05-12-2023 17:09
Representatives of the Directorate General for the Execution of Sentences (GDEP), the Ministry of Justice and probation services visited Manchester and got acquainted with the structure, strategic development plans and functioning of the probation service in the UK.
The study visit is in the framework of Activity 3.5 “Conducting a study visit to a Council of Europe Member State to study good practices in the implementation of alternatives to imprisonment” - project “Strengthening the implementation of alternatives to imprisonment” (Predefined project 3), Justice Programme, Programme Area 19 "Correctional Services and Pre-trial Detention" of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2014 - 2021.
The visit, which took place in the period 28 November - 01 December 2023, was hosted by the Probation Office in the town of. Manchester, which is one of the leading structures of His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service.
The main speakers were heads of directions and practitioners from the department itself, among the topics covered during the visit were:
- alternatives to imprisonment;
- the training of probation officers;
- national and professional standards;
- code of Ethics;
- correctional programmes implemented by the probation service;
- the risk assessment procedure and tools;
- inter-agency cooperation and the work of probation boards.
In the working meetings held in the framework of the visit were also joined officials from the Probation Service Agder, Kingdom of Norway, which is a partner of the Bulgarian Probation Service under Predefined project 3.