Auditor-General's follow-up report published, Department of Corrections: Managing offenders to reduce reoffending

The New Zealand Auditor-General’s report Department of Corrections: Managing offenders to reduce reoffending – Progress in responding to the Auditor-General’s recommendations was presented to the House of Representatives today. This report looks at the progress that the Department of Corrections has made in response to our recommendations in 2013.

Since our 2013 report, the Department has had to deal with several challenges, including a prison population that is growing faster than forecast and reviews initiated after several high-profile incidents.

Overall, the Department has made progress in addressing our recommendations. It has improved its scheduling system and strengthened the alignment between case managers who work in the prisons and probation officers who work in the community. The Department is confident that its current mix of approaches to collect feedback from offenders assists in meeting its obligations to the public, and focuses on where it can reduce reoffending.

However, there are still some opportunities for further improvement. For example, the Department needs to implement further changes to the scheduling system to assist in forecasting demand for and supply of its programmes, and to have a single end-to-end view of an offender’s planned activities.

We’d like your feedback: Our online reports include a link to a feedback form. Please tell us if you found our report useful.

ends

© Scoop Media