Paula Rebstock

By Kate Chapman of NZPA

Wellington, Oct 14 NZPA - A Chief Probation Officer role will be created to oversee a revamp of the Community Probation Service (CPS).

The CPS, 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.

The panel was recommended by the State Services Commissioner after an Auditor-General's report identified significant shortcomings with CPS.

Panel chairwoman Paula Rebstock said CPS 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, Ms Rebstock told Parliament's law and order select committee today.

"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, Ms Rebstock said.

Having measurable expectations and measuring staff against them made it "possible for staff (and management) to be responsible".

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 meet if something went wrong and would also be part of efforts for ongoing improvement, Ms Rebstock said.

State Services Commissioner said Iain Rennie 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 will have problems at times and accountability rested with the chief executives, he said.

Corrections chief executive Barry Matthews had been "consistently improving", Mr Rennie said.

Mr Matthews had been "taking steps" and was expected to "keep going forward".

"It's the chief executive's responsibility to make improvements and learn."

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

"The panel has already helped CPS undertake changes which have improved outcomes, but we need to ensure this improvement continues."

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

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

Corrections Department procedures have been under intense scrutiny and criticism after lapses in process contributed to murders being committed by parolees.

Corrections staff did not even carry out some of the special provisions brought in after parolee Graeme Burton murdered Karl Kuchenbecker in January 2007.

NZPA