London Probation is a law enforcement agency. It is part of the National Probation Service which, together with HM Prison Service, makes up the National Offender Management Service. Probation staff work with offenders to protect the public and reduce re-offending, and deliver sentences of the courts through credible and effective community punishments including programmes to change offending behaviour.

London Probation was keen to adopt the principles of the Excellence Model in order to streamline and improve the business processes of its Interventions Directorate and provide an all round better service.

With probation a hot and highly scrutinised topic, it was vital that London Probation did its utmost to ensure its interventions service was not only meeting required quality standards, but surpassing them. They began working closely with the BQF, who advised use of the Recognised for Excellence (R4E) programme. As a result, London Probation set about working towards achieving a level of performance that would not only streamline its offering but also raise awareness of its work among the Probation Service as a whole and among external stakeholders.

A self-assessment approach using the Excellence Model was used as part of the preparation process for R4E. Staff within Approved Premises (hostels), Community Payback/Unpaid Work and Programmes (departments within the Interventions Directorate) collected documentary and numerical evidence against all thirty-two criterion parts of the model and then spent a day assessing and scoring this information. This process was seen as very useful in highlighting gaps and areas for improvement.

The Model, together with the R4E external assessor feedback, is also being used by the Directorate as a tool for developing its business plan and a range of improvement activities to be utilised moving forward.

Across London Probation as a whole, the Model is now being used to support the process to achieve Trust Status and preparation for Contestability (external competition of services and products).

London Probation Interventions achieved R4E 3 Star (300+ points out of a possible 1,000) in April 2007, the first probation area or region to achieve this. Hilary Harwood, Director of Interventions at London Probation, comments on the wide reaching impact that winning R4E status has had on the Directorate: "The project was a major achievement for Interventions, not only because we were awarded R4E but because of all we learned on the journey and because of the positive energy it generated among the staff.

"Working with the BQF to make sure our offering is streamlined, focused and considered has increased our appreciation of working with all our stakeholders, whether they are customers, partners, or our own staff. Looking at the business in this wider context is extremely informative, and will help us to put together a concentrated plan for continued improvement for the months and years to come."

David Scott, Chief Officer of London Probation, adds, "This is a thrilling result for us. We are very proud of the effort and dedication that the Interventions team has put into this project. We are very keen to replicate their success throughout the organisation as we continue to progress and improve the quality of services we provide to make London safer."