Lets Look at E3 (9)

Chapter 8 Management Structures

8.1 What does the model look like now? 

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) oversees the entire NPS delivery structure. The Director of Probation and the Director of NOMS in Wales report to the NOMS CEO. 

Across the NPS as a whole there are 69 Clusters of Local Delivery Units (LDUs) covering 152 Local Authority areas. This is in line with the expectations of the Transforming Rehabilitation Target Operating Model that LDUs would be aligned with local authority areas and map to other partnership arrangements including Criminal Justice (Police Force) Areas and Community Safety Partnerships. There are some core areas of business that are managed outside of the LDU Cluster Structure such as Approved Premises, Victims Services and NPS seconded prison staff. 

As with other parts of the NPS business, there is a variety of management structures across the country. There are inconsistencies in relation to the tiers of management and in some instances the grades and pay bands of staff undertaking similar roles. In addition, the proposed new models of delivery include changes to existing management structures. This Blueprint addresses some of these with others to be considered in the next phase of the E3 Programme.

At the LDU Cluster level, there is some consistency throughout England and Wales in that there is a Head of each Cluster of LDUs. Within that, however, 26 Clusters have Deputy Heads while 43 do not. This variation is partly due to the different arrangements in former Probation Trusts and subsequently internal Divisional decisions. A review by the NPS Senior Leadership Team has concluded that, when looked at nationally, taking into account caseloads, staff numbers and partnership responsibilities, there is not equity in the provision of Deputy Heads across LDU Clusters. 

In both Offender Management and Approved Premises we currently have middle managers performing similar jobs in different pay bands. E3 provides an opportunity for these to be harmonised through the revision of Job Descriptions and the job evaluation process. 

With regards to the management structure for operational administration, there is a mixture of line management arrangements for Case Administrators. In some parts of the country they are line managed by Senior Probation Officers (SPOs) and in others by Senior Case Administrators (SCAs). E3 has enabled us to review and we propose a common line management structure for Case Administrators. 

8.2 What do we want the future model to look like? 

We want the NPS to have a management structure that provides the clear and effective leadership required to meet our objectives. The management structure must be one that reinforces accountability and enables the implementation of the new operating model. Staff will be supported in continual professional development. 

To achieve this, we propose that the high level NPS Divisional structure will remain unchanged with Deputy Directors leading each Division and reporting directly to the National Directors for England and Wales.

At the LDU Cluster level we want a resource model and management structure that takes into account the local variations in workload and complexities. We want to ensure that there is consistency in relation to pay bands and grading throughout England and Wales where managers are fulfilling similar roles. 

Middle managers play a vital role in probation through supporting and enabling frontline staff to undertake good quality work with service users. Crucially they ensure that national policies are translated into action in local settings. We want middle managers to continue to provide this leadership. In particular we envisage a change in emphasis from a routine countersigning role to more structured quality assurance activities, with the aim that we consistently get things right first time and that there are clear lines of accountability. 

To support operational managers in concentrating on core tasks, we see administrative staff as key to the delivery of the future operating model so it is critical that we have in place a management structure that supports and leads them most effectively. 

8.3 End State Proposals 

The line management structure in Clusters will be that Heads of Clusters directly line manage SPOs. This will ensure clarity of line management and accountability structures across the country.

Heads of Clusters will retain both operational and strategic responsibility for their LDU Clusters. There are a number of partnerships to which the NPS has a statutory duty, which require attendance at Boards and resources to be made available. Nationally there is variation in the grade of staff that attend such meetings. National partnership frameworks are being produced to specify which grade of staff will be required to attend meetings. Of the partnerships that have been reviewed so far, the early indication is that Safeguarding Boards and MAPPA SMBs will require the attendance of Heads of LDU clusters. YOS management boards will be attended by SPO grade. MASH and MARAC are likely to sit at Probation Officer level. The other key partnerships will also be reviewed. 

We acknowledge that there is considerable variation between LDU Clusters in relation to the volume and complexity of cases, geography, partnership and court responsibilities. There is a strategic commitment to maintaining the LDU Cluster alignment with Local Authorities which means that it is not possible to equalise the workloads of LDU Clusters. To mitigate against this a tool has been developed to identify the most complex LDU Clusters. It is proposed that the most complex LDU Clusters should have additional support. The type of additional support that is being considered is twofold: the provision of additional administrative support for ACO/Heads to manage a variety of processes and interfaces, and additional management resource to support performance and quality as well as partnership working. 

As part of the Approved Premises model we propose that an Area Manager with devolved budgetary responsibility will manage clusters of AP. We anticipate clusters will consist of seven or eight Approved Premises. 

Our proposal is that Case Administrators will be line managed by Senior Case Administrators. This will provide specialist administrative oversight while also allowing SPOs to focus on line management of Probation Officers and Probation Service Officers. 

There are a number of options under consideration for the line management of SCAs. We are clear that they will be within the operational line but are still considering who should best line manage them. We are exploring the possibility of establishing a Quality Development Officer role across the NPS as an effective way of supporting managers and front line staff in improving practice. 

8.4 Impact on Service Delivery 

The revised LDU Cluster model will in, some cases, change the responsibilities of LDU Cluster Heads where there are currently Deputy Heads in place. It should be noted, however that not all Clusters have Deputies and therefore this model will bring more consistency. The introduction of a tool to identify the most complex Clusters and the provision of additional resource to support them will mean that there is a more effective and equitable distribution of resources. 

The proposed case administration management model is intended to have a wider positive impact on the quality of case administration which will support improved quality of service delivery overall.

8.5 Impact on staff 

With regards to the proposal to have Heads of LDU Clusters directly line managing SPOs we acknowledge that this will mean that existing Deputy Heads of LDU clusters will cease to undertake this. The process of moving from the current position to the new model will be carefully managed and the staff involved will be consulted appropriately. As already stated compulsory redundancies will not be necessary. 

The Case Administration line management model is intended to positively support CAs in undertaking their role by providing specialist administrative management. It also widens career and professional development opportunities for administrative staff. It will also support more effective line management of POs and PSOs.

(more to follow)