01 April 2005
Local government is to increase its lobbying for a greater role in the criminal justice agenda.
The Local Government Association's Safer Communities Board wants councils to be included in future legislation dealing with the resettlement of offenders. The association was disappointed that councils were largely left out of proposals to establish the National Offenders Management Service.
Kate Francis, the LGA policy officer leading the work, said: 'We want to get strong messages out about the role of local government in preventing crime and antisocial behaviour.'
She told Public Finance that the LGA would be piloting adult offending teams, paralleling work already carried out successfully by youth offending teams. AOTs will mean councils take a co-ordinating role, bringing together services such as housing and education to help reduce re-offending.
The decision follows the conclusions of Going straight, an LGA report published in February, which argued that councils were perfectly placed to tackle re-offending.
PFapr2005
