A Last Word

Joe Kuipers, outgoing Chair of Avon and Somerset Probation Trust, has published his swan song and a slightly edited version is reproduced here. Throughout this whole sorry business, he has conspicuously been the only Trust Chair willing to stick his neck out and well above the parapet and for that I think he is assured an honourable mention when the history of this omnishambles is written and the day of reckoning arrives. Read the full version here.

The Dish Ran Away with the Spoon

High diddle diddle,
The Cat and the Fiddle,
The Cow jump'd over the Moon,
The little dog laugh'd to see such Craft,
And the Dish ran away with the Spoon.

This is reportedly the 18th century version of the well known nonsense rhyme, but I thought some of the words might resonate. Has there been 'diddling' and is somebody running away with probation to a questionable destination?

What, no reoffending data?

Yes, proving its worth. That is where I will start. I am proud to be part of ASPT. Some 7 years ago we were, not to put too fine a point on it, bottom of the heap of the then 42 Probation Boards, with a damaged reputation in government. We are now a robust and highly performing commercially astute business, with a different reputation at the centre. No one can argue with our successes, pioneers of IOM and IRIS, winners of more national awards than any other Trust (proportionate to our size). Our success has allowed us to be an 'opinion outlier' - we are known for questioning impositions and we were the only Board to try to resist the transition to Trust status. The writing was on the wall back then. The promised business freedoms and flexibilities were just kites in the sky, but the leadership at that time failed to hold out for the promises to become reality before being seduced into the first stage of where we are now. Enough said.

And, nationally, probation continues to perform. The MoJ published the latest Adult Reoffending Data on 20 May. I won't go into the detail, but probation continues to prove its worth. The measure used has been subject to criticism from probation, but we have been told endlessly that that is the measure, that is, until now. The MoJ publication says:

"Following a consultation, in October 2011 the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) introduced a new measure of Proven Re-offending which provides consistent measures of re-offending at national and local levels. The local adult re-offending measure remains a National Offender Management Service (NOMS) performance indicator for Probation Trusts for the year 2013/14. However, under changes to the probation service, through the introduction of the Transforming Rehabilitation programme in 2014–15, this measure is no longer relevant for future reporting. We have therefore agreed with NOMS that this will be the final bulletin in this series which will be used in their final performance probation trust ratings in July."

So, there we have it. A measure critical to probation performance assessment and ratings, gone. Now, I do not know what the contracts for the CRCs include, nor what the expectations will be for the NPS in relation to reducing reoffending, but it is interesting, isn't it? Makes one think that it is just too hard a measure for those picking up the business? Oh, and case you don't remember, the reoffending indicator was lauded with academic references. As it happens, we in ASPT have argued for several years that probation performance indicators should be more aligned to crime reduction. We will see.

Our last 'proper' Trust Board meeting.

We had out last 'proper' Trust Board meeting this last week. I have been privileged to have been supported by a startling good and thorough group of Board members, and especially Susan Graham (our deputy chair) and Paul Burton, who have both been with me since I started some 7 years ago. In addition, the work of our Board Secretary has been superb (Anne Roberts) as has been the administrative support provided by Elaine Berk. It goes without saying that without Sally and her team and all the staff ASPT would not be in the strong position where we are now. I also want to commend Paul Stopard and his team (the NOMS Community Management Team) with whom we have enjoyed a professional and helpful relationship.

Our last Board meeting was in many ways exactly the same as any other. We did not skimp on business items, and in particular made arrangements for key matters not to get lost in the changes by clear allocation of responsibilities to ensure that improvement issues were progressed. One of the main items we discussed was the audit of risk of harm assessments and the required improvements needed. Professional to the end. We hope that our quality audit work is retained in the future organisations - understanding quality takes time and effort, and it costs. At this stage we are not sure what will be required of the Board over the coming months. No doubt we might hear?

I also joined the last NOMS teleconference on Friday. A lacklustre affair, filled with thanks for all the hard work Trusts had done, self congratulations about how hard all those in NOMS were working, and apologies for the last minute nature of outstanding matters, such as property transfers. It was telling that there was only one question from Trusts, a technical matter on finance. The approach now is to see what happens over the coming 'cut over period' - suck it and see. There will be a 'gold command' type group at the centre, ready and hopefully able to deal with questions as they come in. My question about this is to what extent will the gold command team be equipped to deal with issues that do not come from the internal world of probation, but from courts, police, partners, etc. My advice to those probation staff working in the new system is to escalate all those questions to the centre, just to ensure that there are consistent answers.

A silver lining?

I am not going to spell out what may or may not go wrong over the coming days, weeks and months. It would not be responsible recognising that our staff are about to 'migrate' into either the NPS or CRC, and over the past 2 years I have said enough about the risks and the folly. I have to hope that for their sakes and for the sake of the excellence of our service to our communities (and this applies to all Trusts) all will be well. There is just one silver lining for Trusts - the final days of our responsibility for service delivery coincide with the shut down of n-Delius. We all wonder what will happen when it is switched back on again.

However, there is just a little story to tell - a snippet. A Trust CEO who I know was being chased for a return not sent back to NOMS. On investigation it had been sent to the composite name of two other CEOs (i.e. the first name of one and the second of another, but to the right Trust). When it was then sent to the right CEO it was sent to the wrong Trust.

A bitter taste?

It is fair to say that this whole journey of TR has left more than a bitter taste. This is also the sub-title of a section of the poetry anthology, from which I draw the following as probation moves into a 'twilight' zone (sorry to say I cannot cope with an analogy that probation is moving from the dark into the sunlight):

Sunsets, by Richard Aldington

The white body of the evening
Is torn into scarlet,
Slashed and gouged and seared into crimson,
And hung ironically
With garlands of mist.

And the wind
Blowing over London from Flanders
Has a bitter taste.

But Sally and I have asked ourselves, 'Has the effort of the past 7 years been a waste?' Our firm answer is, 'No, not at all'. The bitter taste comes from knowing that we were still on an improvement journey and that the changes do not strike us as well founded or evidenced, threatening as they do some core elements of our successful approach in ASPT.

Vandalism derives from the Vandal Tribes. Their history is interesting and they do not fully deserve the attribution, essentially one of barbaric destruction. But it is a good word and so appropriately describes what has been perpetrated on probation, especially when Trusts offered to do what the government asked for? Robert Burns in his poem 'To a Mouse' wrote:

"The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft agley."
(The best laid schemes of mice and men / Often go awry.)

If only these were 'best laid schemes'; and another rodent comes to mind.

A bitter taste is not the same as feeling embittered. I do not have a sense of bitterness, and I urge colleagues not to allow bitterness to infect their behaviour. It is a pernicious emotion with only one outcome - damage to self. I also ask colleagues not to allow feelings of hurt, envy, injustice and understandable anger to interfere with trying to do a good job. In my view the system created will break in any case without 'bad behaviour' as it is founded on a perverse fault line.

So, what will I do? I will keep myself informed, and be available when, and if, the system needs to be stitched back together again. But something tells me that I would be near the bottom of any list of 'desirables' should such reweaving of the tapestry be sought. And, perhaps it is time to say goodbye to probation after 42 years (I did start very young). However, I am involved with NoOffence and may also become part of another Social Enterprise, rooted in helping offenders lead law abiding lives and thereby protecting the public - I am not dead just yet. We will see and with all sincerity, I do wish you all well.

Joe Kuipers, 26 May 2014