Licence

About a third to a quarter of South Yorkshire Probation Area’s workload involves offenders in prison or on release by licence. Our staff are seconded to the following prisons:

• HMP & YOI Doncaster;
• HMP Lindholme;
• HMP & YOI Moorland.

Their main responsibilities include preparing information and risk assessments on prisoners being considered for early release. Where prisoners are on remand awaiting trial, probation staff may work on the prison's bail information scheme and advice for courts, and contribute to minimising the risk of self harm.

Probation staff work with voluntary and specialist agencies to offer advice and support to prisoners, helping them to be resettled into the community. They also liaise with colleagues in area offices, who will supervise a prisoner after they are released.

Custodial Sentences

Offenders aged 21 or over are sent to adult prison, but custodial sentences for those aged 18 to 21 are served in a Young Offender Institution (YOI). Young offenders under 18 years old are sent to secure units or youth treatment centres.

When offenders aged over 18 are sentenced to custody, their case will be allocated to a probation officer who works in their home area. This officer is responsible for planning for their release, writing reports, visiting the prisoner and, where appropriate, keeping in contact with the prisoner’s family and initiating contact with victims.

Release from Prison

Most prisoners serving 12 months or more do not serve the whole of their sentence in custody. At a predetermined stage they are released to serve the rest of their sentence in the community.

Offenders released under the supervision of the Probation Service must report to a nominated officer on the day of their release. The officer will give them a set of appointments to keep and draw up a supervision plan to prevent re-offending and address any housing, employment or resettlement issues.

A release licence may include conditions such as living at a hostel, not committing further offences or staying away from the area where the crime was committed. Any breach of the licence can mean a return to prison to serve the remainder of the sentence in custody.

There are a number of different conditions under which prisoners leave prison:

Automatic Conditional Release (ACR)

Offenders sentenced to less than a year are released after serving half their sentence and are not supervised. Those sentenced to between a year and 47 months are released on licence after half the sentence, and are supervised by the Probation Service until the end of the sentence.

Discretionary Conditional Release (DCR)

Those sentenced to four years or more can be released on parole after serving half their sentence, but are automatically released on licence after serving two-thirds of the sentence. All of these individuals are supervised by a probation officer.

The length of the supervision period depends on the length of the sentence and the point at which the prisoner is released. This can vary from three months for someone sentenced to a year's custody and the remainder of his or her life for someone sentenced to life.

Home Detention Curfews (HDC)

Popularly known as tagging, the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 extended existing schemes so that prisoners can, subject to satisfactory assessment of risk to the public, apply for release under electronic surveillance. A monitoring device is fitted to the offender’s ankle, linked to sensors at the offender’s home address. During the day, the offender is free to leave the house, but they are subject to strict overnight curfews (usually between 7pm-7am).

Tags are fitted and monitored by private security companies under contract to the Home Office, but offenders are also required to attend supervision appointments with their probation officer. HDCs are intended to allow offenders to attend work or training courses during their day, but prevent them from associating with former criminal accomplices at night.