At various times in my career I've considered the option of working in a prison, but always rejected it. When I started, some probation areas had a policy of compelling PO's to undertake a stint in prison as there was always a fear that if you didn't rotate staff regularly, there was a danger of staff losing their, shall we say 'distinctiveness'. Some older readers might even recall that in the dim distant past some vociferous elements within NAPO even tried to get all probation staff removed on the grounds that working inside prison was inconsistent with our values.
My main reason for not working in a prison is that basically someone, other than my employer, could lock me out at the drop of a hat and I would have virtually no means of redressing that action. In an absolutely astonishing move, this is precisely what has happened to all the probation staff at three prisons in South Yorkshire. The governor in charge of HMP Moorlands, Lindholme and Hatfield has taken the action because he discovered that South Yorkshire Probation Trust has got into bed with private prison contractor G4S. Now of course that's the company currently engaged in trying to win the bid to run these three prisons and hence wrest them away from the public sector.
The problem is that South Yorkshire thought this was a smart move because it meant they would get a seat on the Board of G4S and actually be sharing the driving seat running these three prisons, rather than just being a sub-contractor to G4S, if they won the contract. The governor is furious and apparently his boss at NOMS has refused to overturn the decision. To say it's a mess would be an understatement. As of right now 2,000 inmates in three prisons have no probation service looking after their interests and helping them prepare for release. All this beggars belief when you realise that the prison and probation service are supposed to have unified management and oversight in the form of NOMS. Just another unintended consequence of the barmy privatisation agenda.
I guess this is what 'competition' looks like in the delivery of a joined up CJS. You couldn't make it up.
ReplyDeleteIs the Law of Unintended Consequences a consequence of the Error of Not Thinking Consequentially? A mucking fuddle, as they say in(some parts of)South Yorkshire
ReplyDeleteI feel that South Yorkshire Probation Service had a responsibility to inform the Governor of their negotiations as they must have known of the Bid. The governor should employ staff from an agency to undertake the minimum tasks required until the contract has been awarded. I think he has a reasonable point in stating that he does not trust the staff whose salaries he pays. I have no doubt that those staff working within the prisons have been of enormous benefit to the trust and G4S in the bidding process. I would not be surprised if the SPO had been preparing documents and responding to various requests for assistance. My sympathies are with the governor. The situation is equivalent to industrial espionage. It is distasteful.
ReplyDeleteProbation only make up a small number of staff in the OMU, Uniform staff are now also OS's and provide the same service. No prisoners were left without any support or guidance so please get the facts right.
DeleteWell that says it all doesn't it? Uniformed staff doing a probation officers job. Soon it will be G4S uniformed staff doing a probation officers job.
DeleteG4S seem to be running everything these days.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure they will be running the police too.