News

CEP in cooperation with the Croatian Ministry of Justice kindly invites all probation professionals and practitioners to participate in the autumn conference in Dubrovnik that will cover the topics that have recently been on the agenda of probation organizations across Europe. Probation organisations have been in a different phase of development and the specifics that probation officers must deal with vary from country to country. The core business – providing guidance, assistance, support and motivation to the client, protecting society and victims from any harm – remains the same. Variety of other specifics the probation officers deal with the clients on a daily basis differs. Europe is large and issues addressed in South Europe do not necessarily have to be the same as the ones in North, Central and Eastern Europe at certain moment.

However, what probation organisations across Europe have in common is the strong commitment to human rights and ethics, fairness and equity for all in criminal justice. These are at the forefront of the probation work and human being is a centre point. The nature of probation work is based on strong compliance with human rights as probation officers work with those excluded from the society or those living at the margins of society. It is something that is passed from one generation to another, sometimes even unintentionally. Finding your place in society is essential to any individual across the world. Finding your place in society as a convicted person, overcoming the barriers that stand between you from living a decent life and you living your life without offending is a key to successful reintegration and rehabilitation.

Key questions we would like to raise at the conference are:

1. Human rights, ethics and its reflection in probation work
2. Gender stereotypes in probation: fair chances and equal opportunities
3. Psychological support in probation
4. Diversity management: developing multicultural competencies in probation

Programme

The programme can be downloaded here.
 

Thursday, November 24th 2022

Key Speakers Include:

Sheldon Thomas, CEO of Gangsline

Lisa Hackett, Chief Social Worker at Frontline

Emma Soutar, Training Officer in child exploitation at the Centre for Child Protection, University of Kent

Dawn Dines, CEO & Founder of SOS Global

Event Details Website Register to Attend

According to the Crime Survey for England & Wales (CSEW), knife-enabled crime recorded by the police increased by over 10% to 49,027 offences in the year ending March 2022. Whilst there was a temporary decrease in knife crime during the Covid-19 pandemic, this most recent data continues a trend dating back to 2013 of a rising number of knife-related offences.

The government have taken serval steps to attempt to address the issue of knife crime. Since 2018, this has included a public health approach, funding projects that aim to divert young people away from crime. This strategy has been inspired by work done by the Scottish government since the mid-2000s, and has seen the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) try to tackle the root causes of violence through co-ordinated multi-agency projects. Between 2018 and 2019, the government introduced funding for a number of schemes including 35 million to fund 18 VRUs in English and Welsh police forces and £200 million over ten-years to the Youth Endowment Fund. This has had implications not just for the police but for a range of front-line agencies including local authorities and charities as it places a greater emphasis on different services working together to identify what is causing individuals to become violent.

Beyond this public health approach, the government have also introduced Knife Crime Prevention Orders (KCPOs). This was set out in the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 and are civil court orders that can be imposed on people aged 12 and over whom police “have reason to believe are carrying knives or are habitual knife carriers, or those who have been previously convicted of a knife-related offence.” Conditions of KCPOs can include curfews, social media use restrictions, travel restrictions and exploit bans form carrying a knife. Also positive requirements such as attendance on educational courses, sports club referrals, relationship counselling, anger management, mentoring and during rehabilitation. The recent Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 further introduces new legal duties on local public services to work together in “Serious Violence Partnerships” to tackle serious violence. It also requires police, local authorities and Clinical Commissioning Groups (public health boards in Wales) to conduct Offensive Weapon Homicide Reviews when an adult’s death involves the use of an offensive weapon.

The government’s strategy over the last four year has become multi-disciplinary and increasingly reliant on the collaboration of a range of government and frontline services. It has also received significant cross-party consensus supporting early intervention projects and treating knife crime as a public health problem. The Local Government Association says early council work to implement a public health approach to violence has shown “signs of promise.” College of Policing research has found that “public health approaches” have a “positive impact” on knife crime.

However, there has been some scepticism over how the Government has implemented this approach. The Home Affairs Select Committee argued in July 2019 that the Government needs to give more thought to “what sustained and coherent preventative measures should look like, and how to ensure that public funding is diverted towards the most effective approaches. Experts also link deprivation and lack of opportunities with offences. For example, in its 2019 report on serious youth violence, the Select Committee stated that there is “strong evidence linking deprivation and vulnerability with knife crime and serious youth violence” blaming in large part “cuts to youth services, heavily reduced police budgets, a growing number of children being excluded from school and taken into care, and a failure of statutory agencies to keep young people safe from exploitation and violence.” The All-Party parliamentary Group on Knife Crime have subsequently made serval recommendations to bolster youth services and prevent knife crime focussed on supporting youth services and better funding local authorities.
This symposium will look at how practitioners from across the police service, education, health and third sector can improve collaboration and develop early intervention strategies to tackle knife crime. It will provide delegates with a deeper understanding of the implications of government policies for all stakeholders and will share best practice in confronting knife crime.

Programme

• Explore how to develop a multi-agency approach to tackling knife crime
• Consider how to better identify and support children and young people at risk of committing a knife-related crime
• Understand the implication of the Police, Crime, Sentencing & Courts Act 2022 for local authorities, police and other stakeholders addressing knife crime
• Consider the impact that an increase in police stop and search powers will have on relationships between the public and police
• Discuss the role of drugs and county lines in exacerbating the issue of knife crime and how stakeholders should respond
• Examine whether the government’s strategy addresses the root causes of knife crime and develop an understanding of what a long-term strategy may look like
• Working with community groups and other local and regional stakeholders to prevent knife crime
• Address current gaps in policy including legislation around knife sales

To register for the briefing, please click here.

Please feel free to circulate this information on to any relevant colleagues.

According to the Crime Survey for England & Wales (CSEW), knife-enabled crime recorded by the police increased by over 10% to 49,027 offences in the year ending March 2022. Whilst there was a temporary decrease in knife crime during the Covid-19 pandemic, this most recent data continues a trend dating back to 2013 of a rising number of knife-related offences.

The government have taken serval steps to attempt to address the issue of knife crime. Since 2018, this has included a public health approach, funding projects that aim to divert young people away from crime. This strategy has been inspired by work done by the Scottish government since the mid-2000s, and has seen the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) try to tackle the root causes of violence through co-ordinated multi-agency projects. Between 2018 and 2019, the government introduced funding for a number of schemes including 35 million to fund 18 VRUs in English and Welsh police forces and £200 million over ten-years to the Youth Endowment Fund. This has had implications not just for the police but for a range of front-line agencies including local authorities and charities as it places a greater emphasis on different services working together to identify what is causing individuals to become violent.

Beyond this public health approach, the government have also introduced Knife Crime Prevention Orders (KCPOs). This was set out in the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 and are civil court orders that can be imposed on people aged 12 and over whom police “have reason to believe are carrying knives or are habitual knife carriers, or those who have been previously convicted of a knife-related offence.” Conditions of KCPOs can include curfews, social media use restrictions, travel restrictions and exploit bans form carrying a knife. Also positive requirements such as attendance on educational courses, sports club referrals, relationship counselling, anger management, mentoring and during rehabilitation. The recent Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 further introduces new legal duties on local public services to work together in “Serious Violence Partnerships” to tackle serious violence. It also requires police, local authorities and Clinical Commissioning Groups (public health boards in Wales) to conduct Offensive Weapon Homicide Reviews when an adult’s death involves the use of an offensive weapon.

The government’s strategy over the last four year has become multi-disciplinary and increasingly reliant on the collaboration of a range of government and frontline services. It has also received significant cross-party consensus supporting early intervention projects and treating knife crime as a public health problem. The Local Government Association says early council work to implement a public health approach to violence has shown “signs of promise.” College of Policing research has found that “public health approaches” have a “positive impact” on knife crime.

However, there has been some scepticism over how the Government has implemented this approach. The Home Affairs Select Committee argued in July 2019 that the Government needs to give more thought to “what sustained and coherent preventative measures should look like, and how to ensure that public funding is diverted towards the most effective approaches. Experts also link deprivation and lack of opportunities with offences. For example, in its 2019 report on serious youth violence, the Select Committee stated that there is “strong evidence linking deprivation and vulnerability with knife crime and serious youth violence” blaming in large part “cuts to youth services, heavily reduced police budgets, a growing number of children being excluded from school and taken into care, and a failure of statutory agencies to keep young people safe from exploitation and violence.” The All-Party parliamentary Group on Knife Crime have subsequently made serval recommendations to bolster youth services and prevent knife crime focussed on supporting youth services and better funding local authorities.
This symposium will look at how practitioners from across the police service, education, health and third sector can improve collaboration and develop early intervention strategies to tackle knife crime. It will provide delegates with a deeper understanding of the implications of government policies for all stakeholders and will share best practice in confronting knife crime.

Programme

• Explore how to develop a multi-agency approach to tackling knife crime
• Consider how to better identify and support children and young people at risk of committing a knife-related crime
• Understand the implication of the Police, Crime, Sentencing & Courts Act 2022 for local authorities, police and other stakeholders addressing knife crime
• Consider the impact that an increase in police stop and search powers will have on relationships between the public and police
• Discuss the role of drugs and county lines in exacerbating the issue of knife crime and how stakeholders should respond
• Examine whether the government’s strategy addresses the root causes of knife crime and develop an understanding of what a long-term strategy may look like
• Working with community groups and other local and regional stakeholders to prevent knife crime
• Address current gaps in policy including legislation around knife sales

To register for the briefing, please click here.

Please feel free to circulate this information on to any relevant colleagues.

According to the Crime Survey for England & Wales (CSEW), knife-enabled crime recorded by the police increased by over 10% to 49,027 offences in the year ending March 2022. Whilst there was a temporary decrease in knife crime during the Covid-19 pandemic, this most recent data continues a trend dating back to 2013 of a rising number of knife-related offences.

The government have taken serval steps to attempt to address the issue of knife crime. Since 2018, this has included a public health approach, funding projects that aim to divert young people away from crime. This strategy has been inspired by work done by the Scottish government since the mid-2000s, and has seen the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) try to tackle the root causes of violence through co-ordinated multi-agency projects. Between 2018 and 2019, the government introduced funding for a number of schemes including 35 million to fund 18 VRUs in English and Welsh police forces and £200 million over ten-years to the Youth Endowment Fund. This has had implications not just for the police but for a range of front-line agencies including local authorities and charities as it places a greater emphasis on different services working together to identify what is causing individuals to become violent.

Beyond this public health approach, the government have also introduced Knife Crime Prevention Orders (KCPOs). This was set out in the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 and are civil court orders that can be imposed on people aged 12 and over whom police “have reason to believe are carrying knives or are habitual knife carriers, or those who have been previously convicted of a knife-related offence.” Conditions of KCPOs can include curfews, social media use restrictions, travel restrictions and exploit bans form carrying a knife. Also positive requirements such as attendance on educational courses, sports club referrals, relationship counselling, anger management, mentoring and during rehabilitation. The recent Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 further introduces new legal duties on local public services to work together in “Serious Violence Partnerships” to tackle serious violence. It also requires police, local authorities and Clinical Commissioning Groups (public health boards in Wales) to conduct Offensive Weapon Homicide Reviews when an adult’s death involves the use of an offensive weapon.

The government’s strategy over the last four year has become multi-disciplinary and increasingly reliant on the collaboration of a range of government and frontline services. It has also received significant cross-party consensus supporting early intervention projects and treating knife crime as a public health problem. The Local Government Association says early council work to implement a public health approach to violence has shown “signs of promise.” College of Policing research has found that “public health approaches” have a “positive impact” on knife crime.

However, there has been some scepticism over how the Government has implemented this approach. The Home Affairs Select Committee argued in July 2019 that the Government needs to give more thought to “what sustained and coherent preventative measures should look like, and how to ensure that public funding is diverted towards the most effective approaches. Experts also link deprivation and lack of opportunities with offences. For example, in its 2019 report on serious youth violence, the Select Committee stated that there is “strong evidence linking deprivation and vulnerability with knife crime and serious youth violence” blaming in large part “cuts to youth services, heavily reduced police budgets, a growing number of children being excluded from school and taken into care, and a failure of statutory agencies to keep young people safe from exploitation and violence.” The All-Party parliamentary Group on Knife Crime have subsequently made serval recommendations to bolster youth services and prevent knife crime focussed on supporting youth services and better funding local authorities.
This symposium will look at how practitioners from across the police service, education, health and third sector can improve collaboration and develop early intervention strategies to tackle knife crime. It will provide delegates with a deeper understanding of the implications of government policies for all stakeholders and will share best practice in confronting knife crime.

Programme

• Explore how to develop a multi-agency approach to tackling knife crime
• Consider how to better identify and support children and young people at risk of committing a knife-related crime
• Understand the implication of the Police, Crime, Sentencing & Courts Act 2022 for local authorities, police and other stakeholders addressing knife crime
• Consider the impact that an increase in police stop and search powers will have on relationships between the public and police
• Discuss the role of drugs and county lines in exacerbating the issue of knife crime and how stakeholders should respond
• Examine whether the government’s strategy addresses the root causes of knife crime and develop an understanding of what a long-term strategy may look like
• Working with community groups and other local and regional stakeholders to prevent knife crime
• Address current gaps in policy including legislation around knife sales

To register for the briefing, please click here.

Public Policy Exchange Ltd Registered in England & Wales, № 7350384
Registered Office: 253 Grays Inn Road, London, WC1X 8QT

Thursday, October 20th 2022

Key Speakers Include:

Christine Jardine MP, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Women & Equalities

Rebecca Goshawk, Head of Partnerships and Public Affairs at Solace Women's Aid

Cyrene Siriwardhana, Legal and Policy Advisor at Surviving Economic Abuse

Sophie Ireland, Senior Policy and Public Affairs Officer at Refuge

Chris Tuck, Founder & Director of Survivors of Abuse

Isabelle Younane, Head of External Affairs at Women's Aid

Amelia Barlow, Senior Policy Advisor at the Domestic Abuse Commissioner's Office

Zainab Al-Shariff, Independent Domestic Violence Advocate at Al Hasaniya Moroccan Women's Centre

Zlakha Ahmed MBE, Founder & Chief Executive of Apna Haq (Event Chair)

Event Details Website Register to Attend

The Crime Survey of England and Wales (CSEW) indicates that one in four women in England and Wales will experience domestic violence in their lifetime and 8% will suffer domestic violence in a given year. On average, two women are killed every week in England and Wales by a current or former partner. The number of domestic abuse-related crimes recorded by police in England and Wales increased by 6% in the year ending March 2021 to 845,734. This followed further increases in recent years. A total of 1,459,663 domestic abuse-related incidents and crimes were recorded by police in the year to March 2021. In 73% of cases, the victim of domestic abuse-related crimes was female. Domestic abuse remains acutely underreported, however. CSEW data for the year ending March 2018 suggest that only 18% of women who had experienced abuse from a partner in the 12-month period reported the abuse to the police.

The Domestic Abuse Act 2021, which gained royal assent in April 2021, aims to make changes to better protect survivors of domestic abuse and strengthen measures to address the behaviour of perpetrators. The Act creates a legal definition of domestic abuse to provide clarity that domestic abuse can be financial, verbal and emotional as well as physical and sexual and that critically it is about patterns of abuse over time. Furthermore, children are explicitly recognised as victims if they witness abuse. Measures in the Act also include the introduction of new Domestic Abuse Protection Notices and Domestic Abuse Protection Orders to further protect victims and place restrictions on the actions of offenders. The Act also created the position of Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England and Wales, with statutory powers to help drive change nationally.

In January 2021, the UK government also announced it had partnered with UK pharmacies to launch the ‘Ask for ANI scheme’ (Action Needed Immediately) to help survivors. Pharmacies participating are supposed to display material to let survivors know that trained staff are available to offer a safe and private space, with the option to call the police or other support services if needed.

The Law Society has noted that the Domestic Abuse Act alone will not be enough, that services for victims of domestic abuse must be properly funded, and that the new legislation must be supported by a full programme of education. The charity Action Violence & Abuse (AVA) has underlined that women survivors of domestic abuse face numerous barriers to accessing help and support and disclosing abuse. These barriers include: lack of recognition that the abuse is happening; feelings of guilt and shame; and lack of awareness of available support. The charity also highlights research suggesting that women from minority, marginalised or disadvantaged communities or backgrounds, or those with protected characteristics, including Black and minoritised women, lesbian, bisexual and trans women, older and disabled women, face higher rates of domestic abuse and additional barriers to support.

A year on from the passing of the 2021 Act, the Domestic Abuse Commissioner, Nicole Jacobs, recognised that “there’s far more to be done to support victims, to tackle the causes of domestic abuse and hold perpetrators to account”, noting that “there needs to be far more focus on prevention, early intervention and a more co-ordinated community response.” The Commissioner proposes that to better support victims of domestic abuse, the Victims Bill, presented to Parliament in May 2022, “provides the perfect opportunity to ensure that community-based services get the recognition and funding they need to plug some of the gaps which were left unfilled in the Domestic Abuse Act”, including in relation to “advocacy, safety planning, therapeutic support and counselling, support for children, and work with perpetrators to change their behaviour.” The Commissioner also calls on the government to provide £18.7m over three years to ensure that victims without recourse to public funds can access support, accommodation and subsistence.

This symposium will look at the legacy of the pandemic on the incidence, nature and victims of domestic abuse, and discuss the impact of the Domestic Abuse Act and how the Act can best be implemented by key stakeholders.

Programme

• Plan and implement effective intervention strategies to identify and support victims early
• Evaluate the extent to which the passing of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 has adequately addressed the complex and urgent needs of domestic abuse survivors
• Examine how the Victims Bill can be shaped to ensure better support for victims of domestic abuse
• Explore the impact of the pandemic on levels of domestic abuse
• Address gaps in specialist training for police forces on how to respond to domestic violence cases
• Discuss the changing profile of abusers and what practical and policy changes should be considered
• Understand what the Domestic Abuse Act means for local authorities and how they can effectively meet their statutory duty to deliver a strategy
• Examine ways to address the fundamental drivers of domestic violence 
• Analyse the inequalities which are present in current and proposed efforts to address domestic abuse, particularly with regard to migrant women, economically vulnerable women, and women from minority, marginalised or disadvantaged communities or backgrounds, or those with protected characteristics  
• Discuss collaborative and partnership opportunities for various agencies and departments, including the role of pharmacies
• Scrutinise the current legal remedies which are in place to protect the abused and punish the abuser and their efficacy in practice 
• Review the ways in which domestic abuse has changed in recent years, considering the effect of the internet, the increasing recognition of economic abuse, and the impact of domestic violence upon children
• Develop effective strategies for protecting and supporting survivors of domestic abuse, at national, regional and local levels

To register for the briefing, please click here.