On 9th January 2013 government launched "Transforming Rehabilitation - a revolution in the way we manage offenders." This consultation laid out governments proposals for reforming the delivery of offender services in the community.
London Councils welcomed the opportunity and submitted a response on the 22 February 2013. The submission:
- Emphasises the key role of local authorities in reducing re-offending;
- Highlights the value of local commissioning and devolving budgets, particularly in London where we have established partnership structures;
- Welcomes the emphasis on expanding rehabilitative services to offenders on short-term sentences;
- Cautions the need to manage risk in any new system and avoid any aspects of Payment by Results models that would provide a perverse incentive to "cherry pick" the offenders that they choose to work with.
- Emphasises the need to maintain local partnerships.
The London Councils response to the consultation can be downloaded from this page.