Beacon Approach drives local criminal justice reform

10 Sep 2007

The National Criminal Justice Board has a vision of the Local Criminal Justice Boards (LCJB) as the leaders of change in the CJS, driving criminal justice reform in their respective areas to achieve the greatest improvements in local services. The Beacon Approach, currently being developed with ten LCJBs, is a mechanism for delivering this vision.

The current situation
LCJBs are increasingly being asked to implement various reform projects locally by the National Criminal Justice Board. They accommodate this work alongside their own local change agendas, best matching available resources to meet a wide range of delivery demands.

What we want the future to look like
In the future, we want the emphasis to be on LCJBs driving criminal justice change and reform in their area to deliver improved local performance.

Why the Beacon Approach?
The Beacon Approach gives LCJBs:

  • an innovative model for analysing issues in their local criminal justice processes and identifying new ways to enhance across-the-board performance
  • the opportunity to develop the skills base to adopt this approach
  • a holistic approach to implementing priority national criminal justice reform and local change, maximising everyone's contribution in a joined-up way.


What is it?
The Beacon Approach is a new way of managing the criminal justice reform programme nationally and of delivering sustainable improvements locally. OCJR will work initially with 10 LCJBs to develop the Beacon Approach.

These LCJBs will implement a Core Programme of national reform projects, such as magistrates' courts improvements and conditional cautioning, integrated with local performance improvements identified by analysing the key areas in their local criminal justice processes that would benefit most from innovation and change.

How will it work?
Nationally, the Office for Criminal Justice Reform (OCJR) will analyse the inputs, business changes, costs, risks and benefits of the Core Programme of reform projects to give a clear statement of the benefits it will deliver.

Locally, Beacon LCJBs will analyse their criminal justice processes to identify their priorities for local process improvement. LCJBs will then develop a reform plan, combining the national Core Programme of reform projects and any local priorities for process change. The Beacon LCJBs will receive support and training from OCJR to develop their capability to manage and deliver their local reform plan.

What will it deliver?
LCJBs with a greater capability to identify, manage and implement change and reform so that communities benefit from an improving local CJS

  • A stronger relationship between OCJR and LCJBs based on an agreed reform agenda within a planned, predictable cycle
  • Tangible improvements in efficiency and effectiveness in Beacon LCJBs, based on their own analysis of local priorities
  • An assessment of the impact of a Core Programme of reform projects, which we will use to extrapolate potential national impacts.

Who are the Beacon LCJBs?

  • Cheshire
  • Cumbria
  • Greater Manchester
  • Lancashire
  • Leicestershire
  • London
  • Merseyside
  • Staffordshire
  • Suffolk
  • Thames Valley


Proposed Timing
Individual milestones will be agreed with each Beacon LCJB based on their circumstances. These will broadly fit these timescales:

July - Sept 2007: Analysis by Beacon LCJBs of their local criminal justice processes

Sept - Nov 2007: Development of local reform programmes and implementation plans by Beacon LCJBs

November onwards: Delivery of Local Implementation Plans

by March 2008: Delivery of Core Programme in Beacon sites

March 2008: Assessment of the Beacon Approach and report to NCJB

Who to contact for further information

Aileen Almond or Andrew Waldren

DirectGov