Decision Maker: Director for Police, Crime, Criminal Justice and Fire, GM Deputy Mayor, Treasurer GMCA
Decision status: Recommendations Approved
Is Key decision?: No
Is subject to call in?: No
The main national community initiative for
PCOSOs is ‘Circles of Support of Accountability’. In
discussions with the sector, it was identified that there was a
lack of desire to deliver the circles model as the accreditation
process was considered an unnecessary burden; use of volunteers was
not ideal and the small number of interventions that could be
delivered. In addition, previously the volunteer model was built on
ex or current CJS professionals not strictly community volunteers
as such.
Therefore, organisations (Back on Track and We Are Survivors) were
identified with the skills and expertise to be able to work with
this cohort and they were consulted on a potential model which has
been co-designed to provide a more robust and holistic
approach.
Greater Manchester has the highest proportion of PCOSOs in the
community outside of London. There are over 3,500 PCOSOs in Greater
Manchester, which amounts to approximately 75% of people who are
being managed through GM MAPPAs. These numbers have increased year
on year, particularly for sexual offending, which has seen a 20%
increase since Covid-19. The GM SOMU team has expanded too but can
still only operate to caseloads of over 100 people. PCOSOs are
often excluded from other support and/or resettlement services and
face significant additional barriers to accessing mental health
provision and finding progression opportunities.
People convicted of sexual offences managed through Greater
Manchester’s Multi Agency Public Protection Units are known
to report disproportionately high rates of neurodiversity; high
rates of childhood trauma, victimisation, and child sexual abuse;
to typically be generalist offenders; and to be at enhanced risk of
reoffending when subject to increased stress and social
isolation.
The PhD candidate is sought to work under the supervision of
Professors David Gadd and Emma Barret in the Department of
Criminology. The candidate will also be advised and accountable to
the project advisory group, comprising Mr Duncan Craig OBE
(Honorary Research Fellow and CEO of We Are Survivors), Kath
Self
(Senior Policy & Partnership Officer, Greater Manchester
Combined Authority), Dr Polly Turner, Clinical Senior Lecturer, Dr
Neil Gredecki, Lecturer in Psychology and Mental Health and Siobhan
Pollitt, Chief Executive, Back on Track.
It is a core requirement of the PhD that the candidate work
alongside the funder, Greater Manchester Combined Authority, to
develop an evaluation framework that will ultimately assess the
effectiveness of a new model of intervention. The new intervention
– delivered by Back on Track and We Are Survivors - seeks to
ensure a subpopulation of sex offenders desist from offending by
providing additional support to help those who are also victims to
process their own trauma and by providing an intervention that
enables the development of core life skills a more pro-social sense
of self. All those subject to the intervention will also be under
the supervision of Greater Manchester Probation Service.
The PhD is scheduled to start in March 2024, with fees and stipend
funded for 3.5 years. The University reserves the right to defer
the start date to September 2024.
The PhD candidate will be based in the Department of Criminology,
in the School of Social Sciences. Fieldwork for the project is
expected to conclude after 2.5 years of full-time study. An annual
(pro-rata) Research Training Support budget of £1000 to cover
fieldwork and dissemination costs will be made available to the
candidate. The candidate will be expected to comply with the
University of
Manchester’s doctoral training requirements. The full range
of training and support provided to PhD students in the Dept of
Criminology, School of Social Sciences and North West ESRC Doctoral
training Partnership will be made accessible to the successful
candidate. This will include training in research ethics, data
management and security, research methods, research leadership,
dissemination and impact.
As lead commissioner, to award a grant to
undertake a pilot sex offender programme with experienced providers
We are Survivors and Back on Track. The evaluation from the pilot,
led by a PhD graduate, will be used to commission a longer-term
contract for a service in Greater Manchester.
The cost of the pilot programme is set out below:
Total for Year 1 to 3 for delivery
GMCA (51%) £219,354.06
HMPPS (49%) £210,751.94
Total cost £430,106
From which £372,106 to be paid to:
Back on Track £193,545
We are Survivors £178,561
Total cost £372,106
Costings for the PhD student
Total for Year 1 to 4 for evaluation (this is a 3.5 year
evaluation)
Start date
September 2024 £100,333.00
The Greater Manchester Sex Offender Programme pilot project is
developed as an alternative model to supporting people convicted of
sexual offences (PCOSOs) in Greater Manchester.
This is to contribute to the prevention of sexual re-offending by
PCOSOS, who are facing multiple disadvantages, by supporting
individuals to process their own trauma and develop a more
pro-social sense of self.
The project is solely for people who have convictions for sexual
offences (online and contact) and who are still under the
supervision of a probation practitioner and police liaison
officer.
Agencies involved:
• Greater Manchester Probation Service
• Greater Manchester Police - Sex Offender Management
Unit
• Greater Manchester Combined Authority – Justice and
Rehabilitation
• Back on Track (BoT)
• We Are Survivors
• Community Services: GMIRS, VCSE
A PhD candidate will provide essential evaluation information which
will be used to inform future commissioning on a longer term basis.
Focussing on an ‘Appraisal of the Value of Therapeutic
Community Resettlement for People with Convictions for Sexual
Offences in Greater Manchester’. The PhD It will be hosted in
the Department of Criminology in the School of Social Sciences at
the University of Manchester. The academic research question the
studentship will address is:
What should be done to reduce the risks of reoffending among
convicted sex offenders whose offending is foregrounded in multiple
disadvantage, previous victimisation and/or substance use and poor
mental health?
Publication date: 19/09/2024
Date of decision: 28/08/2024