Probation staff provide information to courts to help magistrates and judges to make decisions about sentencing. When an individual is charged by the police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decide the case warrants prosecution, court proceedings results. The Magistrates Court is the point of the first hearing for any case. Most minor criminal cases can only be tried in Magistrate Courts, but in some cases the accused can opt for trial by jury in Crown Court. Serious offences such as murder are always heard in Crown Court, and magistrates can refer cases to the higher court if they believe the offence warrants a more serious punishment than they can give. The CPS provides details of the case to help prepare court reports, and probation officers can advise the CPS on the suitability of the offender for bail. The courts have three options when considering bail - they can: refuse bail - in which case the person is remanded in custody; grant bail unconditionally; grant bail under certain conditions, such as residence in an approved Probation Hostel.

Pre Sentence Report (PSR)

In any court, if the case is serious enough, there is usually an adjournment for 15 working days between the finding of guilt and the sentencing of the offender. This allows time for a probation officer to prepare a Pre Sentence Report, which includes a detailed examination of the offender’s background and behaviour.

Assessments will be prepared on the risk of harm to the public, the offender’s readiness to change and their suitability for a community sentence and rehabilitation programmes. Eventually each PSR will include a risk assessment compiled with the help of OASyS, a system jointly developed by the Prison and Probation Services.

The report is then presented to the court, with copies given to the sentencer, the prosecutor and the defendant or defendant's lawyer. The report writer may propose a suitable sentence, but the sentencing decision is made by the judge or magistrates after reviewing all the circumstances surrounding the offence and any previous convictions the offender may have.

Specific sentence report (SSR)

In some cases, Specific Sentence Reports are now being requested by West Midlands Magistrates. SSRs are becoming more popular as they speed up the sentencing process in straightforward cases where a community sentence is the appropriate option.

There is no need to adjourn the case for a full Pre Sentence Report, as a Specific Sentence Report is given to the court orally by a probation officer after interviewing the offender. This is done on the same day, usually within an hour of the case being heard. Up to 30 per cent of all reports prepared for courts in the West Midlands during 2002/03 will be SSRs.

Working with Sentencers

The relationship between the Probation Service and sentencers is an important one, as probation staff are based at Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Coventry Crown Courts and all West Midlands Magistrates Courts to provide advice on community sentences.

Probation West Midlands is required to keep judges and magistrates informed on the options available to them when sentencing an offender, and when deciding whether to grant bail. Probation staff provide background information on an individual’s suitability for bail, and the service provides bail support to help offenders with issues such as accommodation.

The service is also required to conduct a yearly survey on sentencer satisfaction. Ninety five per cent of the judges and magistrates who responded said they were satisfied with the overall work of the Probation Service in the last survey (August 2001).

In addition to regular sentencer liaison arrangements in each court centre, links are maintained through the recruitment of judges and magistrates as members of the West Midlands Probation Board, where they have the opportunity to influence policy and decision making within the Probation Service.