The Dog that Doesn't Bark

As we all anticipate exactly what Ken Clarke's rehabilitation revolution will mean for the Probation Service, it got me thinking about the fact that we hardly ever hear much from NACRO these days. I must admit that I hadn't caught up with the fact that the seasoned campaigner Paul Cavadino is no longer running things. It turns out that he was replaced at the end of 2009 by Paul McDowell, a former prison governor at HMP Brixton. Rooting around on the internet led me to this very interesting article in the Guardian by Nick Cohen almost exactly a year ago. It seems he was also pondering on the near-silence from this once robust campaigning organisation on behalf of ex-offenders. Apparently he was told this was because 'of an internal re-organisation'. But as Nick Cohen explains, the truth might be a bit more worrying:-

"The charity's former allies have a blunter explanation. Harry Fletcher from the probation worker's union said Nacro has gone soft because it has become dependent on the state. Local and central government had funded its training programmes for prisoners for years, but now it was entangling itself further with the government it once criticised by forming a partnership with a private prison corporation to bid for contracts to run jails in London and Liverpool. It was straining credulity to imagine that it could argue for fewer people to go to prison when its new business model relies on the judiciary sending a steady stream of customers through the cell doors."

At face value this seems to be a remarkably cynical explanation, but there is little doubt that NACRO is already heavily dependent on government contracts and by their own admission is likely to benefit considerably from the new competitive environment in offender rehabilitation. 
Graham Beech, Strategic Development Director for Nacro says:-

“We welcome any plans which will revolutionise the rehabilitation of offenders. What is proposed represents a radical change which will open up opportunities for charities like Nacro to play an even greater role in reducing reoffending and making society safer.”

As organisations begin to position themselves in readiness, I notice that a piece entitled 'We Did not Join Probation to Become Poor' on the NAPO Hampshire and Isle of White branch webpage highlights the fact that former home secretary John Reid has availed himself of a lucrative consultancy contract worth £50,000 per annum with G4S. Of course they are a private company also gearing up for business opportunities in the new world of rehabilitation. It seems the same company has also recruited the former governor of the Isle of Wight prisons 'with an offer he could not refuse'. I wonder which members of senior probation management will be getting phone calls in the weeks ahead?