September 28

September 28, 2007: NOMS: The End Is Near

The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) is about to be scrapped, though there is no official confirmation of this yet on the websites of the MInistry of Justice, the National Probation Service, or NOMS itself.

This lack of official confirmation notwithstanding, it has been widely reported that NOMS is facing its imminent demise. Leaks from a “classified” Whitehall document which quote recommendations from a so-called “organisational review” have been reported in both the Guardian and the Times. These leaks suggest that the end of NOMS is near, a mere three years and a reported £2.6 billion of taxpayers money after its creation.

A core NOMS aim is to have the same offender manager working with an offender for the entirety of their sentence. The concept of end-to-end offender management involves both probation and prison staff and has the aim of ensuring that offenders are offered the best possible opportunity to change their offending behaviour.

NOMS HQ is currently based within the Ministry of Justice. Delivery of prison and probation services is co-ordinated through nine regional areas and throughout Wales. Nine Regional Offender Managers (ROMs) in England and a Director of Offender Management in Wales are responsible for the commissioning of offender management services from a range of providers, making best use of the skills and talents of the public, voluntary and private sectors. The NOMS board includes the Director General of HM Prison Service and the Director of Probation,

The National Offender Management Information System (C-NOMIS) is central to end-to-end offender management. C-NOMIS, an information technology system designed to give a single view of the offender at whatever stage they are in their sentence. Implementation of C-NOMIS is an important tool to help end-to-end offender management. When accessing a single record of the offender on the C-NOMIS database both prisons and the probation service will be able to share constantly updated information, thereby increasing efficiency and reducing risk. There is reportedly a

The Guardian states that “senior justice ministry sources” have stated that the NOMS "brand is so damaged, it cannot continue" and that it is "a disaster area" with costs which are out of control.

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