26June 2018

For immediate publication

Successful Milton Keynes mental health scheme steering people away from prison

A scheme run by CNWL's Milton Keynes Talking Therapies team to help steer people away from prison through mental health support has been proving a success.

Over the past year 26 service users agreed to undergo and complete mental health treatment rather than face custody, avoiding a total of nearly three years' worth of custody.

These psychological therapy treatments help in treating underlying symptoms of anxiety and depression that can often be the cause of offending behaviours. 

Members of the Milton Keynes Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) service revealed their findings during the Prison Reform Trust's ‘Care Not Custody' launch event for the Community Sentence Treatment Requirement (CTSR). 

Currently, a significant number of people who come into contact with the criminal justice system experience mental health and/or substance misuse problems. Despite this the use of treatment requirements to address these needs as part of a community sentence is very low.

Milton Keynes is one of five test bed areas across England for a new way of working that addresses these low numbers. Milton Keynes was the first site to go live.

The CTSR is one of three possible treatment requirements that may be made part of a Community Order by the Courts.

The CSTR  is intended for the sentencing of offenders convicted of an offence(s) that is below the threshold for a custodial sentence and who have a mental health problem which does not require secure in-patient treatment.

The evidence is that by treating offenders' health needs, the reoffending rate is reduced.

Those subject to the order are offered the opportunity to undertake a course of psychological therapies.

Gemma, a service user who had received treatment from IAPT team member Debbie South, was invited to address the audience and explain how the CSTR had changed her life.

Gemma said: "I was facing an 18 month suspended sentence and the therapy I received taught me techniques to manage my anxiety which had led me to commit crimes previously.  I am sure if this had been offered sooner, I would never have found myself offending."

Milton Keynes' IAPT manager Jon Olsen said:  "Our service has proved that psychological treatment works for this patient group.

"Now we intend to expand service provision locally for the courts in Milton Keynes.  The service will continue to monitor its outcomes as a part of a successful national pilot."

Hosting the event was former Labour MP Lord Bradley, who authored a review of people with mental health problems or learning disabilities in the criminal justice system (the Bradley Report) , and David Gauke, who is Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary. 

Milton Keynes IAPT's partner agencies are P3 and Probation.

Editors' notes

• The Ministry of Justice (MoJ), Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), NHS England (NHSE) and Public Health England (PHE) have worked together to develop a new protocol to address the low numbers of treatment requirements.
• Testing the protocol in the test bed sites will enable Government to understand its implications for health and justice, as well as how the protocol is being used and whether changes need to be made. 
• The protocol supports the increased use of community treatment requirements, as part of a community or suspended sentence order.
• It focuses on reducing reoffending by addressing the health needs of offenders which may be contributing to the offending behaviour, along with directly addressing the reduction of short term custodial sentences by providing effective community sentence options. 
• The programme sets out what is expected from all agencies involved to improve access to mental health and substance misuse services for offenders who need them.
• An MoJ study published in May suggests that sentences including mental health treatment are associated with significant reductions in reoffending compared with similar cases without such treatment. Over a one-year follow up period, for those with identified mental health issues, the study found a reduction of around 3.5 percentage points when used as part of a community order, and of around 5 percentage points when used as part of a suspended sentence order.

• Between 15-40% of police contacts are with people with mental health problems and related vulnerabilities.

For more details:

Contact: Senior Communications Officer Jeremy Dunning on 0203 214 5756 or emailJeremy.dunning@nhs.net.

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust
Stephenson House, 75 Hampstead Road, London NW1 2PL
Tel: 020 3214 5756 e-mail:communications.cnwl@nhs.net