Service Performance: Output Class 1- Information Services

Output Performance for the Year Ended 30 June 2005

This output class covers the provision of information as requested by the courts and the New Zealand Parole Board to inform their respective decision-making processes. It includes the provision of psychological reports, remand pre-sentence reports (level 2 assessment reports), reparation reports, same-day reports (level 1 assessment reports), home detention reports and assessments, oral information reports, home leave and pre-release reports for prisoners, and information for extended supervision orders.6 Special purpose reports and advice are prepared for other relevant entities. Also included is the time Probation Officers spend attending court hearings.

OUTPUT CLASS STATEMENT: INFORMATION SERVICES
For the Year Ended 30 June 2005

OUTPUT 1.1 Sentencing Information and Advice to Courts

This output entails the preparation of reports (relating to remand pre-sentence [level 2], reparation including emotional harm, same-day [level 1], special purpose and oral information reports) that provide the sentencing judge with information on offenders, to assist with the sentencing process. Also included is the time a Probation Officer spends attending court. This service includes attendance at court, prosecutions, and attendance at sentencing resulting from Community Probation Service-initiated proceedings.

Comments
The number of reports to courts was at the expected level, although the composition of the reports completed was different than that anticipated.

Activity in this output is driven by demand from the courts, and throughout the year a much higher than expected level of activity involving Community Probation Service staff time in court was evident, which was partially attributable to the impact of the appointment of additional judges. This increase in activity is reflected in the delivery of an additional 13 percent of hours for attendance at courts.

The number of written complaints received from judges was better than the standard, reflecting the greater focus by managers on formalising contact with the judiciary, with all complaints significantly resolved.

OUTPUT 1.2 Parole Information and Advice to the New Zealand Parole Board

This output entails the preparation of pre-release reports that provide information to the New Zealand Parole Board about a prisoner’s proposed residence and work, and the potential programmes that the prisoner should undertake on release from prison. Included is the time spent investigating release options and reporting on those and appropriate conditions.

Comment
Activity in this output is driven by demand from the New Zealand Parole Board, within the context of the Sentencing Act 2002 and the Parole Act 2002. The number of pre-release reports prepared was marginally below planned levels.

Although all reports met the quality standard, the timeliness standard was below planned levels, reflecting some definition and recording process issues in one Public Prisons Service region. These processes are being reviewed to ensure consistency across all the Public Prisons Service regions.

OUTPUT 1.3 Home Leave Reports

This output entails the provision of home leave reports, including investigating the suitability of the sponsor and residence. The Public Prisons Service has the delegated authority to consider and approve home leave proposals. Community reaction to the planned home leave and the suitability of the proposed accommodation by a prisoner is also assessed.

Comment
Activity in this output is driven by demand from the Public Prisons Service, within the context of the Sentencing Act 2002 and the Parole Act 2002. On a national level, the impact on resources as a result of the reduction in the number of reports delivered was small.

OUTPUT 1.4 Home Detention Assessments to the New Zealand Parole Board

This output entails the preparation of reports and assessments to the New Zealand Parole Board. The reports are to meet the application criteria including an assessment of the rehabilitative needs of the offender and his or her suitability to serve their sentence under home detention.

Comment
The number of home detention specialist reports completed, although below planned levels, has remained relatively consistent over the financial year. Report numbers have decreased across all Community Probation Service areas, reflecting the introduction of the Sentencing Amendment Act 2004, which tightened the criteria under which offenders could be granted leave to apply for home detention. The number of new starts on home detention was also significantly below planned levels (28 percent).

Although 10 percent of reports were not provided within two weeks of the request, many of these reports were provided in time for the application to be heard. The measure has now been amended for the 2005/06 financial year, to ensure a better alignment with the actual requirements of the New Zealand Parole Board.

OUTPUT 1.5 Psychological Service Information and Advice to Courts and the New Zealand Parole Board

This output entails the preparation of reports that provide the sentencing judge with information on offenders and also entails the assessment, analysis and reporting on offenders who are to appear before the New Zealand Parole Board.

Comment
The high volume of reports to the New Zealand Parole Board continued throughout the year, with the year-end result being 65 percent in excess of the adjusted planned levels. Activity in this output is driven by demand from the New Zealand Parole Board, within the context of its business rules and the provisions of Section 107 of the Parole Act 2002. It is anticipated that these high volumes will continue in the 2005/06 financial year and additional resources have been made available to enable this level of production to be maintained.

The number of psychological reports to courts is demand driven, with the over delivery reflecting the backlog of extended supervision assessments for offenders released from prison since November 2003. Although the actual quantum of over production is significant at 54 percent, it has had a relatively low fiscal impact.

OUTPUT 1.6 Information Services for Extended Supervision Orders2

This output entails the provision of information for courts and the New Zealand Parole Board in respect of extended supervision orders. The output includes Psychological Service health assessments of offenders for whom an order may be sought, applications to courts for the orders and application to the New Zealand Parole Board to set conditions for the orders.

Comment
This is a new output, following the implementation of the Parole (Extended Supervision) Amendment Act 2004, which provides for the intensive monitoring of child-sex offenders for up to 10 years following release from prison. There was, therefore, no previous actual information available to inform the establishment of the quantity standards, which were based on initial estimates of volumes.

The lower than planned volume of health assessments was, in part, due to the inability to locate some transitional offenders (those already in the community), on whom there was insufficient recorded information to enable an assessment to be made without an interview being held. This will not be an issue in the future, as offenders will be in prison when assessed.

Applications for extended supervision orders were made for a lower than planned proportion of those assessed. It is not yet clear whether this will be an ongoing pattern, or whether it is a result of the transitional offenders assessed in the first year. This will be monitored.

The low number of applications to the New Zealand Parole Board is largely the result of the slower than anticipated process of court hearings in respect of these orders. Of the 64 applications made to the courts, only 30 decisions had been made by 30 June 2005. The high number of reports not provided to the New Zealand Parole Board within deadlines was the result of ‘teething issues’ with the procedures used to prepare the reports. These have now been addressed and a high level of compliance is expected in 2005/06.

1  Ministerial approval was received to revise this performance standard from 156.

2  Ministerial approval was received for the establishment of this new output.

Back to top^