New chief will oversee probation revamp

A chief probation officer role will be created to oversee a revamp of the Community Probation Service.

The service, which oversees those on community-based sentences, will now focus on an offender's risk to the community and will measure success against clear outcomes.

The changes were recommended by the Probation Expert Panel, which was suggested by the State Services Commissioner after an Auditor-General's report identified significant shortcomings with the service.

Panel chairwoman Paula Rebstock said the service was "manual-driven" with books on procedures parole officers should follow in different circumstances. The system had become complex and it was difficult to write a plan for every possible occurrence, she told Parliament's law and order select committee yesterday.

"It's difficult to write rules and procedures for how to achieve public safety."

Rather, the risk of an offender to the public needed to be the target of any activity, she said. The level and type of risk was likely to change over time.

A clear focus for the service needed to be established with measurable outcomes. The current system meant managers were checking actions against a set of procedures rather than looking at what had happened.

"To hold someone accountable you must be clear about what you are trying to do."

A chief probation officer would be able to independently review whether outcomes were met if something went wrong and would also be part of efforts for ongoing improvement, she said.

State Services Commissioner Iain Rennie said it was his responsibility to "get into the issues" where a department was not operating correctly, and support it to do better. All Government departments would have problems at times and accountability rested with the chief executives.

Corrections chief executive Barry Matthews had been "consistently improving", Mr Rennie said, and was expected to "keep going forward".

Corrections Minister Judith Collins said the expert panel had found "significant improvements" and a "fundamental rethink".

The chief probation officer would report directly to the chief executive, would provide additional professional leadership for staff and investigate after a major incident.

"While there are never any guarantees there will not be another tragedy," the minister said, "the recommendations of the panel give the public greater confidence that there has been an increased focus on safety."

- NZPA