Appropriation - Sentences and Orders Served in the Community

Appropriation – Sentences and Orders Served in the Community

This appropriation is limited to the management and delivery of sentences and orders served in the community and for the Electronic Monitoring of offenders including those on bail.

What we do

This appropriation encompasses four outputs: home detention sentences, community based sentences, post release orders and Electronic Monitoring bail (EM bail).

Correction manages home detention sentences which are sentences imposed by the courts that require the offender to reside at an approved address under strict conditions and with strict monitoring, sometimes including Electronic Monitoring.

Corrections also manages offenders serving community-based sentences such as: community work sentences, community detention, supervision and intensive supervision orders.

Post-release conditions are also managed by Corrections. Post-release conditions are imposed by the court at the time of sentencing for prisoners with short sentences. It also includes parole orders imposed by the New Zealand Parole Board (NZPB) and extended supervision orders imposed by the court, with additional special conditions set by the NZPB to actively manage the risks posed by high-risk violent and/or sex offenders in the community.

Corrections manages offenders on electronic monitoring, which can include those monitored as a condition of bail while awaiting a court hearing (EM bail) and those serving community-based sentences.

Operating Context

The integrity of sentences and orders is maintained when offenders in the community comply with and complete their sentences and orders and are held to account if they do not. This is a key facet in public safety, which is always our bottom line.

Compliance is achieved when offenders comply with all directives and restrictions inherent to the sentence or order (attendance at programmes, non-association orders, residential or employment restrictions), experience appropriate consequences in the event of non-compliance, and complete the imposed sentence or order.

Any failure by an offender to comply with a requirement of the sentence is considered to be non-compliance. This could include failure to report as instructed, breaking a curfew, or failure to advise of an address change.

Corrections ensures the effective and safe management of offenders in the community through the use of Mandatory Standards of Practise for probation officers. Mandatory Standards of Practice for the management of sentences and orders are unique to each sentence or order, and set the baseline level of service, monitoring, and compliance required for each offender.

4. Full transition of EM bail operations from NZ Police was completed during January 2014, meaning 2014/15 was the first full year that Corrections was operationally responsible for EM monitoring. This has seen the number and average number of EM bail conditions increasing from 2013/14.

In 2014/15, the average number of community-based sentences (which represents the volume of offenders Corrections is managing at any one time) was in line with expectations and stayed at similar levels to last year, after a gradual decline in the previous two years.

How we performed

A key component of ensuring compliance, and that appropriate action is taken in the event of non-compliance, is ensuring that probation staff comply with Mandatory Standards of Practice. The Mandatory Standards of Practice are designed to measure the quality of sentence management provided by Corrections.

Probation officers manage the sentences and orders of offenders in the community, and the above table reports how Corrections performed in accordance with our Mandatory Standards of Practice. Compliance with Mandatory Standards of Practice has improved across all sentences from last year but are still below expected levels.

How much did it cost?

* Forecast financial statements have been prepared using Budget Economic Fiscal Update (BEFU) 2015

The total expense for this appropriation was $213.7 million. Almost half of the costs within this output class relate to direct personnel. Other costs associated with this output class include property costs such as rent and utilities, vehicle costs and contract management costs including the Electronic Monitoring (EM) of offenders.

Refer to the chart below for the composition of total expenditure by major category.

The appropriation is $3.4 million higher than 2013/14 actual expenditure, primarily reflecting one-off project costs resulting from the transfer of all Electronic Monitoring services to one supplier.

Corrections received $2 million in 2014/15 and 2015/16 from the Justice Sector Fund to implement alcohol and drug testing of offenders and bailees in the community. The project will introduce random drug and alcohol testing where being drug fee is a condition of bail, home detention, or other community sentences (known as an abstinence condition).

Due to a delay in the passing of the Drug and Alcohol Testing of Community-based Offenders and Bailees Legislation Bill, approval has been sought for an in-principle expense transfer of up to $2 million from 2014/15 to 2016/17 to fund costs that will now be incurred beyond 2015/16.

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