Sunday 8 February 2015

Bleak Futures Week 6

I would say that I'm pretty clued up about what ORA means however, that does not mean that I'm ready for the onslaught on new cases that will be landing on my desk. If I'm being honest the whole thing fills me with dread, the main reason being the workload that I will be expected to cope with. I was out of the office for 1.5 days last week for meetings etc, saw 20 people in between, completed an ISP, termination and breach report. I also done two HV's to drop off food parcels (which I also collected) and a further HV to drop off a Methadone script for someone who had flu. Most nights I worked until 6pm and for the benefit of my clients rather than anything else. This is with a caseload of 45. Should this double, which is expected, then what little help I now give to my client is going to be significantly compromised! Writing this has left me feeling more than a little sick and upset at the thought of what the future holds :(

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My concern is that magistrates will be imposing custodial sentences where a community order may have been given. More people will experience incarceration. On release they will likely have limited support. Less opportunity to find work. They will be treated like cattle and follow the conveyor belt. Supervision will be short and may be ineffective resulting in further offending in the distant future. It may be a short sharp shock for some and act as a deterrent. Prison will be punishment rather than protecting the public and managing risk. Then again I could be totally wrong. Be strong colleagues and let us continue to care for each other and the clients we manage....

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You're likely right. And what may have originally been a 6 month CO will now be a 12 month RAR/PSS/TGI Friday. Thus adding more strain on the service.

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I had lunch with friends yesterday 3 of whom are Magistrates (2 different courts) and they described real dissatisfaction with their roles for the first time. One described arriving for his duty sitting and 3 benches being sent home as the District Judges had insisted business was moved to their courts. Now, he pointed out DJs earn £115k pa whereas Magistrates get expenses so he suggested they are trying to protect their position in light of the cuts.

Another friend described the Clerks being really dissatisfied and talking about cuts to their numbers. Gossip around both courts seems to be no-one sees the point of probation any more. She said that oral reports told the Magistrates little other than proposed sentence and appeared pointless to her. She said their introduction had really damaged probation standing with Benches and the Clerks. Everyone described confusion about ORA and training not being delivered yet because "there's no-one available to do it", pretty much like probation experience really.


Talk also turned to defence solicitors and firms amalgamating, with people saying they feared being able to pay their mortgages for the first time. Overall a real sense that the Magistrates Courts are in disarray and a once pretty cohesive system falling apart. Really sad....

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Travel expenses for clients is already a thing of the past in some areas. Clearly, they'll go across the board very soon, causing many more problems. The thing that gets me in all of this though, is, what would a judge say if some bright client brought a case arguing that it's unfair and disproportionate, that having received 7 days imprisonment for shoplifting they now have 12 months supervision, yet the violent offender that attracts a 15 month sentence has only 7 1/2months supervision? Indeed, a 7 month sentence will see you receive a greater amount of engagement with the CJS than someone that does actually receive 15 months. Surely it wont be long before that's brought before the courts?

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At present bus fare is paid for Unpaid Work, Programmes, drug treatment and education but I can see this being cut. Then attendance will drop like a stone.

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Slight correction to the above. The violent offender who gets 15 mths will also get 12 mths supervision, 7.5 mths on licence topped up with 4.5 mths post sentence supervision. Everyone sentenced to over 1 day & under 2 yrs gets 12mths supervision in some form (those getting a 2 yr sentence already get 1 yr on licence) There are definitely questions about fairness & proportionality though.

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What happens to someone serving 2 years who's released on sentence expiry date?

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I assume this will be someone who was initially released on a 12 mth licence. They should (if eligible) get an initial fixed term recall of 28 days. If they are then released and recalled again the parole board decides whether or not to release on licence again. If they are not released until their SED then I believe that is the end of it. Compare this to someone who gets a 12 mth sentence ie 6mths in prison, 6mths on licence followed by 6 mths post sentence supervision PSS). The fixed term recall for under 12 monthers is just 14 days. If they are then released & recalled again they can only stay in until the length of the original sentence ie 12 mths. They would then be released on the 6 mths PSS. If they breach during this period the court has various sanctions the worse being 14 days in prison - but the clock keeps running for the whole 6 mths so they come back out on the same PSS & could potentially breach again & get another 14 days (or other sanction) perhaps I have learned things from our area's briefings (DLNR CRC)....

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I can envisage offenders being seen by the RO driving around all day to HVs - as long as they are seen it counts and it may be the only way to ensure completions so income is earned in the Probation for Profit businesses. Cheaper to provide a lease car and a tablet so records updated immediately than to support all those offices. One hub centre for each area and the ROs given a patch to work..

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Of course there can't be any training with regard to ORA. All the private companies are going to do things differently from each other, and that means that Sodoxos 'interpretation' of the ORA will probably be very different to Interserves 'interpretation'. Therefore training cannot be generic, but specific and relative to region and company approach.

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At what point was it ever okay or appropriate when Mrs McD was employed by Sodexo in a senior management position throughout? How can it possibly be that moving from ops manager & deputy top dog to top dog suddenly changes the goal posts? It stinks to high heaven - Justice Committee should be taken to task about not seeing through Grayling's smokescreen; Mr McD should be penalised for leading everyone a merry dance; Mrs McD's company's bid should be revisited for signs of insider trading. Its an immorality tale writ large. SHAME ON ALL OF THEM.

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If you think this looks bad from the outside looking in, imagine what it must look like for those on the inside looking out i.e. the clients. The whole MoJ has degenerated to the level of total farce which is something of an achievement really. No other SSJ has managed to wreak such total havoc on a system as Grayling has. It makes me wonder what he has on Cameron that would enable him to remain in post long after other incompetents Gove and Lansley were given the boot for their hash of the "reforms" of the education system and NHS respectively. It also doesn't say much for Cameron that he would leave such a ragingly incompetent psychopathic lunatic in charge of a major department, especially when the incompetent lunatic generates atrocious headline after atrocious headline.

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It is sad that few will come out of this unscathed in some way whether it be service users, victims, public or staff. All we can hope for is that common sense will prevail and labour if elected will do whatever they can to terminate contracts without cost to the taxpayer and reunify a service, take away bureaucracy and rebuild the award-winning, high performing probation service that served our country well for a very long time.

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Our boss has been hilarious basically along the lines of 'we're a great team we've had testing times before and come through so we'll be ok'. Also told us cases would be in 'dribs and drabs'. This reassuring email coincided with a 51 page document on the ORA from NOMS. I didn't realise even time-served people expected to do the 12 months - did anyone else? This is a curveball that for court staff to have to stop people as they skip out of the dock to freedom to be told 'hold on you've now got 12mths supervision' and lets not forget in many courts not all courtrooms are manned - definitely a gaping hole in the system with that lot!!

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I work in the Court team and was aware of this. The main problem was getting GeoAmy to hold them long enough for us to get down and see them. The response from GeoAmy was that they could 'delay' things but it would be beyond their remit and probably illegal if they held them. So, when one of our offenders walks out, and a first appt letter is sent to try and get them back in, whats the odds on it being returned as not at this address? Then what?

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One should never say never, and I would agree there has been catastrophic damage inflicted upon Probation over the last 20 years (when training was syphoned off from the social work degree structure). I would also agree that NOMS's prison-centric control-&-command managerialism has poisoned Probation waters; an approach many Probation managers (not all) have enjoyed as it allowed them to legitimise their aloof-ness.

And I would agree that practitioners have been naive, lambs to the slaughter and as such carry a level of culpability. I feel that I haven't taken the stand I ought to have done, mainly because the bullying structuralism and stand-together of management succeeded in frightening me off. That was my weakness and thus my contribution to TR.

I've been vocal and challenging in recent months, but sadly too late to stop TR and all the negatives it brings. BUT that doesn't mean practitioners can't continue the fight to prove they were right all along and ensure there's still an effective service when TR disappears up its own ideological fundament.

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You know, when all that matters is £££s, I wonder how many of the bean counters now in charge will factor in the true costs? The number of colleagues working their hours for the first time is amazing. I thought people would revert to working longer hours and missing lunch breaks after an initial protest but no, there has been a real change. This must be costing massive sums of money over all areas and I bet you will never hear about it but the employers should be aware all this has been lost and will cost them. The blog refers to the 'altruism premium' and guess what? The employers are now reaping what they have sewn and loss of this is a massive business cost.

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So, if the Government spent £15 million on consultants, how come the changes are resulting in such chaos? Should Grayling ask for a refund on behalf of the tax payers 'cos it is our money he's spent? It is utter crap.

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So TR begins with a shortage of POs and 50,000 newly directed clients on their way, no chief inspector, and existing staff with no training regarding the changes, and the companies taking over still to decide how to apply rehabilitation activities and who they're going to engage with. But nothing can go wrong - Grayling has a gut feeling after all.

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Our first ORA offender arrived this week - 7 days for shoplifting = 4 days custody, 3 days licence and 362 days supervision. Our community CRC is already preparing breach paperwork for the day he goes out NFA. We were told last week on ORA training that it has been estimated there will be an extra 5000 recalls coming into the system over the next year yet another prison was closed this week "temporarily".

Our CRC hasn't appointed the promised workers for our prison and don't expect anyone to be in post until May at the earliest, so the TTG programme is nowhere near ready and existing agencies carry on doing what they have been doing while wondering if they will be kept on as subcontractors to Lurking Winks (who have sewn up the South and Wales )or if they will be dumped sometime later this year - a bit like us PSOs in fact. And the prison computer system seems to be struggling to deal with the new sentence calculations leaving CAs tearing their hair out! This side of the gate is as chaotic as outside, who the hell thinks that any of this is working? Prison PSO

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None in my office yet, but we have a sweepstake going. Might be the first time I have asked my manager for an allocation! No TTG in Teesside yet and AFAIK no one has put their name forward. I know words have been had with the local Solicitors to advise them of the Premium Service that their newly released clientele will have and to write a letter of complaint to both Grayling and our CO if this proves not to be the case. We all know the old adage about where the buck stops!

I also hear of some serious falling out between CRC and NPS managers over office items, paperwork and procedures which is only likely to get worse over the next few weeks. Apparently they nearly came to blows!

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My area, Staffs and West Mids CRC has asked CAs to fudge numbers to show completions even when it's not true! Requirements that have never been completed are being signed off as having been successfully completed. This was an informal and unofficial diktat issued by line managers.

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The new paradigm of 'offender management' has driven priorities towards achieving targets set by remote bureaucrats. What used to be a role with 80% of the working week (& more) as direct client contact has been turned around to 80% chained to a computer inputting data & reading pointless email directives. That leaves me 30 hours a month to see 64 people, 23 of whom I have to see weekly. So in effect that's 30 hours for 130 appointments in a 4 week period. Like the teaching profession, where the experienced qualified professionals are locked in a cupboard processing data, whilst the teaching assistants are delivering the lessons. BONKERS!

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Hidden agendas aside, I am concerned to note that, days into this, we are already seeing the integrity of Probation in jeopardy. Companies with dubious histories, illegal sentences, perverse decisions arising from misinformation, misrepresentation, misdirection and incompetence, each borne of the reckless pace of changes. It bodes badly for the future.

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A kiosk is a 'reporting centre' for the digital age. Not everyone who is subject to statutory supervision needs actual probation supervision, as they may well possess all the attributes and resources to self-rehabilitate. With such individuals if it feels like a tick box exercise, that's because it is. However, a kiosk will not advocate on your behalf with a benefits agency or a housing department: it will not assist you to access mental health or drug and alcohol support; it will not support your release from prison on licence or find you suitable accommodation. You can fit a kiosk into probation but you cannot fit all of what probation does into a kiosk.

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The way forward for what. Once sentencers get wind of it, they will start sentencing more punitively. They don't put people on Community Orders to report to a kiosk. You should be careful what you wish for because your next sentence could be custody or Unpaid Work. As someone who writes PSRs, if that is how I think people will be processed in a CRC, then I will propose something else. I can see a culture developing in Magistrates Courts where they will ignore standalone Community Orders if they stop valuing them, and sentence to short spells of custody with the mandatory twelve months supervision - maybe then people can report to kiosks. Like I said, be careful what you wish for.

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Left the office at 2.35, arrived at home of client (lifer) at 3.05, didn't leave until 5.20! Totally worthwhile, meaningful and welcome; has been out 3 years and we still have conversations about his rehabilitation and what keeps him, and therefore others safe! No kiosk, no tick boxes, just a relationship we have worked hard to establish and maintain; it's not always been plain sailing but we respect each other neither of us thinks we have all the answers! 31 years in now and still motivated to do the best I can for our clients, although I cannot give all 43 the same amount of time, week in and week out they know that and we compromise and priorities accordingly!

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Sodexo justice services in our area has now started to roll out the great vision, however it seems to be increasingly blinkered and in some places blurred as to how to proceed other than the 'restructuring' mantra which seems a given. Yet when questioned as to how or why to restructure without getting a grasp of the complexities of the job there was no response, giving the impression that the take over is a cut n run job. Acquire as much cash as possible then hope we don't get found out.....

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Yes that is the mantra. 'We don't know what our operating model will look like but we know we will need X less staff to do it'. It is an approach that leads inevitably to unmet needs. I guess the received wisdom is 'we will never meet all of their needs so lets stop trying and meet as few as we can get away with. Re: kiosks. If someones needs and risks are minimal enough to require an intervention that superficial, they should not be under supervision. THAT is inefficient.

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I absolutely agree. According to the offender management model they should have been given Unpaid Work or a curfew.

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Dear Purple Futures, I've been allocated a short custody case and I have to advise what the rehab elements will be for the post sentence supervision - the problem is that you haven't let us operational staff know who, what or how these will be delivered. Any information will be gratefully received. Sincerely, OM

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Dear OM, Having asked around our office the general response was that we, quite literally, do not have a fucking clue. I also asked them your question and it would appear that you can use the above response as an answer. In fact it would be fair to say that, as a company, we are as much use as mudguards on a tortoise. However, and get this, we don't fucking care. Yours,
Purple Futures (Well, not really PF, but you get my drift)

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MOJ's own reoffending stats show probation has a much higher success rate than comparable cases in short term custody - they've got 'em 24/7 in jail but they can't help them desist. What works is the skillful engagement with an offender at the heart of the probation relationship - trust, empathy, motivation. Simple to say, very difficult to do well.

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All of this rang so true for me. As we were going through the split so our local drug and alcohol services were being privatised. There's a shiny new service in place of at least two others but the workers who migrated across didn't know which bits of the work they would get. I have a man with an ATR who had worked a long time with his alcohol worker. We were then told a new worker had been appointed but after weeks of trying to contact them I received an apologetic phone call-the person had been told they weren't taking ATRs after all! Its taken a few more weeks for his old worker to come back. Effectively the ATR part of the court order hasn't been operating for this man for a couple of months!

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Counselling and Family Therapy formed part of my CQSW training, we also had to complete modules in Sociology, Psychology and Social Policy. (I don't believe Sociology is even a relevant degree now for the PQF Award, Police Studies is though). There was always a strong emphasis on critical analysis and looking at innovative ways of working. Once in post there was frequent opportunities to train and explore new approaches. Government policy changes were debated regularly in conferences workshops etc. Been there, done that..a lot of us have well worn T shirts! The 'Desistance' model just like 'What Works' (or worked) turns on the quality of the relationship the person being supervised has with the supervisor. Without this everything else is just padding.

27 comments:

  1. What the future holds for the client is pretty bleak indeed, you only have to look at what the client gets now from the private sector in prison to see the way its going to go.
    Doing it on the cheap- thats pound shop politics!

    http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/exposed-alarming-self-harm-rates-suicides-8599851

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  2. I can see clients being breached on a whole scale basis not for anything they have done or not done but simply due to the chaos caused by all the changes.

    It's going to be far easier to simply breach someone and send them back to jail than admit that someone in the system screwed up. We've all, as clients, seen the butt covering that goes on over any mistake made by a PO or management when it comes to getting a genuine complaint investigated and sorted out. So it will hardly be a surprise when people are recalled for mistakes made by staff due to the total chaos. No one in the system is ever going to admit they screwed up when they did so it will be simply easier and more face saving to recall someone and pretend that they screwed up even when they didn't.

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    1. No idea as to new recall arrangements but I is so difficult to recall some, its generally easier to work through the issues! Moj like it when there is a charge sheet from the constabulary, without one, you need a bullet proof reason to recall! Supervising staff don' t make these decisions, stumpted to think any client would think otherwise!

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  3. Oops (ii). Old lag gone wrong. I believe this known as reputational risk.

    http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/Robber-turned-mentor-Wayne-Colley-prison-drugs/story-25987935-detail/story.html

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    1. A KNIFEPOINT robber who claimed to have turned his life around to help other criminals is back in jail. Wayne Colley, 40, who was locked up in 2010 for two terrifying robberies at bookmakers in Hessle Road, west Hull, admitted burglary and attempted burglary after he started using heroin again.

      He had been clean for two years and, following his release on licence in 2012, started working as a mentor for offenders, turning his back on a life of crime, which started when he was 11 years old.

      But last year he started taking heroin again and turned to burglary to help feed his habit.

      In mitigation for Colley, Richard Thompson described the short-lived turnaround as "nothing short of remarkable".

      He said: "Having been released on licence, he not only engaged fully with probation but went on to secure employment as a mentor with offending related organisations.

      "Given his history, dating back to the age of 11, that was a significant achievement.

      "What is inexplicable is his relapse into drug use and offending. He cannot satisfactorily explain it."

      Colley was jailed for five years and three months for robbing William Hill and Coral in Hessle Road, west Hull, with his accomplice Trevor Walker in 2010.

      They were armed with a hunting knife and a large kitchen knife, which Walker pointed at terrified shop workers.

      They stole £866 and a staff member's handbag.

      Walker was branded an "extreme risk to the public" and was locked up indefinitely.

      Colley had been free for two years when he fell back into drug use.

      He was arrested after being caught trying to get into a house in Boothferry Road, west Hull, by its owner, not long after burgling another house in Hull Road, Hessle, causing £300 of damage.

      Mr Thompson said: "He does not seek to blame drugs or make excuses, he accepts his responsibility.

      "He has made some serious mistakes but he knows, if he is released at this point, he is likely to relapse into drug use and, one assumes, offending."

      Colley was recalled and given an extra 16 months in jail.

      Judge Mark Bury said: "The interesting feature of your case is when you were released on licence, you managed to stay out of trouble and live a respectable and positive lifestyle for two years and then it all went wrong again when you went back onto heroin.

      "It seems things reverted back to perhaps your earlier life.

      "But because you have had quite a reasonable period of drug-free existence and the positive contribution you made to society, I accept you probably are motivated to do that again when you are released."



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  4. One of the big unknowns, (and personally I feel it will come as a shock to the private sector when they realise), is the impact on the prison service that TR will bring.
    For some of the 50,000 under 12 months, a short spell in prison may occur after a punch up on a saterday night out. It may be their first offence, and maybe the only offence they ever committ.
    However, a large porportion of the under 12month 'cohort' (hate that word in this context), have chaotic lifestyles, and their offending patterns are based around addiction and substance misuse drivers.
    This has to be extremely problematic for the CRCs.
    Until now, you could arguee that 'maybe' the average addict could expect to find themselves before the magistrate 3 or 4 times a year. Only 1 of those appearances may result in a short custodial sentence, the others being met with community based interventions or fines.
    But now, because their on licence any offence committed whilst on that licence is surely going to end up as a 'recall'?
    That 'could' mean that 75% of community or non custodial sentences that would have been given, will now result in a return to custody.
    It may be only for a very short time, but given the high population already contained in the prison estate, the consequences could be devestating.
    Time will tell I guess.

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    1. i also wonder how will sentences be received by potential employers. If someone's been offered a job and the employer asks for their CRB only to find X has been in custody it can turn employers off - Joe Public thinks only bad men go to prison and so I think the stigma of having a custodial on your CRB no matter for how short a time could, potentially have a devastating impact

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    2. Working as an OM in a Prison this has already been discussed at length, and with the POA. To cut a very long discussion short, not much can be done if this transpires and lots of Prison Governors up and down the country are having sleepless nights over it. Each prison has a maximum capacity and once full simply cannot take any more. It's likely that two scenarios will occur:
      1. Holding short term prisoners (under 14 days) in Police cells.
      2. Political pressure on the Courts to avoid custody.

      I think, certainly with respect to the second option, that there will be political pressure on the NPS/CRC to avoid recall wherever possible (as if we do not already do this!!!!) the problem I foresee is individual managers and senior managers not wanting to take the risk that the offender they do not recall then goes on to commit a SFO; that sort of thing could end a career and I doubt some quislings want that!

      If there are any other options then I would suggest that we ALL keep them to ourselves as I'm not comfortable with the view that we solve TR problems created by others!!!

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    3. But the government is building a lovely supermax with huge capacity so they will simply shove everyone they recall in that. problem solved! No need to worry about reputational risk etc. Mind you whatever happened to people taking responsibility for their decisions when they go wrong as clients are expected to???

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    4. In Wales. Part of the ORA is that offenders will serve the final part of their sentence in local prisons. Whilst I accept the view of our learned friend below, I'm not convinced that, over time, there will be more short term custodial sentence imposed, either due to the view that supervision on release will now be an inherent part of this or because the offence is exacerbated by the fact it occurred on Licence/Order.

      I read the JotP Blog pretty much daily thanks to the links Jim has put in and I'm under no illusion that consideration of both sentence and impact is a priority by my learned friend but cannot extend this view to all Magistrates or indeed Judges as I have seen some strange sentences passed. Nevertheless we are in troubled times and I, like many others on here, do not think the future is either orange or Purple!

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  5. "My concern is that magistrates will be imposing custodial sentences where a community order may have been given."

    Whilst not a spokesman for my colleagues I would opine that your concern is unfounded. It is only with regret after prolonged discussion and structured reasoning that an immediate custodial sentence is imposed upon an offender. I would predict that the figures a year from now will show no statistical increase in such disposals.

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    1. My concern is that it's not an increase in custodial sentences that will swell the prison population, rather the number of returns to custody by way of breach action for offending whilst on supervision.
      But a question if I may Justice of the Peace.
      Would the bench not be more inclined to consider a custodial sentence for someone who has further offended whilst under supervision of the probation service then if they were not?

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    2. ah but you're forgetting breach of the PSS should be an absolute last resort because the PSS is all about rehabilitation. We have to ask ourselves, just because we 'assess' people need accommodation; ete or whatever it should be their right to either accept or refuse the said requirement. In my eyes it should work exactly as the Drug Testing licence condition ie we can send them for appointments but cannot force them to rehab.

      The ORA can be spun either way but for me I can see it fizzling out despite it being law because I can see a test case going to the ECHR where once again Chris Grayling will be over-ruled. I'm just hoping there's a law firm that can afford to test the case.

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    3. Thank you for your comment Your Worship. I was wondering if you could take the time to give an account of how you view TR and if possible how your colleagues view it. I'm sure that Jim would welcome a guest blog with your views, as would many probation staff.

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    4. Not sure how much most JP's really know about TR. Mantra from HMCTS is that nothing will change in courts. Among those that I know who have expressed an opinion, the view of TR is one of amazement at the destruction of a service which works.

      Maybe ten years ago there was a common feeling among quite a few sentencers that community orders were not much use. That has gone now - partly because sentencing guidelines have kept magistrates more in sync with each other. However if magistrates are no longer clear that COs are productive and demanding, and are not being breached when they should be, then there may well be more short custody imposed. I can see any deliberate or repeated breach of the post-custody supervision period resulting in further custody rather than the alternative provisions being used.

      The privatisation of CRCs means benches have no or very little contact with Probation - Liaison Committees vanishing - and I think that will reduce the value placed on probation work over time.

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  6. What planet are these people living on?

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  7. Off topic, but I find it quite telling that so close to the General Election, Conservative Home would choose to publish this article concerning our Justice Seceterys legal aid reforms.

    http://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2015/02/graylings-reforms-to-legal-aid-are-damaging-and-unfair.html

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  8. Friend of Man in the pub8 February 2015 at 14:27

    A convivial evening took place with an old friend who is already something of a high flyer in one of our new masters companies....he laughed at our concerns pointing out that we/they have 10 year contracts which basically means that they are free to do exactly as they like and that is their intention-but he added that the role most likely to go first is the SPO role which doesnt have a comparative function-SPO's to be rail roaded to becoming Team Leaders in charge of half a dozen PSO's with even more direct responsibility than they have at the moment-the theory being that they'll be placed under so much pressure to deliver that it will be 'they' that manipulate any stats that are required for this is the only route to success of any kind....those that will be be rewarded by the company but those that re-engage their conscience's will be blamed for poor performance and quietly shown the door....which,if accurate would suggest that they are running two operating models, the public and private but either way reputational damage will be negated in terms of SFO's as these will be laid at the feet of the SPO.....I would hope that someone with some authority in these matters will come on and say it aint so and that it was just the late night rum talking......

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    1. There was and always has been a view that SPO's will have their job descriptions changed. To what remains unknown. Many I know of would happily take VR/EVR if offered and I believe that this may be an option for any CPA as long as the money from NOMS is available. When this is withdrawn then many will be given Hobson's Choice and hopefully their conscience rather than their bank balance makes the choice.
      I'm not too hopeful it will be the former given their collaborative approach. The best predictor of future behaviour........

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  9. it looks as tho there is some truth in what you say. at the moment our SPO is always in meetings or with her SPO mate in NPS (we never get any feedback of these meetings and afaik it's definitely 'them and us'). we no longer have a pod system and are just pooled together, all typing and case allocations go in a central system and I've heard of blended roles ie case admin will be an intermediatory with PSO and PSO intermediatory with PO. Once the SPOs have been to all the meetings and helped set systems up I can see there being no need for one in every office and just having one perhaps two per area. I'll openly admit I rarely need to speak to my SPO and wouldn't miss her tbh.

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  10. Could I issue and urgent plea? My hubby has 'man flu' and in his words is 'unsure if he'll last the night'. Could we all say a special prayer that he pulls through this unscathed? Although is he continues moaning on like he is I guarantee that it will not be his 'man flu' which kills him!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Many thanks.

    A Really Worried Wife (who is looking after two kids, ironing, cooked dinner and washed up, will be bathing the kids soon and then tidying the rest of the house before I go to work in the morning!!).

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    1. You might want to read this site and take things a LOT more seriously!
      My thoughts and prayers are with your OH.

      http://manflu.info/index.htm

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  11. Why don't all just go with the flow and do the job that we are paid to do, you cannot change anything that has been proven. Up setting yourself makes you more stressed out. Take it from me life is not worth getting stressed.

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  12. I am the one who wrote Guest Blog 23 on Fri 6th - 'what is a vocation?' and I have just noticed the last comment on tbat site - at 6 49 the next morning, wondering if I ever got asked why I wanted to be a PO. And yes, people would look at me in a funny way and firstly asked what I did, and then why. I think it is an amazing curiosity that no one seems to know any more now about what a PO actually does, than I did 50 years ago when I met a boy who was on probation for pinching a bike! I might have got to know more, but he stood me up on the 2nd date! Maybe he saw the embryonic PO in my eyes....

    Another comment under my blog was someone asking if it was not illegal to stay in touch with ex-offenders. Had they still been under supervision, I doubtless would have been stopped, but they had completed their Orders.

    Imagine if contact was not allowed after Orders had finished - that could amount to thousands of people you were not allowed to chat to following a lengthy career!

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  13. I remember my mentor's retirement do at a local crown court which was attended by former clients and their parents(and chief officers and judges) If we believe in rehabilitation this is how it looks. Admittedly he was 30 + years in and it was some 20 years ago.

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  14. Interesting comment:http://probationmatters.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/minibus-special-2.html?showComment=1423409424517&m=1#c5449219209133034994

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  15. Regarding SPO's taking the long walk... I can't see it myself. Any organisational change tends to go low or high , as an example my local authority is busily getting rid of the admin, cleaners and others on the basic living/minimum wage and also the vast number of directors/ HOD.
    I would take the view that the greater responsibility will remain with the SPO in both CRC/NPS areas of the new world and as usual the buck will continue to stop with them and not the teflon coated senior leaders who will continue to hide behind policy and process.
    I see the future with greater numbers of SPO or similar titles and fewer SLT.
    With reference to Lancs and Cumbria the CEO saw the writing on the wall and jumped , perhaps he knew he may have to do what so many are presently doing ...that is motivate staff to tow the party line / business continuity whilst plotting their departure when all settles down!
    All the new providers are currently "appraising" the business , they do not have a Scooby and need the first line management more than any other position - in my view - whilst no position is safe the SPO/TM should have a future ( how fulfilling that role is , would be another discussion thread).

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