Process for Establishing/Evidencing Non-compliance

Introduction

In order to take legal enforcement action in response to non-compliance, the probation officer/senior community work supervisor must be able to provide sufficient evidence to satisfy the court that the non-compliance meets the criteria set out in the legislation.

Interviewing the offender

If interviewing the offender at the end of the CWC or CWA work day regarding possible breach action, the probation officer/senior community work supervisor has a legal obligation to advise the offender that:

the (CW) hours of the day are completed
that he/she is being asked questions/interviewed in respect of a possible breach, and
that he/she may leave/terminate the interview at any time.

Reasonable excuse

When responding to any non-compliance, the probation officer/senior community work supervisor should interview the offender to establish whether they are able to provide a reasonable excuse for failing to comply with the requirements of the sentence.

Verifying with relevant others

Where appropriate, the probation officer/senior community work supervisor should talk to any relevant people such as the agency supervisor or BWLS programme facilitator to establish and verify details of the non-compliance.

Evidence guidelines

The probation officer/senior community work supervisor may be required to produce evidence to support any legal enforcement action taken. The following table provides guidelines/examples of satisfactory evidence.

If the non-compliance is a …	then examples of satisfactory evidence are:
failure to report as instructed	an ITR signed by the offender and confirmation from the probation officer that it was not complied with.
failure to attend BWLS programme	a written verification from BWLS programme facilitator that the offender failed to attend a scheduled session on a specific date.
failure to inform the probation officer/senior community work supervisor about a change of address	a home visit by a probation officer/ senior community work supervisor establishing that the offender is no longer residing at the address.
failure to work to a satisfactory standard at an agency placement	a written information from the agency supervisor providing details of the non-compliance.

Record keeping

Specific details of all instances of non-compliance should be recorded in IOMS casenotes at the time of the event. Information recorded should include:

what the non-compliance was, e.g. failure to report as directed
when the non-compliance occurred, i.e. the date, and
where the non-compliance occurred, e.g. CWC, agency, BWLS programme.

IOMS case notes should also record:

whether the offender provided an explanation for the non-compliance, and
details of any discussion with others, e.g. agency supervisor, BWLS programme facilitator, or community work supervisor.

Note: Do not delay updating records. If an offender is subject to police investigation for a serious offence, the police may seek to interview the supervising probation officer/senior community work supervisor, and/or request access to the offender’s file.

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