How long will the Dynamic Framework be in place?

The framework will exist for seven years and can be extended up to three years (so overall it could last for 10 years).

How long will the individual contracts be? Will there be opportunity for longer contracts, or will they all be short term?

HMPPS haven't made a decision on contract lengths yet. They have been listening to the voluntary sector and have heard that longer contracts are preferred. They will update in due course.

Can I bid for more than one lot? Won’t this take a lot of time for a small organisation to fill in?

To a certain extent HMPPS expect that only larger organisations will bid for several different contract lots, whether that be the same lot in several geographic areas or multiple lots in one geographic area. For the evaluation, there will be some questions which are standard across all of the lots and some questions which are focussed on local solutions. So organisations won’t need to change the entire evaluation for every lot. In terms of timescales HMPPS will provide the final, locally specific specifications around 4 weeks before the competitions go live. They will provide the evaluation criteria as soon as possible after that, which should give people more time to work on those different bids.

If you want to offer a range of services (for example both education training and employment (ETE) and personal wellbeing) you may do so and would have to bid for multiple lots to ensure the totality of your service offer was maximised.

Can we qualify to be on the framework for different areas in the future following our first submission?

In terms of geographic areas, yes, you can go back to update your submission in the future if you’re working in new geographic areas. In terms of different categories and need areas, you can do, but this will be a more complicated process in terms of re-submitting your application. And so it would be preferable if you include all of your categories on the initial qualification application.

How can we identify appropriate consortium structures? Do we need to have a larger organisation leading bids, or is the Framework designed to accommodate equal partnerships of smaller organisations?

HMPPS won’t evaluate bids differently depending on how the consortium is set up. They will be looking for services that meet the needs and respond to local priorities. If a way to ensure that you are providing a localised service is to include smaller local organisations, then obviously that will be viewed positively. But there is no automatic preference based on how you choose to bid, consortia size etc.

If bidding in a consortium/partnership, would every organisation need to pre-qualify to be part of that bid?

You will need as a minimum one organisation qualified in the supply chain for all the relevant areas the consortia wishes to deliver (women’s services; accommodation; employment, training and education etc.). This could be one organisation qualified for all areas or several different organisations in the supply chain qualified in different areas.

HMPPS would absolutely encourage all organisations to qualify individually because the advantage is you get access, you will be invited to all of the relevant call offs, and therefore you'll get notified about them. So even if you plan to respond as part of a supply chain, they would encourage you to qualify individually anyway.

What kind of information will be required in the case studies we need to provide to qualify?

The case studies are the most straightforward way to demonstrate your ability to deliver the outcomes that HMPPS are seeking. Focus on services you deliver and outcomes you have achieved in line with what is described on the Standard Questionnaire.

Are all lots based on volumes and targets?

HMPPS haven't made a final decision yet about the payment mechanism that will be used. They are asking for views and feedback about this. At framework level, there are three options, which are: a fixed price, regardless of volume; a fixed price with volume bands (depending on the volume you have, you would have different fixed prices for each volume level); or a unit price.

For day one contracts, they will not be using unit price because the volumes are too high. So the options for day one contracts are fixed price or fixed price varying by volume. HMPPS are keen to get views on which of those would be preferred.

In terms of targets for the day one contracts, all contracts will have at least two performance measures, which are around initial assessments and intervention received, and then the larger contracts will also have quality measures.

When will we know what each lot is worth in terms of money?

HMPPS have provided indicative contract values. Once they launch the call off competition for each lot there will be a final value. The indicative values are in the procurement event itself in the general attachments area on Jaggaer.

Is there a minimum turnover or minimum number of years existence to qualify for the framework?

There isn't a minimum turnover required as such. However, there are different requirements in terms of demonstrating your financial health depending on the size of lots you’ll be going for. There is information on this in the market warming documents and a presentation on the Standard Questionnaire and qualification – all on Jaggaer. This sets out the different levels of evidence that you would need to provide depending on which level of lot you are likely going for. In terms of years existence there is also no specific requirement.

Clinks has been advocating that black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) specific contracts are part of commissioning framework from day 1. It looks like this isn't the case as yet. When will these contracts be commissioned?

HMPPS know that this has been a concern and a request, and they would absolutely like to see, going forward, contracts for specialist BAME services let. There is a very clear element to the specification for all contract lots which requires providers to demonstrate how they will meet some of the Lammy review recommendations in their service delivery.

To what extent, if at all, will any services be commissioned for delivery in prison prior to release? Replacing for example pre-release programmes provided to date by the Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs)?

In relation to the day one services the only two categories which will have a pre-release element are accommodation and within the personal wellbeing category - social inclusion.

Please can you give more information on the Greater Manchester co-commissioning model and why this is different from other areas?

HMPPS’ vision for the framework in the future is to include lots more co-commissioning because if the National Probation Service (NPS) is working with Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs), local authorities etc. this will achieve better outcomes for service users. Greater Manchester is in a much more advanced place in terms of structures to support co-commissioning at the moment – there has been a devolution agreement there in place for some time, and various governance structures which are chaired between the NPS and the combined authority. So the reason for the difference is simply that HMPPS has been able to progress more quickly in terms of getting that co-commissioning in place for day one. More co-commissioning is expected for other services – including dependency and recovery, and finance, benefit and debt – which will come later and will be led by the regions. This will also be the case when looking at replacement services in a few years’ time.

Update 13th August: HMPPS will not be procuring day one services for Greater Manchester (GM) through the Dynamic Framework. HMPPS are co-commissioning these services with Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and will be procuring them through GMCA procurement routes. HMPPS appreciates that some providers have submitted a Selection Questionnaire (SQ) and have said that they were interested in the Greater Manchester geographic units. These SQs will still be evaluated and providers can join the Framework if they are successful. HMPPS may commission some future services for the GM region via the Dynamic Framework. HMPPS will share the names of any qualified organisations who expressed an interest in providing services in the GM area with GMCA so that they can be included in any communication regarding GMCA procurements for probation-services.

What will be the impact of the re-nationalisation of the probation service, will the scope of opportunity be much reduced?

No, for the Dynamic Framework nothing is changing. Changes are to unpaid work, accredited programmes and structured interventions which will now be delivered by the National Probation Service (NPS).

Will there be any grants? Will they be judged at Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) level?

HMPPS don’t have any intention for day one services to be commissioned as grants. It’s a possibility for the future but they can’t give any answers at the moment because there are no specific plans for grants.

If I already have a login with Bravo can I login to Jaggaer?

Yes, your Bravo login will work with the new portal Jaggaer. Access it here

Keep up to date

Clinks will continue to influence the probation reform programme on behalf of the voluntary sector and keep organisations informed in a way that is timely and accessible. We will be publishing regular blogs and briefings, as well as providing regular updates on Twitter and in our weekly Light Lunch email updates.

For more information, read our publications and our blogs on probation reform

Advising the Ministry of Justice

Clinks provides the chair and secretariat for an advisory group to the Ministry of Justice. The Reducing Reoffending Third Sector Advisory Group’s (RR3) purpose is to build a strong and effective partnership between the voluntary sector and the MoJ.

At various meetings with the Ministry of Justice, the RR3 has fed back its views about the review of probation. Read the meeting notes.

In 2016, the RR3 convened a special interest group on supporting effective mentoring through the gate to explore how to provide effective mentoring for men and women resettling in the community after a prison sentence. It considered the role and contribution of voluntary organisations in pioneering this approach and the impact of probation commissioning and contracting arrangements and funding on voluntary organisations’ ability to deliver effective mentoring. The group made recommendations to voluntary groups, the Ministry of Justice and other relevant parties.

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