1.1The Policy for the Management of All Isps Has Been Reviewed in Light of the Impact Caused

TITLE
PSO 4700 New Chapter 4
Serving the Indeterminate Sentence
This instruction applies to : / Referece :
Prisons
Probation Services / PSI 36/2010
PI 11/2010
Issue date / Effective Date
Implementation Date / Expiry Date
02 July 2010 / 12 July 2010 / 01 July 2011
Issued on the authority of / NOMS Agency Board
For action by / Governors/Directors of Contracted Prisons, Chief Executives of Probation Trusts.
For information / All staff who manage indeterminate sentence prisoners (ISP)
Contact / Tony Macgregor, ISP policy lead, NOMS PPMHG
(until 16th July) 8th Floor Cleland House
(as of 19th July) 2ndFloorFryBuilding, 2 Marsham Street

Associated documents / PSO 4700
This PSI advises of the replacement to Prison Service Order 4700 Chapters 4, including update to 4.7 (Escorted Absence).
References in this instruction to Governors includes Directors of Contracted Prisons
Audit/monitoring :
Directors of Offender Management will monitor compliance in their region with the mandatory actions set out in these chapters. Establishments must demonstrate compliance with these actions when required to do so by Directors of Offender Management.
Introduces replacement to Chapter 4, including a revised 4.7, to PSO 4700. Copies held on the HMPS Intranet/EPIC will be amended.
All hard copies of PSO 4700 must be amended by the replacement of the old chapter 4 and 4.7
The new chapter 4 is attached to the end of this PSI

Page 1

1. Executive summary

Background

1.1The policy for the management of all ISPs has been reviewed in light of the impact caused by the introduction of IPP and DPP sentences and the principles of Offender Management. The new policy reflects the following guiding principles:

1.2Firstly, sentence planning for Indeterminate Sentence Prisoners must be realistic, spanning work while in custody and in the community. There is an expectation sentence planning should be achievable, not aspirational, and where interventions are recommended they can be delivered. The revised policy also emphasises interventions are not limited to accredited programmes and can include a range of other work with an offender, to address and help them reduce the risk of harm they pose to the public. Sentence Plan targets must indentify the prisoner’s risks to be reduced, rather than identifying interventions to be completed.

1.3Secondly, the allocation and management of ISPs will now be determined according to their risk levels and intervention needs, in line with the national priority of matching resources to risk and replacing the previous system of ‘lifer stages’.

1.4Thirdly, the policy now allows more regional and local flexibility, with Directors of Offender Management determining the best way to manage their ISP population and implementing this within their region.

1.5Chapter 4.7 Escorted Absences was issued in June 2009 under PSI 22/2009. Escorted absences were first introduced for lifers as they can not be considered for ROTL until they are in open conditions. Escorted absences were extended to all indeterminate sentences with the introduction of the indeterminate sentence of imprisonment for public protection (IPP/DPP).

Application

1.6This Instruction introduces the new policy in the management of all Indeterminate Sentence Prisoners (ISPs). All staff who manage prisoners serving an indeterminate sentence must read this chapter.

Mandatory actions

1.7Governors, Directors of Contracted Prisons and Chief Executives of Probation Trusts must ensure all appropriate staff within their establishment/Region are aware of the contents of this instruction.

1.8PSO 4700 as held on the Prison Service Intranet, EPIC and internet website will be amended. Governors, Directors of Contracted Prisons and Chief Executives of Probation trusts must ensure all locally held hard copies are amended as instructed.

Resource Impact

1.9Resource implications include the removal of the need for lifers to progress through ‘lifer stage’ prisons, leading to a cost saving. However, the initial risk assessment process must be completed within 16 weeks of sentence, which may lead to an increase in costs at local level due to the need to supply any extra assessments identified by OASys (see 2.5 and 2.6 below). As all ISPs will be initially categorised by use of the revised ICA1 male/ICA 3 female, more spaces in Cat C /female second stage prisons may be required.

1.10The precise resource implications of this policy will vary between Regions, as the policy gives Directors of Offender Management (DOMs) discretion to determine the best way to manage ISPs in their Regions, subject to meeting the core principles of the policy. As such, DOMs must stay within the national policy framework, taking into consideration their region’s ISP population, the establishments they have at their disposal and their available resources.

2.Operational instructions

2.1Some of the main changes to policy are highlighted below, along with the relating chapter 4 paragraph number.

2.2The fixed ‘lifer stages’, which adult lifers were required to progress through, are now removed. The terms ‘First stage’ and ‘Second stage’ now only apply to the female estate security categorisation names. 4.1.2

2.3The revised ICA1 (male) and ICA3 (female) will be used for both Lifers and IPPs to determine their initial categorisation. Re-categorisation thereafter will be at establishment level, based upon SPR reports and linked to the assessed level of serious harm they pose to the public. 4.2.4, 4.1.2

Revised ICA1 and ICA3 forms are attached for guidance and temporary use. These will be formally issued under a separate instruction by Security Policy Group shortly. Once issued, Governors/Directors must ensure the formal forms are used as they may differ slightly from the attached forms.

2.4DOMs will have more discretion to manage the ISPs in their Region. Adult prisons must not have allocation criteria which exclude ISPs or limit the maximum numbers of ISPs it will hold, except where such criteria are exceptionally authorised by the DOM (Director of High Security for dispersal prisons) 4.1.4

2.5For all ISP, regardless of tariff, the initial sentence plan meeting must be held within 16 weeks of sentence. 4.3.3

2.6Where further assessments are required to identify risk, these must be completed and a further sentence planning meeting held within 26 weeks of the initial sentence plan meeting. 4.3.4

2.7The first sequenced intervention (or intervention assessment) should be started once the above risk assessments are completed. 4.3.3, 4.3.4, 4.3.11

2.8An ISP’s sentence plan targets will identify the risks to be reduced, rather than which interventions must be undertaken, to assist the prisoner to identify and reduce the risk of serious harm they pose to the public. 4.3.9

2.9Receiving establishments must not request a ‘local’ pre-transfer form to be completed. 4.9.9

2.10Section 4.7 has been updated to:

Give all staff better clarification and guidance in the risk assessment process required,

include adjusted eligibility criteria for those ISP who are recalled to prison

clarify the position of those held in the Juvenile estate

clarify the position of Prison Custody Officers and supervising escorted absences

give examples to Governors/Directors of when exceptional circumstances might be considered.

2.11Governors/Directors will need to take in to account the individual case of those few recalled ISP who may be suddenly disadvantaged by the introduction of the minimum time in custody following recall. Guidance is offered at 4.7.34 and 4.7.35.

6CONTACT POINT

6.1Any questions arising from this PSI should be directed to:

Tony Macgregor in the NOMS Public Protection and Mental Health Group.

Signed

Ian Poree

Director of Service Development

ICA1: INITIAL CATEGORISATION OF ADULT MALE PRISONERS

PART 1

ALLOCATING ESTABLISHMENT HMP:
SURNAME / FORENAME
PRISON NO. / NOMS NO.
DATE OF BIRTH / AGE
NATIONALITY / ETHNIC GROUP
ADDRESS
CURRENT OFFENCE(S)
DATE SENTENCED / SENTENCE LENGTH
HDCED / ECL / ARD / CRD / PED / NPD / ISP Tariff end date / LED / SED

Initial categorisation must not proceed without reference to the following essentialdocuments

Date requested / Date Received
Previous Convictions (if any)
Details of current offence
Current custodial record
Previous record (if available)
Prisoner’s security file (F2058)
Public Protection info (MAPPA) (if available)
PER form
OASys (if opened prior to sentence)
Request for Information form from UKBA

Please confirm that all essential documents have been referred to and list any other

documents referred to as part of this assessment procedure

PART 2: PROVISIONAL CATEGORISATION : ALGORITHM

Section A

• If determinate sentence - current sentence of 10 years or over
• If indeterminate sentence – a tariff over 5 years

• Prisoner was Category A during previous sentence

• Current/Previous terrorist offences
• Prisoner has been treated as provisional Category A whilst on remand.

Section B

• Previous sentence of 10 years or over
• Current/Previous escape from closed prison, police custody (other than resisting arrest), or escort
• Current or previous serious offence involving:

Violence

threat to life

firearms

sex

arson

drugs

robbery

(NB: Although one or more offences may be ticked here all are within the same bullet point and equate to one tick)

Section C

• Previous sentence of 12 months or more for offence of:

violence

threat of violence

arson

sex

drug dealing or importation

• Current sentence of 12 months or more for offence of:

violence

threat of violence

arson

sex

drug dealing or importation

• Within past 3 years:

abscond

failure to surrender

breach of bail

HDC or ROTL failure

• Outstanding:

Confiscation Order

Further charges

• Serious Crime Prevention Order imposed
  

PART 3: ASSESSMENT

Are there any circumstances which indicate that the prisoner should be placed in a higher security category than that indicated by the algorithm. i.e: security information, significant control problem, circumstances of offence, pattern of offending, identified as Persistent or Prolific Offender (PPO) or facing further charges of a serious nature, intelligence indicating involvement in ongoing serious criminality

Yes / No
If Yes, please give details:

Are there any circumstances which indicate that the prisoner should be placed in a lower security category than that indicated by the algorithm. i.e: previous sentence successfully completed in an open prison, minor offences in section C committed many years ago

Yes / No
If Yes, please give details

RECOMMENDED SECURITY CATEGORY

Name / Signature / Grade / Date

PART 4 : ALLOCATION

CAT C CONTROL COMPATIBILITY RATING - See PSO 1810 Maintaining Order in Prisons

If the prisoner’s security category is C is he:

Under 25
Charged with robbery/burglary
Serving less than 4 years

No of boxes ticked Score 0 1 2 3

PUBLIC PROTECTION ISSUES

Public Protection Manual

Identified as subject to MAPPA / Yes/No
Does Chapter 2 Section 2 Child Contact apply? / Yes/No
Does Chapter 2 Section 4 Persons posing a risk to children apply
Identified as potential risk to children
Identified as continued risk to children / Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
Does Chapter 6 Harassment Procedures / Yes / No

PSO 4400

Does Chapter 4, Prisoner’s use of telephone apply / Yes / No
If any of the above public protection issues apply, give details :

OTHER

Is there any information about the following issues which might impact on the prisoner’s allocation or provide useful information about the required future management of the prisoner:

Drug/alcohol or other dependency / Needs relating to disability
Control issues, including GOOD / Identified educational/training needs
Danger to staff/ other prisoners/other persons / Identified resettlement needs
Suitability for allocation to non cellular accommodation / Identified as Persistent & Prolific Offender (PPO)
At risk of self-harm, suicide / Priority intervention identified by OASys
Vulnerable prisoner / Language problems
Identified offending behaviour needs / Domestic/family issues /primary carer
Indeterminate sentence prisoner (ISP) / Victim issues
MAPPA (consider whether should apply) / Other

Please give details:

Other relevant information:

HEALTHCARE

Level of healthcare required:

1 2 3 4

Any specific healthcare issues to record
RECOMMENDED ALLOCATION HMP:
Name / Signature / Grade / Date

PART 5 : DECISION OF CATEGORISATION & ALLOCATION

CONFIRMATION OF CATEGORISATION DECISION

I agree/disagree with the recommendation of security category. Please give reasons:

CONFIRMATION OF ALLOCATION DECISION

I agree/disagree with the recommendation of allocation. Please give reasons:
Name / Signature / Grade / Date
Name and address of supervising offender manager

ICA3: INITIAL CATEGORISATION AND ALLOCATION OF WOMEN PRISONERS

Part 1

ALLOCATING ESTABLISHMENT HMP

SURNAME / FORENAME
PRISON NUMBER / NOMS NUMBER
DATE OF BIRTH / AGE
NATIONALITY / ETHNIC GROUP
ADDRESS

CURRENT OFFENCE(S)

DATE SENTENCED SENTENCE LENGTH

HDCED / ECL / ARD / CRD / PED / NPD / ISP Tariff end date / LED / SED

Initial categorisation must not proceed without reference to the following essential documents:

Date requested / Date Received
Previous Convictions (if any)
Details of current offence
Current custodial record
Previous record (if available)
Prisoner’s security file (F2058)
Public Protection information (MAPPA) (if available)
PER form
OASys (if opened prior to sentence)
Request for information form from UK
Border Agency (UKBA)

Please confirm that all essential documents have been referred to and list any other documents referred to as part of this assessment procedure

PART 2

SECURITY CATEGORY

The following risk assessment is for those prisoners who have not been categorised to either Category A or Restricted Status

All prisoners serving a life sentence or public protection sentence must be allocated to closed prison

All other prisoners to whom this form applies must be regarded as suitable for open conditions unless any of the following criteria applies:

• Current sentence of 3 years or more
• Prisoner has been treated as a potential/provisional category A whilst on remand
• Current or previous terrorist (or terrorist related) offences
• Previous escape from closed prison, police custody (except arrest or post-arrest) or escort
• Significant history of serious offending
• Serious criminal association
• Further charges outstanding (other than those of a minor nature)
• Previous sentence of 7 years or more (from which the prisoner was released within the last 5 years)
• The prisoner is diagnosed, or is suspected as suffering from, serious mental health problems
• There is reasonable concern regarding risk of abscond
• Previous breaches/failures to surrender
• There are victim issues or issues of public confidence that would indicate that open conditions are inappropriate
• The prisoner is currently subject to MAPPA level 2 or 3 management. Serious consideration must be given to the individual circumstances, to determine whether these can be managed in open conditions.
• An OASys risk of harm level which cannot be reasonably managed in open conditions
• The prisoner has been identified as a priority or a prolific offender (PPO)
• A Serious Crime Prevention Order is imposed

If any of the above criteria applies the prisoner must have an initial allocation to a closed prison unless the specific individual circumstances of her offending suggest that open conditions may still be appropriate. If this is the case then a full explanation of the circumstances must be given

provisional security category / closed open

PART 3 ALLOCATION

Please assess the following issues and comment on whether these impact on the category indicated or on the prisoner’s suitability for any particular allocation

PUBLIC PROTECTION ISSUES

Public Protection Manual

Identified as subject to MAPPA / Yes/No
Does Chapter 2 Section 2 Child Contact apply? / Yes / No
Does Chapter 2 Section 4 Persons posing a risk to children apply
Identified as potential risk to children
Identified as continued risk to children / Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
Does,Chapter 6 Harassment Procedures apply / Yes / No

PSO 4400

Does Chapter 4, Prisoner’s use of telephone apply

/

Yes/ No

If any of the above public protection issues apply give details

OTHER ISSUES

Is there any information about the following issues which might impact on the prisoner’s allocation or provide useful information about the required future management of the prisoner:

Drug/alcohol or other dependency / Needs relating to disability
Control issues, including GOOD / Identified educational/training needs
Danger to staff/ other prisoners/other persons / Identified resettlement needs
Suitability for allocation to non cellular accommodation / Language problems
At risk of self-harm, suicide / Priority intervention identified by OASys
Vulnerable prisoner / Identified as Persistent and Prolific Offender (PPO)
Identified offending behaviour needs / Domestic/family issues
Indeterminate sentence prisoner / Primary carer
Victim issues / MAPPA (consider if this should apply)

If yes to any of the above, please give details

Is the prisoner known to be pregnant? Yes No
If yes, what is her expected date of delivery?

HEALTHCARE

Level of healthcare required:

1 2 3 4

Any specific healthcare issues to record

Home Address
Details of dependants
Is the prisoner the sole carer of dependant children? Yes No
Dates of birth?
Who is currently caring for children?
Name Address
Is there contact with the family
Visits Letters Telephone None
Who is likely to be the main visitor(s)?
Where do they live?
Name and address of supervising offender manager

PART 4 : RECOMMENDATION AND DECISION

In some cases, although neither the risk assessment nor the suitability assessment indicates that closed conditions are required, it may nonetheless be in the prisoner’s own interest to be allocated to a closed prison. If this is the case, please specify why this is so and whether the situation should be reviewed sooner than the next routine review.

In some cases, the need for closed conditions will be temporary. For example the prisoner may need to stay in the local prison to arrange childcare, or to complete detoxification, but would otherwise be suitable for open conditions. In such circumstances, the prisoner’s recommended security category should be to open conditions, but allocation delayed until the issue is resolved. If this is the case please give details of the circumstances that preclude immediate allocation to open and indicate when these are likely to be resolved.

Please consult the Women’s Prisons Allocation Strategy document before recommending allocation

RECOMMENDATION

Recommended Category

Closed Open

Recommended Allocation HMP ______

Name Signature Grade Date

CONFIRMATION OF CATEGORY & ALLOCATION

I agree/disagree with the above recommendation for the following reasons

Name Signature Grade Date

DATE PRISONER ALLOCATED
Name Signature Grade Date

PSI 36-2010/PI 11-2010Issue date 02/07/2010

PSO 4700Replacement chapter 4 page 1