The major issues driving the sector include:

• economic – changes in unemployment and in the wider environment
• political – sector privatisation and outsourcing, the drive for targets and quality, the restorative justice system, and the need for organisations to collaborate more, rationalise and possibly merge
• social – increasing concerns about antisocial behaviour, community safety, and youth crime
• technical – the need to improve operational internal and external communications with particular regard to terrorism and burglary
• environmental – the need to deliver skills to deal with drink and drug abuse
• legal – changes to legislation and specific measures produce own specific requirements; skills to deal with human rights issues and equality
• delivery – the concern to maintain and improve the reputation of the sector in the community and communications; the need for greater collaboration across the sector

Recent legislative reforms are changing working practices and cultures, which has implications for training and skills requirements.  Some recent legislation reforms include:

• Police Reform Act in 2002 – making the police more responsive to local needs; the introduction of Police Community Support Officers; an increasing emphasis on working in partnership with other agencies; the establishment of the Independent Police Complaints Commission
• Criminal Justice Act 2003, the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and the Courts Act 2003 – introduced evidential reforms; procedural reforms; and wholesale reform of sentencing powers and procedures 
• National Offender Management System (NOMS) – aims to provide end-to-end, integrated management of offenders
• Crime and Disorder Act 1998 – reorganised youth justice agencies, with the establishment of the Youth Justice Board (YJB) and a network of local, multi-agency Youth Offending Teams

Source: Skills for Justice Briefing Paper 2006 and UK Skill Needs Assessment 2005