Agenda item

(To receive a report by Clare Newborn, Community Safety Manager, which provides information on the delivery of Assisting Rehabilitation through Collaboration (ARC) and how it is reducing offending by the most prolific offenders in Lincolnshire through the use of a multi-agency approach)

Consideration was given to a report by the Executive Director of Finance and Public Protection which provided information on the delivery of Assisting Rehabilitation through Collaboration (ARC) and how it was reducing offending by the most prolific offenders in Lincolnshire through the use of a multi-agency approach.

Sara Barry (Safer Communities Manager) introduced Clare Newborn to the Committee and explained that Clare had been appointed to a new role as Community Safety Manager and was on secondment from the Youth Offending Service (YOS) to coordinate and drive forward the ARC Project. 

The Chairman welcomed Clare to the meeting and invited her to give a presentation on the project.  The presentation covered the following areas:-

·       Drivers for Change;

·       The Evidence Base;

·       ARC – a refreshed IOM 'brand';

·       ARC Client A (example);

·       ARC Client B (example);

·       ARC – a stronger multi-disciplinary partnership to support the team;

·       Partner agencies – engagement with a range of partners;

·       Synergies not silos;

·       Early signs of success; and

·       ARC Contact Details.

Despite having crime rates of 49.2 crimes per 1000 population, which was significantly lower than the national average of 70.0 crimes per 1000 population, Lincolnshire had a disproportionately high proportion of crime committed by a small number of prolific offenders.  It was acknowledged that outcomes for these offenders were generally poor with many sentenced to short term prison sentences where the current reoffending rates suggested that nearly two thirds would reoffend within 12 months of their release.

It was recognised that these offenders had a significant social impact on communities and impart an unacceptable physical, emotional and financial impact upon victims as well as a substantial resource burden upon agencies both within and outside criminal justice.

Assisting Rehabilitation through Collaboration (ARC) was launched in Lincolnshire and established clear differences against conventional offender management, focussing on the most prolific offenders in the county regardless of age, gender, geography or types of crime committed.

At present ARC were working with 82 individuals ranging in age from 13 to 60 years old (the average age was 32 years old), 14% of whom were female.  This cohort presented multiple complex needs with 60% either previously or currently known to Children's Services and 68% known to Mental Health Services.

The scheme sought to align with existing programmes and initiatives with the aim of reducing duplication and to ensure synchronised service delivery.  The County Council was also host to ACTion Lincs, another multi-disciplinary team whose focus was to address entrenched rough sleeping within the county.  Both ARC and ACTion Lincs would work in close collaboration to support and address the complex needs presented.

It was also intended to bring the Blue Light Project under the remit of ARC with Support Workers working with treatment-resistant drinkers and the associated issues of anti-social behaviour.

One of the offending profiles of the ARC cohort related to domestic abuse, anti-social behaviour and serious sexual/violent offences which had resulted in ARC also working collaboratively with MAPPA, MARAC, SMARAC and ASBRAC to seek support and bolster the efforts of others.

Performance data was produced for the Reducing Offending Strategic Management Board on a quarterly basis.  The performance report captured the rate and severity of offending of a cohort of 65 individuals six months after their adoption into the ARC scheme.  It was reported that the rate of offending had reduced by 73.5% from 268 offences to 71 offences.  The crime severity score had also reduced by 74.7% from 15,491 to 3,917 seeing a reduction in associate costs by 58.8% from £341,342.89 to £140,505.87.

The Committee noted that, since its launch in March 2016, over 130 individuals had benefitted from a period of intensive support from ARC and performance reports continued to evidence the success of the scheme.

An invitation was extended to Members to visit the teams in their respective areas to see the work being carried out.

At 11.25am, Councillor M A Whittington left the meeting and did not return.

During discussion, the following points were noted:-

·       The Committee was complimentary about the report which provided relevant information;

·       The work with clients was time limited to nine months but this timescale was set to encourage a conversation with the cohort should they still be on the scheme at that point.  Should the primary objectives of their adoption onto the scheme be achieved, a multi-agency discussion would take place regarding discharge;

·       Due to individual exit plans, some clients may be on the scheme for less than the nine months but others may have to stay on the scheme longer.  Weekly meetings were held and the progress was constantly reviewed so if it was necessary to stay on the scheme longer than nine months there would be a good reason for doing so;

·       It was reported that there was only a small number of homeless people on the scheme and it had been identified by the Social Impact Bomb Team (ACTion Lincs) that over 50% of the same names featured on each cohort.  It was noted, however, that they were not just homeless but also rough sleepers, 'sofa surfers' or those in supported housing who struggled to maintain accommodation.  There was also good support for the scheme by accommodation providers, including District Councils;

·       Although Lincolnshire County Council gave support to the team, the primary contribution was that office accommodation had been provided at Myle Cross.  Lincolnshire Police also paid for some of the analytical costs of the project;

·       Due to the under 18 cohort, it was confirmed that the team was required to spend a considerable amount of time on safeguarding issues as a result of the risks of social media;

·       Specific services to support clients with mental health issues had been implemented alongside the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), who now had a member of staff from Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LPFT) on secondment to the PCC office in order to better understand the challenges;

At 11.37am, Councillor C R Oxby re-entered the meeting.

·       The Committee was advised that mental health issues could be a common feature with offenders but that this was not necessarily the cause of their behaviour.  It would be inappropriate to assume that the two were linked as some people who suffer with mental health may never commit a crime;

·       Although the scheme was supported, one member of the Committee mentioned the victims of the crimes committed by these clients and asked what would happen should they reoffend.  It was explained that this cohort would receive short term sentences which was usually enough to encourage them to successfully complete the scheme.  Long term implications for reoffenders would be the potential loss of their accommodation;

At this point of the proceedings, Councillor B Adams asked the Committee to note that both of his daughters work in this particular field in different parts of the country.

·       There was concern that prisons provided the minimum service to inmates in relation to rehabilitation which was thought to be letting the system down;

·       It was explained that this initiative was not a single agency project and therefore the issues faces were not necessarily in relation to resources.  The Local Authority had taken a leadership role to bring all relevant agencies together to drive the partnership work;

·       Following the appointment of a new Governor at Lincoln Prison, work was ongoing to develop a stronger relationship with the prison;

·       Lincolnshire Police had indicated that they would like to commit more resource to this scheme as the evidence suggested that this was a successful policing strategy;

·       Further consideration was to be given to the supporting partners and the level of experience required to support and help individuals;

·       Although the hub for this scheme was based at Myle Cross in Lincoln, it was confirmed that there was also a staff group based in the east of the county.  However, a lot of the work was undertaken in the home of the individual.

RESOLVED

          That the progress made by the ARC scheme to reduce offending throughout the county be noted.