Thanks Jim-have saved the two I am to keep. I made the decision today that I need to apply for jobs outside the service. After such a long time I cannot just let this car crash of a plan happen on my watch. I feel very very sad about the whole thing but Grayling and his NOMS chums have wrecked this service and even if put back together again it will take a decade to recover. What angers me is that he will never be in a position to take full responsibility for his actions.
I.m incredibly sad too. Within five days of telling my long standing IPP licensee he was to be transferred to someone else, he has been recalled. Coincidence? I think not.
My last contribution warned that there would be a low turnout and I feared that the strike could have a negative impact on the whole challenge to TR. Well I'm pretty sure the turnout wasn't as good as anticipated but on the whole the outcome was positive, probably helped by the joint action of solicitors. So what do we do next ? Nicola Hill (President LCCSA) says "action in the courts hurts the Justice Secretary like nothing else".They are planning "radical action". The 'Courts Special' on this blogspot dated 23rd March, received 73 comments . . . clearly an indication that this is one area of our practice that demands attention. I have had my Court Duty TR training and was anticipating going live on 1st April with 'RSR' and 'CAS'. Well guess what, it didn't happen, and the latest information from my Trust is that it will be phased in "during April" when it has been tested on our local sytems. We all know that none of us are really geared up to be going live any time soon. The Courts (Magistrates and Crown) are where it all happens. They cannot function in any way without Probation input. In every case we will be required to assess risk and then to allocate to CRC or NPS as appropriate, all within a defined time span. We will be scrutinised to the hilt, not least because NPS won't want any of those low /med scratters and CRC will want as many bods as we can throw at them in order to maximise PBR. We haven't been trained properly; we don't all have the necessary IT / facilities / staffing levels within court buildings. Even if we kid ourselves that we might be able to 'give it a go' is this really the way to start the rehabilitation revolution. Which ever way you look at it, the new systems will require new ways of working which will inevitably be more time consuming. Now, I,m getting to my point . . .at some stage 'someone' will need to declare that e.g. FDR + RSR + OASys OGRs + CAS etc etc takes X no. of hours and minutes . . a bit like a full PSR (SDR) might take 7 hrs. Can the Unions (both NAPO and UNISON) maybe start to look at the detail and negotiate a national agreement on just how much extra time court officers might need to complete these new assessment tools competently. My belief is that by having some national guidance and sticking to it, we could, within a matter of weeks create such a massive backlog that the current court system would grind to a halt. I would love to be able to tell the 'chair of the bench', after he has just asked a defendant to " have a quick chat with Probation" (meaning 10 mins max) that I might be in a position to "feedback" in about two hours !. I really do believe that Unions should continue to make legal challenges to TR but maybe if they look outside the box at some of the 'processes' and maybe challenge them as 'unreasonable' then we may be able to pick away at the edges. Our position in the Courts is all powerfull but we are often taken for granted. Lets make more of an effort to dictate how and when WE want things to happen!
You are right about the central position of court work in the wider work of the service - after all, we carry out the work that we do with people on behalf of the court, and the order is the legal basis for doing so. Unfortunately those senior managers who truly grasp this and understand the particular pressures of court work while assessing risks and being mindful of the interests of justice are rare. I have in the past heard our work described in a most offensive way. This looks like the 'perfect storm' of conditions waiting to happen. Being expected to deliver the impossible under impossible circumstances.
24 hours or so later. Not sure what to think. I received the Old Mr Grace email, "you've all done very well". But no media coverage, no public awareness, Labour going to ground, Khan accepting the inevitable in his HR World interview - it makes one and a half days' pay seem an expensive folly. I hope I'm wrong, but I doubt it. I'd rather have donated it to the JR fund - which could have been a strategic option for napo to have pursued for those not feeling up to strike action.
Whats next? Job hunting, fire-fighting, transferring cases, dealing with my own, my colleagues' and my cases' stress levels and disappointment.
Its a bullies world - Tory toffs, Putin's Russia, Syria, big business. And the rest are mere cannon fodder. Afghanistan - 450 British military lives for no real purpose. I don't criticise the military, I criticise the politicians who couldn't wait to wave their willies at each other, ignoring public opinion or the facts.
Our noble and much heralded profession has been devastated by these ideological nitwits. Grayling & Wright et al somehow think they're right, and will never accept they are wrong. Idiots, the lot of 'em.
The pictures above sadly display how sparse the turnout was. For those taking part it obviously seemed worthwhile though. Probation workers are generally quite compliant and are careful not to do anything that will upset the authorities. Frankly those pictures show respectable Guardianistas on a day out in nice weather having a fun time. It was such an own goal in reality. Where was the anger and venom!
A demonstration with a sit in at a major London Court with Tom Rendon chaining himself to the entrance door would have got massive publicity. We could have all clubbed together to pay for his clothes to be laundered and for a new personal grooming kit for him after he'd been roughed up by G4S security during their efforts to free him. Perhaps he could have been chained up with Liz Robertson on a job share basis.
Not one NAPO officer has visited my office during the TR changes. I and two others at my office came out in November. We were subjected to colleagues coming out and watching us as they had a fag! I thought at that time never again! and then at the March special meeting there was new date called for strike action.....I thought oh no....not this time! I for one am not taking lectures from NAPO Execs for a principled stand after their recent history!
Where was UNISON in all this by the way......still no explanation? As for the judicial challenge......who knows!
Thanks Jim-have saved the two I am to keep. I made the decision today that I need to apply for jobs outside the service. After such a long time I cannot just let this car crash of a plan happen on my watch. I feel very very sad about the whole thing but Grayling and his NOMS chums have wrecked this service and even if put back together again it will take a decade to recover. What angers me is that he will never be in a position to take full responsibility for his actions.
ReplyDeleteI.m incredibly sad too. Within five days of telling my long standing IPP licensee he was to be transferred to someone else, he has been recalled. Coincidence? I think not.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/stop-risking-public-safety
ReplyDeleteMy last contribution warned that there would be a low turnout and I feared that the strike could have a negative impact on the whole challenge to TR. Well I'm pretty sure the turnout wasn't as good as anticipated but on the whole the outcome was positive, probably helped by the joint action of solicitors.
ReplyDeleteSo what do we do next ? Nicola Hill (President LCCSA) says "action in the courts hurts the Justice Secretary like nothing else".They are planning "radical action". The 'Courts Special' on this blogspot dated 23rd March, received 73 comments . . . clearly an indication that this is one area of our practice that demands attention. I have had my Court Duty TR training and was anticipating going live on 1st April with 'RSR' and 'CAS'. Well guess what, it didn't happen, and the latest information from my Trust is that it will be phased in "during April" when it has been tested on our local sytems. We all know that none of us are really geared up to be going live any time soon.
The Courts (Magistrates and Crown) are where it all happens. They cannot function in any way without Probation input. In every case we will be required to assess risk and then to allocate to CRC or NPS as appropriate, all within a defined time span. We will be scrutinised to the hilt, not least because NPS won't want any of those low /med scratters and CRC will want as many bods as we can throw at them in order to maximise PBR.
We haven't been trained properly; we don't all have the necessary IT / facilities / staffing levels within court buildings. Even if we kid ourselves that we might be able to 'give it a go' is this really the way to start the rehabilitation revolution. Which ever way you look at it, the new systems will require new ways of working which will inevitably be more time consuming. Now, I,m getting to my point . . .at some stage 'someone' will need to declare that e.g. FDR + RSR + OASys OGRs + CAS etc etc takes X no. of hours and minutes . . a bit like a full PSR (SDR) might take 7 hrs. Can the Unions (both NAPO and UNISON) maybe start to look at the detail and negotiate a national agreement on just how much extra time court officers might need to complete these new assessment tools competently. My belief is that by having some national guidance and sticking to it, we could, within a matter of weeks create such a massive backlog that the current court system would grind to a halt. I would love to be able to tell the 'chair of the bench', after he has just asked a defendant to " have a quick chat with Probation" (meaning 10 mins max) that I might be in a position to "feedback" in about two hours !. I really do believe that Unions should continue to make legal challenges to TR but maybe if they look outside the box at some of the 'processes' and maybe challenge them as 'unreasonable' then we may be able to pick away at the edges. Our position in the Courts is all powerfull but we are often taken for granted. Lets make more of an effort to dictate how and when WE want things to happen!
You are right about the central position of court work in the wider work of the service - after all, we carry out the work that we do with people on behalf of the court, and the order is the legal basis for doing so. Unfortunately those senior managers who truly grasp this and understand the particular pressures of court work while assessing risks and being mindful of the interests of justice are rare. I have in the past heard our work described in a most offensive way. This looks like the 'perfect storm' of conditions waiting to happen. Being expected to deliver the impossible under impossible circumstances.
ReplyDelete24 hours or so later. Not sure what to think. I received the Old Mr Grace email, "you've all done very well". But no media coverage, no public awareness, Labour going to ground, Khan accepting the inevitable in his HR World interview - it makes one and a half days' pay seem an expensive folly. I hope I'm wrong, but I doubt it. I'd rather have donated it to the JR fund - which could have been a strategic option for napo to have pursued for those not feeling up to strike action.
ReplyDeleteWhats next? Job hunting, fire-fighting, transferring cases, dealing with my own, my colleagues' and my cases' stress levels and disappointment.
Its a bullies world - Tory toffs, Putin's Russia, Syria, big business. And the rest are mere cannon fodder. Afghanistan - 450 British military lives for no real purpose. I don't criticise the military, I criticise the politicians who couldn't wait to wave their willies at each other, ignoring public opinion or the facts.
Our noble and much heralded profession has been devastated by these ideological nitwits. Grayling & Wright et al somehow think they're right, and will never accept they are wrong. Idiots, the lot of 'em.
The pictures above sadly display how sparse the turnout was. For those taking part it obviously seemed worthwhile though. Probation workers are generally quite compliant and are careful not to do anything that will upset the authorities. Frankly those pictures show respectable Guardianistas on a day out in nice weather having a fun time. It was such an own goal in reality. Where was the anger and venom!
ReplyDeleteA demonstration with a sit in at a major London Court with Tom Rendon chaining himself to the entrance door would have got massive publicity. We could have all clubbed together to pay for his clothes to be laundered and for a new personal grooming kit for him after he'd been roughed up by G4S security during their efforts to free him. Perhaps he could have been chained up with Liz Robertson on a job share basis.
Not one NAPO officer has visited my office during the TR changes.
I and two others at my office came out in November. We were subjected to colleagues coming out and watching us as they had a fag! I thought at that time never again! and then at the March special meeting there was new date called for strike action.....I thought oh no....not this time! I for one am not taking lectures from NAPO Execs for a principled stand after their recent history!
Where was UNISON in all this by the way......still no explanation? As for the judicial challenge......who knows!
Anon at 08.08 acted with integrity and made a positive demonstration that she or he does not believe the Probation outsourcing plans are fair.
ReplyDeleteI am thankful for that.
that's a very good idea to do a useful job for society.thanks for your kind.
ReplyDelete