Every London borough set up a Prolific and Priority Offender (PPO) Scheme in 2004 when the Scheme was introduced by the Home Office. There are 3 strands to the Scheme:
- Catch and Bring to Justice
- Rehabilitate and Resettle
- Prevent and Deter
Since its introduction, London boroughs have made great strides to successfully implement and embed the programme into their work.
At a regional level the PPO Action Team, comprised of members of all PPO stakeholder agencies e.g. London Probation, Her Majesty's Prison Service (HMPS), Crown Prosecution Service, Metropolitan Police Service, Her Majesty's Court Service, Youth Justice Board (YJB), and the National Treatment Agency work together to unlock any barriers to multi agency working in local areas.
The London Evaluation of the PPO Scheme was published in October 2007. This noted Schemes were beginning to have an impact on crime in the capital but more could be done particularly in relation to resettlement and rehabilitation of PPOs. To this end the Community Safety division has been working closely with the London Director of Offender Manager (DOM), identifying good practice in relation to housing provision for PPOs and disseminating this to other areas. We have also worked closely with partners such as Job Centre+, HMPS and London Probation to provide additional help and oversight for PPOs on return from prison to the community
There is also now much closer alignment between PPO Schemes and the Drugs Intervention Programme (DIP) to ensure that those drug using offenders are brought swiftly to justice and provided with treatment and close monitoring.
In addition the London PPO Action team is working with all the criminal justice agencies and the London Criminal Justice Board to revise the Premium Service Protocol for PPOs The Protocol outlines commitments made by each stakeholder agency to ensure that PPO offenders are fast tracked through the courts, and receive appropriate interventions in prison and on resettlement into the community. Upgrades to the J Track IT system which tracks PPOs journey through the CJAs are being considered
The PPO Action Team also focuses on Prevent and Deter working closely with the YJB to ensure that those young people identified as prolific offenders are provided with additional help and monitoring. A protocol was produced for London to guide Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) who may wish to refer a young person into the Catch and Bring to Justice element of the Scheme.
