Prisons Special

Another day, another 'special' and for this on prisons, I'm grateful to a reader for sending me the following very interesting internal Noms document. It shows how policy continues to be written 'on the hoof' and use up a considerable amount of fag packets :- 

From:              Colin Allars, Director of Probation

 & Phil Copple, Director of Public Sector Prisons

To:                  Probation Trust Chief Executives

                        Probation Trust Chairs

                        CRC Chief Executives

                        NPS Deputy Directors         

CC:                 NEMC

Governing Governors

                        DDCs

                        Gordon Davison

                        Amy Rees

Senior Community Managers

Sophie Otter 

           

Date:               14/03/14

Re: THE ROLE OF PROBATION STAFF IN PUBLIC SECTOR PRISONS

1. We intend to improve offender management in custody to ensure that it is at the heart of managing offenders and is core to our service delivery. The changes necessary to make these improvements will impact upon the role of seconded probation staff in public sector prisons. We are using this opportunity to consider the role of probation in custody to ensure that the professional skills and expertise that Probation Officers have are used to the best advantage for the whole of NOMS. This note introduces the new role for probation staff in custody and describes how we will introduce and manage this change.

2. This change is occurring in the context of Transforming Rehabilitation (TR) reforms and the OM Change Programme. TR highlights the importance of OM in custody, not just in the final, resettlement stages of an offender’s custodial sentence; but throughout an offender’s journey. We are therefore looking to support prisons to deliver continuous improvement in offender management. Probation staff have a critical role to play in this process. We are therefore introducing changes and enhancements to the role of probation staff working in prisons, as well as a different complement of those staff. Building on and further developing the vital role probation already play, this new probation complement in custody will strengthen and support the role Prison Service Operational Band 4s play as Offender Supervisors.

3. The purpose of the new role of probation in prison will be to provide professional expertise in risk assessment and case management. The role will comprise:

(i) quality assuring the delivery of the offender management model in custody;
(ii) directly supporting Offender Supervisors by providing regular advice and guidance; and,
(iii) overseeing and directing all high risk cases managed by Offender Supervisors.

4. In this way, Probation Officers will be more able to influence and contribute to the delivery of offender management in prisons, supporting Offender Supervisors to increase their skills and professionalism in providing OM, whatever their current level of experience. Critically, Probation Officers’ expertise in risk assessment and management will help to drive up and maintain standards in this area and give a level of assurance that prisons are delivering good quality offender management. Further, Offender Supervisors will have increased confidence in the critical decisions they make in overseeing the progression of offenders through the custodial phase of their sentences.

5. A detailed role description will be provided soon as part of future communications about this change.

6. The new role for probation staff working in prisons, which has been developed in close consultation with NOMS Offender Management and Public Protection Group (OMPPG), TR colleagues and Probation professionals, requires the skills and experience that qualified Probation Officers possess. Accordingly, in the longer term, there will not be a role for Probation Service Officers (PSOs) in the new arrangements.

7. The transition from current arrangements to the new model will take place over 18 months to two years, and will be phased carefully to minimise the impact on both staff and the work of Offender Management Units. This will ensure the smooth transition necessary for operational continuity both in prisons and in the community. It will also enable the staff affected, particularly the PSOs, to be properly consulted, via their line managers, about their futures and supported into new roles. There will be no compulsory redundancies. Further details of the implementation strategy will be provided in due course, including detailed information on the opportunities available to PSOs currently working in prisons. These posts, depending on the area, may include roles in delivering offending behaviour programmes in prisons, other roles within NPS and potentially conversion into Prison Officers.

8. As many of you will be aware, Public Sector Prisons Benchmarking programme has introduced a model of Offender Management in most prisons (male local prisons and male training prisons) in which offender supervision will be exclusively delivered by Operational Band 4 prison officers. In designing this model, the need for professional, qualified Probation expertise was recognised. The Probation resource required to deliver the new model will be determined through an allocation tool which calculates the required complement of Probation Officers based on the ‘turnover’ of prisoners and risk of serious harm profile of the offenders in the prison. Overall, this will require an increase in the complement of qualified Probation Officers working in prisons. We will work with the leadership of the National Probation Service to determine how this increase should be met. Probation Officers currently working within OMUs in prisons can expect to move into the new roles without any matching or other process.

9. For open prisons the arrangements within OMUs will be slightly different; offender supervision will be a shared task between Prison Officer Band 4 and qualified Probation Officers. Prison Officers will provide offender supervision for the cases that will be managed by Community Rehabilitation Companies on release and Probation Officers will act as Offender Supervisors to NPS cases. There are wider changes to open prisons as a result of an MOJ review of Release on Temporary Licence (ROTL) and these have been communicated separately.

10. To ensure the effective management, supervision and professional development of Probation Officers working in prison, the following arrangements will also be made:
First, to ensure their professional skills are kept up to date and their development maintained, the expectation will be that Probation staff working in prison will be posted for a limited period (details are still to be confirmed, but no more than 3 years).
They will be managed and supervised by Senior Probation Officers (SPOs) who will be based in the new NPS Divisions. We will work with the National Probation Service to identify any necessary adjustments in the SPO resource assigned to support Probation staff working in prisons.

11. On 1st June 2014 all Probation staff then working on secondment in prisons will transfer to the National Probation Service but will continue to work and deliver services as per current arrangements. More detail on the timing of these changes will be provided in due course and made available for consultation with staff and Trade Unions.

12. The changes outlined in this paper will add to the already fast-moving pace of change for the Probation Service and we acknowledge that this will feel like an additional pressure. However, the changes outlined are will produce a much clearer and focused role for probation staff in prisons. This will ultimately result in higher standards of Offender Management which will reduce reoffending and help to protect the public which, we are confident, will make these changes worthwhile. 

COLIN ALLARS & PHIL COPPLE

It's great to see how Grayling has been forced onto the back foot over the prisoner 'book ban' policy. It's really captured the public attention with absolutely acres of bad publicity and even a Number 10 petition started by Change.org. This is what Erwin James has to say on the subject:-

In the past few months the Justice Secretary Chris Grayling has been rapidly diminishing the regime for people in prison. Last year he ordered all new prisoners back into prison uniform, then he stopped prisoners having Christmas presents sent in from their families. He has meddled with the Incentives and Earned Privileges Scheme so that prisoners who want to achieve the “enhanced” level of imprisonment – i.e. an extra visit a month, a better cell, a bit more money to spend from their private cash – have to do “over and above” just being well behaved. (A particularly niggardly move as he knows full well that so called “purposeful activity” in our prisons is becoming as elusive as the evidence that his other big idea, “Payment by Results” will actually work.)

More recently he has decided to restrict ROTL – Release on Temporary Licence – because of several high profile failures – yet last year there were almost half a million successful releases from prison on temporary licence. Nastiest of all of Grayling’s interference with the running of prisons however is his decision to ban prisoners from having books sent in and – incredibly – writing materials. These moves apparently are supposed to somehow magically “Transform Rehabilitation” and lead to a reduction in reoffending – yet a more illogical approach to the problem of recidivism would be hard to find.

This week he admitted that the system he presides over was “very flawed” and that the consistently high reoffending figures for released prisoners (costing the economy between £9bn and 13bn a year according to the office for national statistics) – was a “crazy situation.” Mr Grayling talks about “rehabilitation” on the one hand and yet treats people in prison like his own personal political pawns on the other. The fact is, it is the Justice Secretary’s rhetoric that is “crazy” and his determination to involve himself in the decisions which dictate the quality in the minutiae of prison landing life which is “very flawed.”

Commenting on Grayling’s decision to ban books being sent to prisoners Frances Crook, the Director of the Howard League for Penal Reform said: “Over the last year, because of shrinking prison budgets, staff cuts and increasing numbers, prisoners have been spending even longer in their cells without access to facilities such as libraries. It is common for prisoners to spend 20 hours a day in their cells during the week. At weekends they can be cooped up from Friday lunchtime until Monday morning. Conditions have deteriorated so much in recent months that this has become a major concern.

“Being able to read a book is a lifeline and a way of nourishing the mind. As families and friends are now forbidden from sending basic items into prison, prisoners are sitting in stinking cells, wearing dirty clothes, with nothing to do and not even a book to read. We urge the government [i.e Mr Grayling] to reconsider this draconian measure.”

If he really has the interests of future potential victims of people coming out of prison he really should reconsider all of the above.

Grayling is so rattled he rushed out a feeble press release yesterday in response to the Change.org petition:-

I saw your comments about the availability of books in prisons yesterday and am writing to correct some of the misleading reports that have been around.

There has been no ban on the availability of books in prison, and the change of policy has been to ensure that we have consistency across the prison estate. It was never the case that prisoners were simply allowed unlimited parcels - books or otherwise.

The restrictions on access to parcels by prisoners are necessary because of the need to limit the ability of offenders to get hold of drugs and contraband. The logistics of a prison estate with 85,000 people would make it impossible to check in detail every parcel sent in, and so rights of access to parcels are, and have always been, limited.

Prisoners have always enjoyed and continue to enjoy full rights of access to all the titles available through the local public library service, which operates a full service in all of our prisons. If titles are not available there and then, they can be ordered as normal.

In addition, prisoners can purchase individual items through the prison shop if they wish to do so. These can be ordered under controlled arrangements. Each prisoner is allowed up to twelve titles in their cells at any one time, inclusive of those borrowed from the library.

I’m sure that you would agree that we need to ensure that all prisoners have access to books, and also support to help them learn to read if necessary – and that is what happens. Equally, I am sure that you would wish us to ensure that we maintain proper security to prevent the smuggling of drugs, pornography and extremist materials – and that is why we maintain a tight limit on the right of prisoners to receive parcels.

With best wishes

Chris Grayling

PS - Just spotted this:-

More problems for Grayling are looming. This from the F.T. (paywall)

Chris Grayling, the Justice Secretary, is under mounting pressure to act over fears that thousands of prisoners will bring compensation claims for being held beyond their minimum sentence. Ministers face the prospect of a torrent of claims over a backlog of prisoners being held for months and even years after completion of their minimum term. One prisoner in Erlestoke prison in Wiltshire, who was given a minimum sentence of seven months, has now spent seven years behind bars.