Transforming Rehabilitation implementation update
17th January 2014: Termination of Probation Trust Service Contract
- Probation Trusts have now received formal Notification of the Termination of Probation Trust Service Contract as part of the Transforming Rehabilitation Programme.
- We have now carried out our business readiness assessment, and we are able to confirm that we are on track with the key aspects of the reform programme. This would not have been possible without a lot of hard work on the ground.
- Trusts are now completing the allocation of staff to their new roles, and every Trust is on track to do so by 1 April. In addition, the technical elements of the programme are progressing well.
- The most important part of the next phase of the transition is to get all staff working together in these teams. Some Trusts are beginning to do this already, and we expect some new teams to be in place as early as February. This process should be completed in time for 1 April.
- Key aspects of the new model will be tested so that those who will be in both the Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) and in the National Probation Service (NPS) can trial the new ways of working before we formally complete the transfer to the new governance arrangements. Over a two month period from April we will also make the full transition to new IT and support systems in areas like HR.
- From 1 April, we will begin to allocate cases according to the future structure. We will also move ahead with caseload transition during this period, though I would emphasise again that problematic cases will not be transferred between probation staff unless there is a suitable time to do so which ensures there is not a risk to public safety.
- We will also start new interim account management arrangements from 1 April, to allow the account management team to start to work closely with emerging CRC and NPS teams right away and prepare for contract mobilisation from the end of May. Full commercial contract management will follow at the conclusion of the competition process.
- As the transition to the new structures completes, we will then formally wind up the current governance arrangements on 31 May.
Thanks to the latest blog post by Joe Kuipers, Chair of Avon and Somerset Probation Trust, we have the text of that Michael Spurr letter giving formal notice of contract termination:-
Dear Chair,
Termination of Probation Trust Service Contract
I am writing as planned to give you formal Notification of the Termination of your Probation Trust Service Contract as part of the Transforming Rehabilitation Programme.
Can I start by saying how grateful I am to you and your teams for the work you have done in getting us to this point. We have now carried out our business readiness assessment, and we are able to confirm that we are on track with the key aspects of the reform programme. This would not have been possible without a lot of hard work on the ground.
Trusts are now completing the allocation of staff to their new roles, and every Trust is on track to do so by 1 April. In addition, the technical elements of the programme are progressing well. Based on all of this, we have now been able to finalise our plans for the next phase of the transition within the public sector, both to begin the new ways of working and to continue to dry-run and test the new systems.
The most important part of the next phase of the transition is to get all staff working together in these teams. Some Trusts are beginning to do this already, and we expect some new teams to be in place as early as February. This process should be completed in time for 1 April.
We will then test key aspects of the new model so that those who will be in both the Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) and in the National Probation Service (NPS) can trial the new ways of working before we formally complete the transfer to the new governance arrangements. Over a two month period from April we will also make the full transition to new IT and support systems in areas like HR.
From 1 April, we will begin to allocate cases according to the future structure. We will also move ahead with caseload transition during this period, though I would emphasise again that problematic cases will not be transferred between probation staff unless there is a suitable time to do so which ensures there is not a risk to public safety.
We will also start new interim account management arrangements from 1 April, to allow the account management team to start to work closely with emerging CRC and NPS teams right away and prepare for contract mobilisation from the end of May. Full commercial contract management will follow at the conclusion of the competition process.
As the transition to the new structures completes, we will then formally wind up the current governance arrangements on 31 May. A formal notice of termination is attached to this letter and gives effect to this. We will also ensure that we retain back-up arrangements during this initial start-up period, until we are confident that the new systems are operating effectively.
We now, more than ever, need to maintain the momentum for change we have achieved through the hard work done to date. Doing so will ensure a confident and stable transition for staff and service users.
We will be providing you with further briefings over the next few days about the process going forward and are grateful for the work you are doing. More information will continue to be sent out to you as we implement the transition.
Over on the Napo forum I notice that tailgunner has something to say about the lack of job descriptions in both the NPS and CRCs:-
There appears to be a growing groundswell of opinion that Probation staff will only do what their employer is contracted to do after the 1st April. e.g. people won't do Court work if employed by CRCs and others won't do low risk work if employed in the NPS - and so on.
There is an issue about job descriptions. As it stands, everyone will transfer across with their existing job descriptions which will be rather more permissive in terms of what people can do than is properly the case according to the responsibilities of the different organisations. There is also an issue about accountability which has yet to be addressed properly by NOMS although it has been raised by the unions. How are staff held to account for work that they are not supposed to be doing? Indeed do individuals put themselves at risk by doing work for which they are not employed? Lots of tricky questions around this one suspects.
It is likely that there will be a number of very fed-up staff on both sides of the divide come first of April. Numerous comments on social media sites suggest that people will just take the view that they'll only do their own job (and not somebody else's) in the hours they are paid for and no more.
MoJ/NOMS are relying on the goodwill of staff both in the NPS and CRCs to muddle along and do whatever is asked of them. If staff do this they may slow down (though probably not stop) the near inevitable train crash that is TR. Might be better just to get on with the crash and pick up the pieces afterwards?
To avoid confusion, distress or upset, my tongue moves firmly into my cheek as I write this post - its become an involuntary movement these days as its hard to take any of this TR crap seriously.
ReplyDeleteMy letter tells me I have been sifted to the role of 'Probation Officer' within the CRC. No job description forthcoming, no acknowledgement of my grievance or request for a job description, and no guidance as to what role boundaries there might be.
I'm already feeling enthused by no more oasys, no more delius, no more mappa, no more breaches - Skools Out Forever!
Perhaps I could trawl the various transcripts of HoC and HoL debates and distil my own job description from the words of Grayling and Wright? Perhaps NOMS HR are doing that as I write this?
NOMS relying on goodwill to get them through? Sorry, chaps. That particular cupboard is bare.
ReplyDeleteLets just hope that the CRC bidders can bring some of that to the table.
DeleteI can see a lot of money being lost on this fanciful project, unfortunately Grayling et al will have lost the next election and will remain broadly unaccountable.
How about, from this point on, we call it 'Grayling's TR'? At least that way he will know that, when this goes pear shaped, professionals and the press will make sure his name is STUCK to this whole debacle.
Graylings TR.
Has quite a ring :)
It's quite clear even to those outside the Criminal Justice System that Grayling and the MoJ have seriously lost their way.
DeleteBesides the destruction already caused within the probation service, the prison service, the legal system and the police force still new announcements keep coming for more changes.
This weekend alone its been announced that those who abscond from prison or fail to return from licence can now face two years imprisonment.
Sex offenders who breach the terms of their licence will be 'named and shamed. (No risk to anyones safety there eh?).
And again prison disturbances, this time at Channings Wood.
If Chris Grayling and the MoJ were paid by results they would be very poor indeed.
http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/hurt-prison-disturbance/story-20463396-detail/story.html
The constant flood of crime-related policy announcements is the result of Lynton Crosby, the Tories' election "guru", telling them not to put messages out about anything other than crime, benefits or the economy - the only areas they think they can win. The next 16 months in politics are going to be really ugly.
DeleteThe increasing number of reports on prison disturbances is not under the MoJ's control, however, which is really interesting. Someone is putting this information out, but you can be pretty sure it's not official channels - and it's not a coincidence that this is happening at the same time as the IEP system was changed by one of Grayling's petty and small-minded diktats. On the whole, the public don't care very much about the conditions in prisons (although they should, because bad prisons make bad people worse) but they will be worried if they think they may not be secure.
So I for one will be sharing as many prison disorder-related stories as possible. And I wholeheartedly agree with Anon at 11:00 - this whole shambles needs to be personally associated with Grayling.
'we have now been able to finalise our plans for the next phase of the transition within the public sector, both to begin the new ways of working and to continue to dry-run and test the new systems..............trial the new ways of working before we formally complete the transfer to the new governance arrangements',,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,is anyone going to tell us in the next 8 weeks exactly what they new ways of working to be dry run are? ....probably not! However, I do think the architects of the TR Omnishambles have an inflated notion of my ability to internalise new ways of working....I'm still trying to understand (wll never apreciate) ndelius, and Mr Grayling and Mr Wright seem to think I can be let into a new way of working at some random time and within a max of 8 weeks I'll be firing on all cyclinders. I'm good, as I have been in the service a long time and have regularly morphed according to the 3-5-year plans, but I'm not that good - so something has to give, however, I have never sold out on the people we work with, and I will salvage what I can to ensure I continue to do this..especially when the TR spectacularly fails.
ReplyDeleteI find this focus on testing new ways of working quite incredible, since the point of Grayling's TR is that, post sell-off, there will be up to 21 different new ways of working, all across the country, and it will be absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with NOMS. They voted down the amendment that would have provided for a report into the working of Grayling's TR 12 months in, plus Grayling has already says he wants a "black box approach" (i.e. we don't care what you do as long as the figures at the end look good - and even then you can probably fiddle them to make them seem ok), so it's bugger all to do with them.
DeleteWell, Anon 13.20 - 21 different ways of approaching the same task post sell off; hadn't thought of that - lawyers likely to have a field day with that one I suspect post sell off. Honestly, there must be civil servants in the MoJ already with hair the length of Rapunzel's, the amount of spinning required to keep this show on the road.....
DeleteDeb
21 different ways of getting it wrong!!! I agree that Solicitors and Barristers will have a field day, not least of which the likely disparity in 'National Standards'.
DeleteIt would be a shame if the press go wind of this and made it a national story; just imagine how many contested breaches may spring up!!
And whilst the MOJ might be concerned about the new phrase 'Grayling's TR', I anticipate that the phrase '5th Column' will bring further headaches!!!
"The most important part of the next phase of the transition is to get all staff working together in these teams."
ReplyDeleteOh really? You think so?
To respond to you, Mr Spurr in the light of how you have treated us..... IT SIMPLY IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.
He's clearly been to the same school of communication as his ministers, believing that if he says something enough it will make it true. Some rude awakenings await!
DeleteI don't think people realise the great rewards and care that come when working for a private sector company. Take Interserve for example. They're bidding for TR contracts. Just look at the benefits you may get if you end up working with them!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Christmas-meal-vouchers-employer-insult/story-20443608-detail/story.html
Have another look at some of the potential bidders for 'Grayling's TR'. Some would argue that Interserve were being overly generous. At least they kept their jobs. Sodexo just laid off 200 staff at HMP Northumberland once their 'bedding in' period expired. I have a good friend who works in Manchester where Sodexo are bidders and she is VERY fearful about what the future holds for her and he colleagues (under Grayling's TR),
ReplyDeleteThe letter authored by Michael Spurr made me laugh when I read it on Friday lunch. To attempt to rewrite history, as if trusts being dissolved on May 31st was all part of the plan, was at the same time embarrassing for the rather crude and obvious spin but also a little disturbing that the leadership within the MoJ, read Civil Service, should be so weak and clearly be directed towards distributing political message over fact.
ReplyDeleteI work within a Probation Trust IT team, so was interested to read this line:
'Over a two month period from April we will also make the full transition to new IT and support systems in areas like HR'.
The training and last minute tweaking of nDelius took 7 weeks or so, and needed planning prior to that. Despite considerable effort, this MoJ driven creation arguably remains a system that has never adequately met the needs of those who use it (and have to support it day in, day out, I might add). There are many reasons for its inadequacies but a one size fits all approach designed by people who won't use it and don't know how probation works away from NOMS HQ is a big one. All the signs are the exact same mistakes will be repeated to pile on disruption at the most unwelcome of times.
However this time around, with local Corporate support arrangements moving over to the CRC, how the NPS will quickly and competently implement new IT arrangements that meet local need, is anyones guess. I believe the strong relationships within trusts and their willingness to 'get on with it' has covered up the folly of this 'NOMS knows best' ethos for years. Come June 1st, the mask will be gone. The only positive of this may be that when common sense prevails and this mess has been cleared up, Grayling and his supporting act like the comical Mr Spurr will be consigned to the dustbin.
Here's more on our soon-to-be-new-partners. I can hardly wait.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/clare-sambrook/man-84-dies-handcuffed-in-hospital-uk-border-control-by-geo-group
Who's getting into bed with this lot (hopefully without the handcuffs)?
One must never rule out handcuffs when getting into bed ;)
DeleteYeah I get it NPS safe and CRC I will lose my job.
ReplyDeletePretty much my thoughts too. However, I plan to jump before I'm pushed AND before Grayling's TR hits the Iceberg!!
DeleteI don`t think it`s as simple as NPS safe, CRC vulnerable. I think both are vulnerable, NPS from severe budget cuts and CRC from rapacious cost-cutting for profit.
DeleteStrangely, for those of us with pre-1993 experience, the CRC role is more like being the sort of PO we signed up to be. NPS looks like Paul Boeteng`s law enforcemnt writ large.
We remain in this together and feelings of guilt, helplessness and hopelessness don`t get us anywhere. Nor for that matter does sniping at senior managers who are probably most vulnerable of all. (Please have a think Pat from London).
We are being shafted and our personal and professional futures are cruelly uncertain. Resist positively and professionally, don`t shaft your clients, shaft the system, work only your hours, refuse inappropriate work (either way) and stuff and bit bureaucracy you safely can.
Anonymous 17:15... I don't think either are safe. As for the IT and HR arrangements being sorted in the 2 months from 1st April, they are living in cloud cuckoo land (unless behind the scenes there has been planning for a while, and by that I mean, prior to February last year) as I work for a merged Trust and it took over 3 years to merge the HR, IT and payroll. So far as staff allocations, it is so random. Whatever the numbers, there are a huge number of totally disollusioned practitioners of all grades out there and the general feeling is despondence.
ReplyDeleteYou would have hoped that NOMS would have learnt something from the experiences of merged Trusts, failed IT systems (remember C-NOMIS?) and how complicated was the launching of E Oasys and N-Delius with training staff over a much longer period of time .I say hoped.......perhaps NOMS staff need to go on a GO programme as tnhey clearly do not learn by experience!!!
DeleteColleagues in other posts are right in saying that the old JDs will follow them into the new organisations -can I urge everyone, regardless of post or grade ,to download, print off and keep your current JDs. If there is anything in it that does not fit your current post raise it with your line manager NOW-keep the email trail and copies of your appraisals and any other vital documents in a safe place-as print offs.
You can drag a probation practitioner to water but you can't make them drink. Offer no advice, no guidance, no solutions, no remedies to grayling, wright, spurs and NOMS. Let the full magnitude of graylings TR omnishambles unfold. Plus get your whistle blowing ready I'm sure there will be plenty of malpractice advanced by some keen to please their new masters, and dodging dealings advanced by private companies just like G4s serco et al have been found out. Charities, not for profit organisation will most likely not only get their fingers burnt by the corporate big boys but also their reputations.
ReplyDeleteYes! Ask for every instruction to be given in writing, and print those emails out...
DeleteWest Yorkshire has been told they are not moving into the new organisations until May.
ReplyDeleteIgnore the above, I'm reading the blog backwards so just catching up with the blog from yesterday explaining it!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jan/19/fortified-schools-become-colleges-crime
ReplyDeleteThere is a LOT of noise about one SPO in Durham Tees Valley who apparently got his team to Up-tarrif the risk of their caseloads prior to the sift date!!!
ReplyDeleteMay just be rumour (it is on Facebook after all) but I would imagine that this alone would raise grounds for any grievance for those allocated CRC!
I have a feeling that some excrement will be hitting fans tomorrow!
But how would it be proved that this had happen as there is a big difference between rumour and fact.
DeleteI would imagine that a simple check of the Tiers in the days prior to the sift day would give some indication. If a lot of low/medium ROH cases had went up suddenly then there might be grounds to question this.
Delete"simple check"? On nDelius??
Delete:)
DeleteAll sorts of machinations have gone on with people in the know in every trust etc being able to get themselves into positions ahead of the game to be sifted into NPS. It won't help them if they're not up to the job nor will it help them when NPS turns out to be the whipping boy
ReplyDeleteAm hearing local post-assignment stories after letters received. Tears for CRC staff, embarassment for NPS due to empathy for the 'lost'. Worst are those in split roles who have seen half of their job gone with no idea what they will be doing with that 'extra' time. Feelings of having lost control of their career choices and having lost ground they made up over years. Also colleagues in busy teams have seen colleagues lost to the other side with no clarity on how they will manage the work.
ReplyDeleteThis process is so flawed, it is a disgrace. Grayling's 'success' should be a source of shame for those in NOMS who are implementing this perversion of an award winning service.
Suicide and murder rate in British prisons at highest level for years
DeleteMinistry of Justice figures show deaths up in men's jails but down in women's facilities thanks to improved safety measures Monday 20 January 201407.00 GMTLady Corston, a Labour peer, recommended safety measures for women' jails in a report published in 2007. Photograph: Martin Argles for the GuardianEric AllisonSuicide and murder rate in prisons in England and Wales have reached their highest levels in years according to figures released by the Ministry of Justice.In 2013, there were four alleged homicides – the highest number since 1998 – and 70 apparently self-inflicted deaths, more than at any time since 2008. There were 199 deaths in prisons in England and Wales in total.Male prisoners' suicide and self-harm is rising year on year. In 2013, five male prisons each recorded three self-inflicted deaths.The suicide rate among female prisoners has fallen, thanks to safety measures recommended by former Labour MP Lady Corston in a report published in 2007.Her report followed a sharp rise in female prisoners' suicides, including six deaths in Styal prison in 2003.Statistics gathered by the Prison Reform Trust indicate mental health problems may be behind the increase in suicide and self-harm rates: 26% of women and 16% of men were treated for a mental health problem in the year before custody.And 62% of male and 52% female prisoners are classed as having a personality disorder.Commenting on the rise in apparent prison homicides, Professor David Wilson, head of criminology at Birmingham City University and a former prison governor, said: "This is the highest number of alleged murders since 1998 and it reflects deep structural problems about control and order inside our jails – not our most high-security jails, but every prison in which we currently lock people up."In February last year, Subhan Anwar, 25, serving a life sentence for the murder of his partner's baby, was killed at Long Lartin prison, Worcestershire. Two prisoners are awaiting trial for the killing.In the same month, four prisoners were charged with the murder of 25-year-old Adnan Rafiq, an inmate at Hewell prison, Redditch, Worcestershire.Last October, a prisoner at Lincoln jail was charged with the murder of Alan Goode. Goode, 73, was serving nine months for serial voyeurism after spying on women in toilets in Leicester.And in December a 22-year-old prisoner, Michael Hennesy, died from stab wounds at Lindholme prison, South Yorkshire. Two prisoners will stand trial for the killing.An inspection report of Lindholme in the summer was highly critical of safety measures at the jail. More than a third of prisoners said they felt unsafe and inspectors said drugs and alcohol were freely available at the category C prison.Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said almost all the deaths in custody were preventable."The responsibility for an increase in the number of people who take their own lives in prison lies squarely with those who advocate putting behind bars more and more people who do not need to be there."A Prison Service spokesman said: "We are committed to making sure prisons are safe and secure – this includes reducing the number of deaths and applying strenuous efforts to learn from each one."A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said: "Every death is subject to an investigation by the police and the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman as well as a coroner's inquest."Tags: Prisons and probation,UK criminal justice, Crime, UK news
Oh dear God, where will this end? Oh dear God WHEN will this end?
ReplyDeleteI was sitting looking out my window today reflecting on a revocation report and I swear the four horsemen of the apocalypse passed by.
ReplyDeleteWar, Famine, Disease and TR.
DeleteThis just appeared in the Guardian in the last hour. Should be read!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jan/20/justice-secretary-probation-service-privatisation-deadline
The justice secretary, Chris Grayling, has announced a two-month delay in the timetable for privatising 70% of the probation service after his most senior officials advised there would be public safety issues if he pressed full steam ahead.
DeleteGrayling told parliament on Monday that he was delaying the 1 April deadline for terminating the government's contracts with the 35 public sector probation trusts until 1 June.
He said in a written ministerial statement that the delay was necessary so that the 21 new "community rehabilitation companies" could test the new ways of working before the formal transfer takes place. Ministers particularly want to test the new computer and support systems, such as human resources.
The delay is however believed to mean that the "go live" date for the "transforming rehabilitation reforms", as they are officially known, remains the end of December. By then the transfer of the management of 225,000 offenders and the staff of the probation service will have been split between the new companies and the rump of the public probation service dealing with the most high-risk offenders.
This is the second major slip to Grayling's original timetable and any further delay could jeopardise the privatisation by bringing it close to the start of the general election campaign next year.
Whitehall officials confirm that Grayling decided to delay the transition start date by two months after advice from his department, but they say the key aspects of the reform programme remain on track.
A justice ministry statement stressed that "problematic cases" will not be handed to the private and voluntary sectors "unless there is a suitable time to do so which ensures there is not a risk to public safety".
The Probation Chiefs Association said it understood the need to delay the date for terminating the probation trust contracts which had been originally scheduled for 31 March this year.
"However, it remains that the timetable for transition is still extremely pressured. We have concerns that if the transitionary infrastructure is not implemented carefully and fully tested before the new organisations 'go live' on 1 June, this could have serious risks of an unacceptable fall in probation service quality and public safety implications," it said.
The shadow justice secretary, Sadiq Khan, said he hoped the two-month delay was a sign that Grayling was at last taking seriously the warnings about his "rushed and half-baked plans to privatise probation".
He said the justice ministry's own leaked risk register warned that public safety would be put at risk: "If reports I'm hearing are true that today's announcement of a delay is due to fears over public safety then ministers need to come clean," said Khan.
"But a two-month delay is still not enough. With no evidence that fragmenting supervision of serious and violent offenders and bringing in big multinational companies will do anything to improve reoffending rates while keeping the public safe, the only sensible option is for this whole reckless gamble with public safety to be abandoned."
The Commons justice select committee is to publish its assessment of the probation reform programme on Wednesday.
Could the delay to TR be as a consequence to whats contained in the justice select committees assessment that will be published on Wednesday? I it may be. It will be interesting to see what it concludes.
ReplyDeleteBig post for Thursday Jim?
Yes big post for Wednesday.
DeleteHad an email off line manager the other day about targets that are being met and kept, and those that are red. Do management think I give a flying fuck now?
ReplyDelete