Archived decisions

An excellent and informative conference organised by Portsmouth Community Safety Partnership held at The Marriott Hotel, Portsmouth.

A wide range of agencies were represented but sadly not the Police or the Courts, which meant that I, as the nearest thing, being a Magistrate and Police Authority Member, was asked to join the panel at the end of the Conference for Question Time!

The main speaker was the Rt Hon John Denham, MP who said there was a need to ensure that Government services are "joined up" and questioned whether law and order was conflicting with Social Services. He said further work was being done to tailor the courts to suit Young Offenders' behaviour, and to ensure that the police could act more effectively.

Other speakers were Celia Atherton, Director of Research in Practice, which seeks to improve access to understanding of, and implementation of, research in planning and delivery of services to vulnerable children and their families. Rob Allen, Director of Rethinking Crime and Punishment, which studies public attitudes to imprisonment and other forms of punishment. Jackie Worrall, Prison Development Manager with particular responsibility for resettlement.

The main outcome of the conference was "if only Government would fully evaluate projects before implementing them, instead of piloting them for six months and immediately rolling them out". Apparently this is happening in many of the Agencies involved in the Crime and Disorder Partnerships.

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