H M P R ISO N

SER V IC E
E astern

H.M. PRISON SERVICE

EASTERN AREA

PROLIFIC AND OTHER PRIORITY

OFFENDERS STRATEGY

AREA POLICY
AND PROTOCOLS

JANUARY 2007
This Prolific and other Priority Offenders Policy Document, and the protocols
contained within it, is a commitment that the Eastern Area will fully recognise
it’s responsibilities in regard to the requirements of the strategy, and that all
Eastern Area establishments will work together to ensure that the aims of the
strategy are supported both at local level and between establishments and the
community

The Eastern Area will ensure that the requirements of the Rehabilitation and
Resettlement strand of the strategy are implemented in the context of the aims of
the National Offender Management Service and in compliance with the
‘Reducing Re-offending – National Action Plan’, published July 2004.

Further to this, it will be implemented in the context of the Regional Pathways to

Reducing Re-offending – The Strategy for the Rehabilitation of Offenders in the
East of England.

Signed;………………………………… Date……………………………………….

D. McAllister, Area Manager

Signed…………………………………. Date………………………………………..

G.K.Simmonds, Strategic Partnerships Manager

 1.

SECTION 1- OUTLINE OF THE PROLIFIC AND OTHER PRIORITY

OFFENDERS STRATEGY

Definition of a prolific offender. There is no national definition of a prolific

offender. Instead, Crime and Disorder Partnerships (CDRPs), and Local Criminal
Justice Boards (LCJBs) will select prolific and other priority offenders (PPOs0
against local criteria, with particular reference to the volume of crime they are
committing and the impact on their local community.

It is intended that an average of 15 – 20 PPOs will be selected by each of the 376

CDRPs, making a total of up to 8000 PPOs nationally. Many of these will already be
serving prison sentences, and when the scheme becomes mature it is expected that
about 4000 PPOs will be in prison custody at any one time.

Local Prolific and Other Priority Offenders Schemes. Each CDRP will have it’s
own scheme, but some CDRPs may combine with others for this purpose. The
schemes will vary in their details but each will have three strands of work

Prevent and Deter; This will concentrate on diverting potential juvenile

offenders out of crime, involving local agencies and the Youth Justice
Board (YJB)

Catch and Convict; Police and criminal justice agencies will target PPOs
for intensive engagement, both pre-conviction and when on a community
sentence or on licence. The aim is to make clear to them that their
criminality will not be tolerated, and that they will be brought before the
courts quickly, or returned to prison if on licence, should they misbehave.

Rehabilitate and Resettle; This work strand is of most direct interest to

prison establishments, and the role which prisons are expected to play is
described more fully within this document
 2.

SECTION 2 – THE ROLE OF PRISON ESTABLISHMENTS IN THE

REHABILITATE AND RESETTLE STRAND OF THE PROLIFIC AND
OTHER PRIORITY OFFENDERS STRATEGY.

The framework for the participation of the Prison Service in the Rehabilitate
and Resettle strand is contained within Prison Service Order 4615 – Prolific and
other Priority Offenders (issued 11.10.2004).

Prison establishments will play three key roles, all of which fall within the R & R
strand.

Flag and track PPOs through their period in prison

Prioritise PPOs for interventions within prisons, including education, drug

and offending behaviour programmes where appropriate, and provide support
with resettlement

Provide a liaison point for agencies to follow the progress of PPOs, and in
particular will provide the police Basic Command Unit (BCU) -and in licence
cases the National Probation Service, with 28 days notice of the release of
PPOs and will also inform them if a PPO is recalled from licence. They will
facilitate any in-reach work by agencies to help with the resettlement of PPOs.
As a precaution, the police must also be notified on the day the PPO is
actually released.

All Eastern Area establishments are required to designate a PPO Lead

Manager and PPO Liaison Officer in furtherance of the above. The
details of the PPO Liaison Officer, telephone number, fax number and E
Mail address must be sent to (and will be held by) the PPO Clearing
House, which is located within the PPO Programme Team established
within the NOMS Community Integration Unit. (See next page for
further details). The term PPO Clearing House will still be employed for
these contacts.

It is also essential that the processes associated with PPOs are closely
interlinked with the establishment Offender Management system and in
particular the Offender Management Unit.

It is imperative that all work undertaken with regard to Prolific and Other
Priority Offenders is done so within the overall establishment setting of Public
Protection and in observance of the aims of PSO. 2300 – Resettlement – re-issued
16.9.05.)
 3.

SECTION 3 – FLAGGING, TRACKING AND ASSESSING PROLIFIC AND

OTHER PRIORITY OFFENDERS.

PPOs will be notified to prison establishments by local agencies. There is no

national template for this flagging. In some cases the Crown Prosecution Service
will stamp the prisoner escort record or warrant with a PPO flag when a PPO is
remanded or convicted/sentenced. This information may also be communicated by
other means i.e. E Mail, or letter. In all identified cases establishments should proceed
with flagging and the required actions as further described.

In some cases, establishments will not be initially aware that a prisoner in their care is
a PPO. The PPO Clearing House contact, which is located within the NOMS
Community Integration Unit – PPO Programme Team has been established within
NOMS Headquarters, Marsham Street, which receives regularised information about
PPOs newly committed to custody. The Clearing House is responsible for the national
collation of PPO information and movement, will act as an enquiry point, and will
keep an updated list of PPO Liaison Officers as previously described.
The PPO Clearing House telephone and E Mail details are as follows, and
prisons are advised to maintain proactive contact in order to ensure that correct
information regarding all PPOs held in custody is maintained.

Chris Haynes 0207 - 035 - 3190

prolific.offenders@hmps.gsi.gov.uk

FLAGGING PPOs. The Local Inmate Database System (LIDS) allows a PPO flag to
be added to the LIDS record of a prisoner.

KEY ACTION; On receipt of information, from whatever source, that a prisoner is a

PPO, the LIDS record must be endorsed to flag the prisoner as a PPO.
It is also advisable to flag the prisoner’s core record (F2050) and also create an
electronic file e.g. on the establishment ‘Z’ Drive listing all PPOs, in order that all
staff/departments can access this information.

RECORDING ADDRESS. It is important to accurately record the reception and

discharge addresses of a PPO for continuance purposes, and to ensure that data
collection essential to the monitoring of the overall PPO scheme is maintained.

KEY ACTION; Where known, the reception and discharge addresses of the PPO
must be entered onto LIDS, and all details of village, town and metropolitan borough
must be included. For prisoners who are ‘NFA’ on reception, the town and county
fields must be completed using the committal court as the proxy address.
It is important to update these details if change occurs during the PPO’s stay in
prison.
 4.

TRACKING PPOs. Prisoners identified as PPOs may transfer between prison

establishments, particularly once sentenced. It is essential that effective and sustained
protocols are in place to ensure that all information relevant to the PPO status is
passed on by the sending to the receiving prison.

KEY ACTION; Establishments will ensure that auditable tracking processes are in
place to ensure that relevant information is available and identified by reception at
the receiving prison and thereafter by relevant departments. Confirmation of this
should be sought.

ASSESSING PPOs; The aim will be to collect and collate all relevant information
regarding the ongoing interventions and activities that the PPO is assessed for and
undertakes. This is essential in order to inform the relevant agencies at the point of
release of the work undertaken and the issues that remain and need further
consideration. Offender Management Units/OASys assessments will be fundamental
in achieving this for PPOs serving more than 12 months, and for those serving less
than 12 months once the provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 take effect.

KEY ACTION; Establishments will ensure that effective, auditable, internal

protocols are in place to inform departments of their role in providing qualitative
information regarding the interventions offered/undertaken by PPOs, and to ensure
that this information is directed and collated (especially by OMUs) and compiled in
a form that can be conveyed to relevant agencies, particularly at the point of release.
The involvement of the Probation, OASys and OM functions are crucial to this.

It must be recognised that PPO status may apply to prisoners that are on
remand/ unsentenced, or serving short sentences Their stay in custody may
therefore be short. This should not reduce the aim/process of gaining qualitative
information, which may simply be in the form of assessment of need and initial
intervention. This information will still be important to agencies in the
community, particularly if a non-custodial sentence results form a period on
remand.

PRIORITISATION; The objective of the Prolific and other Priority Offenders

Strategy is to ensure that at all stages in the Criminal Justice System PPOs are treated
as a high priority, with a view to providing them with the greatest incentive to desist
from criminal activity.

KEY ACTION; Establishments will ensure that PPOs are given due priority for
appropriate interventions, and efforts should be made to avoid movement of PPOs
between prisons, so as not to detract or disrupt their rehabilitation.

It is recognised that around 60% of PPOs will also be identified as problematic drug
misusers. All such PPOs should be prioritised for a Carat Substance Misuse Triage
Assessment (DIR) and processed via the Drug Interventions Programme (DIP). Carat
teams must pay due regard to those prisoners within their caseloads who are PPOs.
 5.

LICENCE CONDITIONS; For those PPOs who are released from prison on
discharge licence there is a strong presumption that the licence conditions will include
the requirement to address their particular problems.

KEY ACTION; Governors and key staff must liase with the National Probation
Service in these cases to ensure that relevant inclusion is made in licence conditions
appertaining to PPO status.
 6.

SECTION 4 – LIAISON ARRANGEMENTS

CONTACT ADDRESSES; All establishments must provide a telephone number and

E Mail address, to act as a single liaison point for information about PPOs.(PPO
Liaison Officer) This information must be passed to the PPO Clearing House via the
contact listed above..

KEY ACTION; All Eastern establishments will provide the above, and in addition the
name of the Lead Manager for PPO strategy, and the function within which PPO
strategy is placed. This information should be shared with BCUs/PPO Schemes in
contact with the establishment. These details will also be passed to the Strategic
Partnership Manager at Eastern Area Office and updated as necessary in order that
an Area PPO contact list can be maintained and distributed. Contact point;

graeme.simmonds@hmps.gsi.gov.uk

Tel; 01603 264132

CONTACT WITH POLICE BASIC COMMAND UNITS (BCUs); A complete

list of BCU/contact points is held centrally. The information provided to each
establishment about individual PPOs will include a contact telephone number and E
Mail address within the BCU responsible for the PPO.

KEY ACTION; On the first occasion on which an establishment becomes aware of a

PPO in it’s care, it must inform the designated BCU contact (normally by E Mail) of
this fact, providing the name of the prisoner, name of the prison, and the liaison E
Mail and telephone details.
The same process must be followed if a PPO arrives on transfer from another
prison

INTELLIGENCE; On occasions there may be a need to provide the police with

intelligence regarding a PPO while in prison. This information must be provided
through the normal Police Liaison network.

KEY ACTION; All establishments will routinely involve the Police Liaison Officer in
the ongoing management of the PPO process. In particular cases where intelligence
or specific personal information needs to be shared, the establishment will ensure that
an Information Sharing Protocol is in place between the establishment and the police
to facilitate this, and that it pays due regard to Data Protection issues. Guidance on
this will be given/available from the Area Professional Standards & Intelligence
Officer.

LIAISON WITH OTHER AGENCIES; The home police BCU will provide other
local agencies as necessary with the prison liaison contact details. Local statutory and
non-statutory agencies within a CDRP will take responsibility for assisting with the
resettlement needs of a PPO. They are likely, therefore, to want to liaise with the
prison in advance of the release of a PPO, and may wish to visit the prisoner
themselves.
 7.

KEY ACTION; Establishments must be ready to facilitate the involvement of

resettlement in-reach teams from the home locality of the PPO. If the PPO has been
transferred to an establishment away from his/her home area, the holding
establishment should aim to return him/her to an appropriate local prison eight weeks
before release.This may be subject to consideration as to whether it would be in the
interests of the PPO to transfer bearing in mind necessary completion of interventions
at the training prison.
It is viewed as good practice for in-reach teams to be linked to relevant departments
within the establishment in order that any interventions undertaken during custody
may be taken into consideration, and where appropriate, co-working on site can
ensue and in-reach visits supported by establishment staff. The PPO Liaison Officer
will have a role in co-ordinating this, as will the OMU.

INFORMING THE POLICE OF RELEASES; The PPO Programme Team has

access to the joint police/CPS database for PPOs i.e. JTRACK. At the start of a
PPO’s period in prison JTRACK will be updated to indicate the expected release date
of each PPO. However, there may be circumstances where the release date may
change.

KEY ACTION; All establishments holding PPOs must make arrangements to notify
the home BCU (and in all licence cases the National Probation Service) at least 28
days before a prisoner’s release. If the prisoner is likely to be released on HDC, or
ROTL the possible release date should also be notified. As a precaution, the home
BCU must also be notified on the day the prisoner is actually released.

PRISONERS RECALLED FROM LICENCE; where a PPO has been recalled

from licence, the same procedure as that followed by establishments in the case of
first reception into prison must be followed. They should also inform the home
Probation Service.

KEY ACTION; All establishments must comply with this, and in addition be
particularly aware that recall to prison may not necessarily result in the prisoner
being re-identified as PPO status. A check will need to be made in these cases by the
liaison person.
 8.

SECTION 5 - PARTNERSHIP WORKING

OVERALL FRAMEWORK; This is set out in centrally issued guidance, such as

described in this policy document. Within the framework, local areas are free to
develop their own solutions, based upon their own assessed needs and available
resources. A clear and effective model must be in place, and responsibilities assigned
and recognised.

KEY ACTION; As part of this effort, all relevant agencies, particularly police,
probation, prisons, need to establish ways of working effectively together e.g via joint
agency groups. All establishments are required to contribute to and support the
working of these groups.

OFFENDER MANAGEMENT; The developing role of Offender Managers, which

is a central theme of NOMS, needs to be supported to take the lead in managing the
rehabilitation of offenders whilst they are under statutory order, (in particular the
National Probation Service) and in making effective post-sentence arrangements.
Existing structures should support this.

KEY ACTION; Establishments must ensure that all relevant agencies and
departments are actively involved in, and contributing to the process of offender
management of PPOs whilst in custody, that Offender Supervisors are fully involved
in this process and that solid linkage to other processes and authorities is maintained.
In particular the Drug Intervention Programme for problematic drug misusers and
Youth Offending Teams for young offenders.

PERFORMANCE MONITORING; Establishments are required to maintain

effective record of all action/activity in relation to the process of the PPO strategy.
Data and information recorded must be of sufficient robustness so as to be auditable,
and to meet any developing performance reporting requirements as determined by
H.M. Prison Service, or other authority.
Establishments must recognise that Schedule ‘D’, Annex 4, of the NOMS Service
Specification for Public Sector Prisons (SLA), contains the following performance
measure;
90% of harm assessments and OASys sentence plans are completed on Prolific and
other Priority Offenders within 5 working days of the commencement of the order or
release into the community

KEY ACTION; The Lead Manager for the PPO strategy at each establishment will
ensure that systems are installed to ensure that all current and future performance
measurement requirements are complied with, and ensure that local systems meet any
audit requirement.