Minimum Reporting Requirements

Introduction

This topic outlines the minimum reporting requirements for each phase of each sentence/order.

What are reporting requirements

The legislation requires an offender to ‘report to a probation officer, when and where instructed to do so by the probation officer’.

Minimum reporting requirements are met by scheduled report-ins. Scheduled reporting is defined as a pre-planned report-in organised for the offender, by the probation officer, and accompanied with a formal instruction to report to the offender.

A scheduled report-in will usually take place at the service centre or the offender’s home (scheduled home visit). It may also take place at the offender’s workplace, or at an alternative location approved by the probation officer.

An offender may be directed to report more often than the minimum required, at the request of the probation officer e.g. if the offender is having difficulty complying with the requirements of the sentence/ order.

Any other event-driven or casual contact is over and above the scheduled report-in and therefore does not count towards minimum reporting requirements.

Reference: Part V (Managing an Offender’s Sentence / Order provides more information about:

• managing offender reporting
• varying reporting frequency, and
• carrying out home visits.

Refer to the ‘Average Product Times Probation Officer Key Activities’ paper for a more detailed explanation.

When home visits are used to meet reporting requirements

Only scheduled home visits count towards minimum reporting requirements, and non-attendance at a scheduled home visit constitutes a failure to report.

For offenders on all sentences / orders other than HD or RR (see below), the minimum number of home visits can be completed by completing scheduled home visits in place of any of the minimum reporting requirements within the phase.

Additional scheduled home visits may count towards meeting minimum reporting requirements if they are completed in place of a report-in that would otherwise be held in the office. If the home visit is additional to minimum reporting requirements for that week or phase, it cannot be counted as meeting requirements in a later phase.

Example: If the minimum reporting requirement is weekly, and a minimum of one home visit is required during the current phase, any one of the weekly report-ins during that phase can be converted to a scheduled home visit. However, if the weekly office visit has been completed mid-week, a home visit completed at the end of that week cannot be counted against the weekly report-in due the following week.

Reference: See the topic ‘Home Visit Requirements’ later in this chapter, and the topic ‘Carrying out Home Visits’ in Volume 2, Part V, for further information relating to home visits.

Failure to report

Non-attendance at a scheduled home visit consititutes a failure to report and immediate enforcement action should be considered without attempting to reschedule with the offender.

Reference: This volume, part VII, Non-compliance and Enforcement

Home Visits on HD and RR

Those offenders subject to HD or RR are required to meet the minimum reporting requirements by alternating between reporting to the service centre and being visited at home by the probation officer (scheduled home visits).

This is because frequent home visits are considered an essential part of the management of HD and RR.

Unscheduled contacts

Unscheduled contacts do not count as meeting reporting requirements. This includes unscheduled home visits, or unplanned meetings (e.g. at a programme or other activity, or in a public place – supermarket etc).

Minimum frequency of reporting requirements

The following tables show the minimum reporting requirements and scheduled home visiting frequency by phase, for each sentence/order, for offenders who are not on the Offender Warning Register (OWR).

Reference: For minimum reporting requirements pertaining to offenders on the OWR, see the topic ‘Reporting for OWS Offenders later in this chapter.

Note: The Average Product Times assume that a number of non-scheduled home visits will be required as part of the management of any given sentence or order (e.g. because the offender changes their address). These will only be required in response to changes in circumstances or potential non-compliance, and are therefore not included in the following tables (which document minimum requirements for all offenders only).

Supervision

The following table shows the minimum reporting requirements and scheduled home visiting frequency by phase, for the sentence of supervision.

Intensive supervision

The following table shows the minimum reporting requirements and scheduled home visiting frequency by phase, for the sentence of intensive supervision.

Home detention

The following table shows the minimum reporting requirements and scheduled home visiting frequency by phase, for the sentence of home detention.

Post detention conditions

The following table shows the minimum reporting requirements and scheduled home visiting frequency by phase, for post detention conditions.

Release on conditions

The following table shows the minimum reporting requirements and scheduled home visiting frequency by phase, for offenders released on conditions following a short prison sentence.

Parole

The following table shows the minimum reporting requirements and scheduled home visiting frequency by phase, for offenders released on parole without residential restrictions.

Parole with residential restrictions

The following table shows the minimum reporting requirements and scheduled home visiting frequency by phase, for offenders released on parole with residential restrictions.

Parole following residential restrictions

The following table shows the minimum reporting requirements and scheduled home visiting frequency by phase, for offenders released on Parole with residential restrictions; who have completed the required period of residential restrictions and remain on parole.

Life Parole

The following table shows the minimum reporting requirements and scheduled home visiting frequency by phase, for offenders who have been released on life parole.

Offenders on life parole must spend the first three years of their order on OWS. The period on OWS constitutes phases one, two and three of the order. While under the OWS regime offenders must remain in:

• Phase II for a minimum of 11 months, and
• Phase III for a minimum of 2 years

Note: To be eligible for removal from the OWS, life parolees must have completed at least three years on parole.

Once removed from OWS offenders must remain in:

• Phase IV for a minimum of 18 months, before being considered for progression to Phase V.

Extended supervision

The following table shows the minimum reporting requirements and scheduled home visiting frequency by phase, for offenders on extended supervision.

Note: Offenders on extended supervision are not eligible for removal from the OWS at any time, and are therefore managed to OWS requirements throughout their sentence.

Note: Phase 2 lasts for a minimum of 11 months.