WELCOME FROM THE BOARD CHAIRMAN
Welcome to the Cumbria Criminal Justice Board website. I hope that you will find it both interesting and informative.
Milestones
This year sees the Board reach a milestone in terms of its development. Local Criminal Justice Boards were officially set up across England & Wales in April 2003 with the task of helping to deliver the government's national criminal justice strategy and implementing local performance improvements. The strategic focus of the designated role and the chief officer status of the personnel involved from the member agencies, gave the new Board a highly significant position in the drive to reduce crime and deliver justice in our local area. I think that we all knew at the time of its formation that the effectiveness of the Board would depend fundamentally on the ability of the different agencies to work together in genuine partnership, putting the needs of the whole system ahead of individual priorities. So, as we reach our fifth anniversary, it is an appropriate point at which to take stock of what has been achieved and what difference has been made.
In 2003, the government also launched its five-year national criminal justice strategy, called 'Cutting Crime, Delivering Justice'. This document contained five 'visions' for 2008:
- The public will have confidence that the criminal justice system is effective and that it serves all communities fairly;
- Victims and witnesses will receive a consistent high standard of service from all criminal justice agencies;
- We will bring more offences to justice through a more modern and efficient justice process;
- Rigorous enforcement will revolutionise compliance with sentences and orders of the court;
- Criminal justice will be a joined up, modern and well-run service, and an excellent place to work for people from all backgrounds.
These visions were supported by a wide range of more specific short term aims and performance targets, which evolved further over the life of the strategy.
In broad terms, over the last five years, I am pleased to report that we have met or exceeded the vast majority of the objectives and targets that have been set. Details of a number of these have been covered in our Annual Review & Prospectus documents and can be found on this website. However, I would like to pick out some of the highlights:
- Bringing more offences to justice – from just over 10,000 at the end of 2001/2002 to just over 14,000 currently;
- Improving our Sanction Detection Rate – at 36% (December 2007) now one of the best in the country;
- Reducing the proportion of ineffective trials at Crown Court from nearly 25% in 2002 to 11% by September 2007;
- Faster enforcement of community penalty breaches;
- Reducing the number of outstanding Fail to Appear Warrants from 187 in March 2005 to 97 at December 2007;
- Dealing with persistent young offenders more quickly;
- Taking robust action under the Proceeds of Crime Act and recovering much greater sums of illegally obtained funds from criminals – almost £1.2m so far during the year 2007/2008 (latest data at November 2007);
- Successfully setting up the dedicated Witness Care Unit in Kendal.
Looking ahead
Of course, we now have a new government strategy to work to through until 2011. This carries on some of the priorities from 2003-2008 whilst also adding a focus on more effective community engagement. Our own draft Business Plan for 2008-2011 reflects the new strategy and interprets it for the Cumbria context. I am confident that at the end of the term of the new strategy and business plan, we will have made even greater progress towards making Cumbria a safe, strong and fair community in which to live.
Over the last nine months or so, Cumbria has been one of ten areas taking part in a significant national pilot exercise designed to give greater autonomy and flexibility to Criminal Justice Boards in delivering both central government and locally determined priorities. Called the 'Beacon Approach', the pilot is about the further development of partnership working and the use of new management and business tools to help identify mutual priorities and to ensure that adequate local resources are applied to address those priorities. The pilot has been successful and the approach is to be rolled out to all the remaining 32 areas over the next couple of years. We are proud that Cumbria has again been at the forefront of positive change.
Finally, in closing, I would like to add a note of thanks to the previous Chairman of the Board, Mike Maiden. Mike has very recently been appointed to the West Midlands Probation Service as its Chief Officer, having filled a similar role in Cumbria during the last few years. We will all miss his knowledge, commitment and enthusiasm for the job and for the work of the Board, but we offer him our sincere congratulations and good wishes for the future. The Board will continue to pursue his desire for the criminal justice system to offer the best possible service to the people of our area.
Neil Rhodes
Chairman
Cumbria Criminal Justice Board
May 2008
PO Box 152
Penrith
Cumbria
CA10 2YE
E-mail address: ccjbenquiries@cumbria.police.uk