Sunday 17 July 2016

Pick of the Week 10

Those who felt that it was fortuitous to have landed a contract in the NPS, need only to speak to senior and local managers to know that the lexicon has changed. The game of thrones being played at the top of the NOMS hierarchy is in part trickling down to LDU managers/deputy heads who read performance scripts with as much conviction as unpaid thespians desperately keen to better themselves, while the scenery collapses around them.

It's not that they are all disingenuous - that would be palpably unfair; some of them are trying as hard as possible to bring staff along, but probation at this time is a losing game of markets. If the business and performance infrastructure and IT is not stable and if the commitment to diversity and effective practice is not commonly shared, morale will continue to decline. As the next E3 phase is ushered in, the chances of creating the conditions for a stable core identity look slim. The perfect conditions for further devolvement to either the private sector or other defined agencies specialising in commissioned services.

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I'm in a SW CRC and haven't been asked (yet) to see clients in public libraries, but I have no intention of ever discussing anything personal (such as offence related) with anyone in a public space. Just the same as, if my GP announced he was holding all his surgeries now at the library I would change Drs. It boils down to respecting a person's right to privacy and data protection.

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Good luck. Working Links might have been weak, but Aurelius will not be so soft. Sadly there was no appetite or strategy for a fight to stop a similar process in Sodexo owned CRCs & many experienced (aka "expensive") colleagues were lost, either by jumping early into new jobs or by being pushed into impossibly uncomfortable corners. At that time managers were enticed to comply through financial incentives, e.g. early agreement on EVR payments such that they could work for up to 18 months post-EVR agreement, then walk away with buckets of gold having done Sodexo's dirty work & shafted their staff. It is rumoured some of those managers were subsequently taken on by Sodexo. Nice work if you like the taste of venomous spittle.

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Penny wise Pound foolish. In my days in the Merchant Navy it was accepted that morale was greatly effected by the food. Seven day week watch keeping month in month out in a small environment is similar to being in prison. The rise in self harm and suicides in prison is directly correlated to the prison victualling allowance being cut to £2.07p per day. The NHS Allowance is £3.15p per day, not wonderful, but at least in the hospital my wife was in she was able to choose Salmon and Cucumber sandwiches for dinner, I doubt salmon is ever on the menu in prison. The cost of raising the food budget to NHS levels would be £33 million, the savings from improved morale in prisons could easily be double that.

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The whole system that has been created is bad for everyone. Male or female. Having to interview DV perpetrators in a completely public building! How can that be beneficial to anyone? Dv perpetrator wanted to disclose his behaviour and another non CRC staff member walked past and gave him a dirty look! Please can someone tell me how this sorry state of affairs has been allowed to happen?

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A free market in rehabilitation services – it will drive up standards and the capitalist process of creative destruction will see to it that poor performers will fall by the wayside. The market thrives on open competition and red tape is for the dustbin of history. But in practice the CRCs press for monopolistic control and they replace red tape with commercial contracts that repress openness and transparency through gagging clauses and so-called commercial confidentiality.

No surprise that their business model is to pile 'em high in groupwork and ignore the complexities of individual circumstances. A crude approach that shows a cold corporate indifference to the actual needs of service users. In cutting costs to the bone you end up with services that are not fit for purpose. The result is empty rehabilitation that will do more harm than good.

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The Women's Centre I worked with is still waiting to have a signed contract. The CRC has been demanding more for less but if they don't accept their offer they're finished. What to do - provide an inferior service or throw in the towel! Every single part of the Probation Service is broken! Makes me want to weep!

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I've always been sceptical of an ongoing clamour for women in the cabinet purely for the sake of having women in the cabinet. Whilst I feel that women are certainly under-represented in the portakabins of political power, simply being a woman is not sufficient qualification for suitability in itself, just like being a man isn't. I'd like to see who she appoints and then assess them on suitability and competence, irrespective of gender.

Similarly, Angela Eagle's mantra about how it's about time Labour had a female leader is absolutely fair comment, but she needs to offer more than such tokenistic offerings as a platform for her ascension.

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It is one of the biggest mistakes anyone can make where public services are concerned; to assume that the presence of a member of a marginalised group in a position of power will in any way bring that marginalised group into the mainstream. To assume a female minister will in any way improve the lot of women in the criminal justice system is naïve. If the incumbent minister is a Tory, it is completely ridiculous ;)

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A friend of mine who is a PO was encouraged to join the Nomis co-ordination scheme as a contributor but it soon became clear that this was just so that they could say that they had front line staff working with them - from day one she was sidelined, ignored by IT boffins as 'they knew best' and had a front seat as to the amount of money that was wasted.....come forward to this week and it is clear that Delius is going through its own crisis, with files disappearing - dead files being resurrected and more importantly managers having such a slavish devotion to a deeply flawed system that when something goes missing the default position is 'You must have forgotten to do it'....we live in dangerous times colleagues..and to all those staff who believed that the system would reward them for not striking and for not speaking ...you're wrong..hopefully the change at the top will provide the golden bridge that the MOJ has been looking for as an excuse for reunification...cheaper to pay off all the contracts now than the trouble that's coming down the line (E3 and the prison crisis).

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She (Helga) has no interest in probation. She thinks that what she learned from Sodexo can help MTCnovo with their ambitions to gain a foothold in private prisons and then run probation down and ditch it to some other corporation as as a write off. Maybe any half decent group of managers in London need to be working on a mutual to try to salvage whats left. I heard she is planning 50% staff cuts.

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I am sitting at my desk in the HQ of London CRC today and those around me are whispering about this post, trying to cheer each other up, but it's like trying to crack jokes at a funeral. They all agree it is spot on and whoever tipped you the wink Jim knows whats what. It feels like being back at school not wanting a sadistic teacher to overhear our naughty conversation about a school scandal we’ve been told not to mention. 

Realistically, I think one of the only things that has kept a lid on things in London CRC has been the fact that the unions have largely been left alone with facility time arrangements largely intact and that staff have worked bloody hard to try to make completely crap plans that were completely unrealistic, sort of appear to work. The fact is that they have not worked and cannot possibly work as no one with a modicum of good sense and in their right mind believes that they can. 

However, rumours are circulating that Helga does not give a toss what anyone thinks and does not like unions at all because like all 'know it all' autocratic managers used to getting what they want without question, she does not like anyone questioning her authority or competence and pointing out that she is wrong even though it is obvious. The POA discovered this and apparently roll their eyes at the mention of her name. 

She is of course starting to surround herself with a highly toxic and obnoxious group of highly ambitious corporate climbers, some of whom I'm ashamed to say once called themselves probation officers but long ago sold their souls to commercialism, gleefully embracing the worst excesses of managerialism and greed and now see fit to trample on traditional probation values (if they can remember what they were) and talk about legacy issues as if they were something nasty they have stepped in. 

Helga’s idea of consultation is 'This is what we are going to do and if I want your opinion I'll give it to you, so I'll talk you listen' preferring to act and then pretending she consulted to staff no redundancies in her personal PR team. The upshot is that as soon as London Napo Chair Pat Waterman's term of office ends in July then she intends to pull the plug on Napo undermining its activities on behalf of its members and playing hardball with employee representatives.

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Sounds like a stitch up. She thinks she’s got it all planned and post July she will no longer worry about what the unions think or do. It is very worrying that she apparently wants to target disabled and vulnerable workers who she seems to regard as unproductive and who should not be treated any differently even if their new IT system has never worked properly with the equipment they were forced to accept to do their work.

She also seems to feel there has been too much political correctness in London and she'd rather there was no mention of any of that equalities rubbish. At the same time she intends to start serious reorganisation to undermine any protections hapless staff thought had been placed on terms and conditions following privatisation and this will mean people being forced into ways of working they know won’t work or made redundant across the board and finding that they will have to reapply for a less well paid job with minimal benefits.

Staff who delude themselves into thinking that working harder and longer are kidding themselves. Helga has a spreadsheet and if your employee number is on it you’re a gonner – simples and so long sucker. She apparently thinks there are too many poor quality managers and that probation staff are inherently lazy and not pulling their weight - so she wants to squeeze until the pips squeak.

Meanwhile there seem to be ever increasing numbers of MTCnovo people appearing like corporate clones with no idea about probation but keen to make some money off the dying carcass who are presumably drawing salaries from the probation pot. Many of these are actually working on expanding their prison operation rather than probation which is the main business they wanted, not probation at all, otherwise why would they employ someone with a prison background who knows sod all about probation to head up the loss making probation business?

'Building for best: Building together' is an insult to staff as this is almost certainly the precursor to the final demolition of the probation service in London where staff are going to be blamed for the failures of the private sector and many hardworking and professional probation staff will be unemployed by Xmas or early in 2017. So better start polishing those CV's and readying the life rafts because Helga is sharpening her axe and it'll be anyone for chop except her and her team of fawning cronies who will no doubt get big pay offs when the time comes and move on to their next cash cow. 'Building to line the pockets of our corporate masters'. So, wake up and rise up probation staff of London before it’s finally too late. What have you got left to lose?

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It is impossible to do this job with this kind of management culture. My advice to all is walk away. Let it fail. It will anyway, so don't collude and certainly don't put up with that kind of shit from an employer. Tell them how they make you feel. The fact that they don't give a shit is of no concern. It means that they can never say they weren't told, can never say that their staff are happy and can never say that they were competent managers. Another Prison Governor failing at managing a Probation service? No shit, Sherlock.

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The pressure on staff in London is beyond a joke - the micro management and lack of tools to actually do the job make every day a misery day. We have lost pride, hope and any sense of achievement in what we do. God help us all!

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All of the above equates to bullying. Ask for the policy within areas on bullying and then start whacking it on a few desks along with the Equality Act 2010. We will not be pushed and threatened any more by this bloody mess by the creeps and whittle arses who think fit to bully others beneath them. There is no way I am going to loose my dignity in all of this and if you don't arm yourselves with your rights, you are going to get walked all over! What do we have a HR team for, it's their duty to support staff, so start reporting your issues and take copies of these complaints. If you're not in a Union there are organisations like Acas etc who can advise you. Let's get it stopped by recording and empowering yourselves.

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Merseyside & Cheshire Greater Manchester is already doing this, a couple of weeks back they released the Interim Service Delivery Quality Assurance Framework. Essentially it goes like this:

1. Ad hoc audits for providing assurances of caseload audits
2. Interchange Manager (aka SPO) audit a minimum of one casefile per Case Manager per quarter to ensure risk assessment; risk management including RMR adherence, sentence planning, contact recording, frequency of contacts, 3rd party information sharing, acting on new information, flagging and management oversight. Any case audit resulting in an unsatisfactory result, must be followed with a mandatory further 5 case audits to ascertain whether this was an isolated incident of unsatisfactory practice, or an example of general poor practice from the Case Manager. 

Further evidence of unsatisfactory audits for the additional 5 case audits must result in commencement of capability/disciplinary procedures, in discussion with local Community Directors. This begins as an informal action plan but evidence of consistent/continued poor practice must result in action. The audits are recorded in a central folder to ensure that a swift collation can occur. Audit results will be checked by the central leads to ensure consistency and benchmarking. The head of performance and information will collate results and present them to the Service Delivery & Ops on a quarterly basis to identify areas of improvement & good practice.

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So it's happening over in Merseyside & Cheshire Greater Manchester. I seem to remember someone saying that Yvonne Thomas was praising the MoJ at the Probation journal TR2 event in Liverpool last week for giving them parity of funding with London for the first time. She was pulled up by Ian Lawrence who accused her of 'leading the charge' towards privatisation. So they have the cash and are recruiting cheaper staff, but now they want to make things leaner by getting rid of experienced higher paid staff.

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Refuse to sign the letter until they produce detailed daily information regarding all the IT system outages, staff shortage, re-organisation chaos and communication problems with the NPS and a statement that guarantees exemption for all staff from any form of capability or disciplinary action arising from the information given.

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They come from the US and create chaos. They insist on implementing a cohort operating model against practitioners advice that simply makes no sense when applied to London. When their own senior managers are shaking their heads and telling them the games up and it wont work, then they try to blame the already down trodden staff for the mess they created and foisted onto them.

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Now I know that this is going to be an unpopular view, but. Anybody with eyes and an ounce of intelligence could see that this was going to happen. At some point a hatchetman (or in this case woman) was going to be appointed to do the "necessary". The groundwork was set with a couple of years of advice, then instruction, then competency procedures to drive home the message that the CASH LINKED TARGET was what mattered. Round my way there were three reactions:

Group A got the hell out. Off to NPS or off out of the whole sector. A portion of these re-appeared as NPS sessional workers.

Group B smelt the roses (round my way this is a small group). They did what was asked of them, given the choice between a target and a non target task, they did the target task.

Group C agitated or ignored. They carried on NOT doing oasys, NOT doing supervision plans, NOT making entries using the approved format. This is a big group.

Then they got asked/instructed to do a caseload validation and when given the results, group A were not about anyway. Group B were in an OK place and did what needed to be done. Group C stood about saying how unreasonable it all is and how it cannot be done. Having put their heads in the noose while hiding them in the sand, they then drew attention to their "incompetence/awkwardness" by waving their arms in the air and creating.

MTC Novo now have the chance to sack a whole lot of experienced and expensive staff on the basis of incompetency procedures, thereby avoiding expensive redundancy packages. I hope they send you all a little note of thanks. Now I am not for a minute saying that this is right/fair/just/OK, but it IS and it has been for a LONG TIME.

They are sharks, they look like sharks, they move like sharks and they are hungry like sharks, the response is to get out of the water or make sure that you have your shark repellent bat spray with you, not to go for a quick paddle.

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I totally agree. I have been pulled in and told to get my caseload up to date as there are issues that are finance linked. I have a caseload of 85 and 'expected' to be on top of them all. I have been told that my situation will be reviewed in a few weeks, I fear that if progress has not been made I will be put in capability. Stressed PSO 25 years in.

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I don't really like the whole character assassination thing! It makes me feel very uncomfortable. What is the problem with the letter? At my CRC we have been doing the brag thing for a while now. It is straightforward, so why not just do it? Ok, it has to work both ways and caseloads sound very high to me, but being obstructive is not going to help anyone and neither is bullying a member of staff, whether they are bottom of pile or top of pile.

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Nobody likes character assassination, however there are certain individuals who have cashed in or who are cashing in on the catastrophe that is TR and we should give them little credit as they drive the TR agenda and make privatisation and the new landscape in the new reality for probation staff. What they are creating will serve as the blue print for the imminent privatisation of the NPS. 

People like Swidenbank are not interested in probation values and simply talk about business and profits. They may well appear to be people like us and wish to portray that in their corporate blogs, but that will be little comfort to those seeking new jobs in the months to come. People like her are the the product of years of NOMS being dominated by prison service managers with probation and rehabilitation being regarded as a footnote offering little or no alternative narrative to policy makers. 

The impression that most people who work in NOMS is that probation is the Cinderella service that never made it to the Grand Ball and will be forever forced to play second fiddle to her uglier private and public sector siblings managing the prison service. And now we have a new Justice Secretary Elizabeth Truss who used to head up Reform who advocated privatisation of the entire probation service.

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I have a work ethic and integrity that is slowly being eroded. On top of all of this we have been told that we have to leave the legacy building which has been taken over by NPS. As it has been problematic to secure a building for us so we are out on our arses with no-where to go.....meanwhile 'business as usual' TARGETS TARGETS TARGETS. It's diabolical.

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This is clear enough union advice: all members are being advised not to sign. It is rare these days to receive such clear, unambiguous advice and it should be applauded.

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I agree this is sensible advice and every Napo member in London can refer to this in discussion with their managers and managers can also refer to the advice given by the recognised trade union. Issuing such a letter was an arrogant provocative act by employers who show scant regard for the professionals in their employ. We are professionals not sessional labourers on a temporary building project that will be demolished at the end of contract.

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R3 - Risk, Risk, Risk. Staff and individuals at risk if conversations during statutory supervision meetings overheard. Individuals may not disclose sensitive information due to risks of being overheard. Risk assessments and RMP's may not accurately reflect risks. Ineffective case management, risks to individuals, staff and members of the public increase. But does it really matter? Less risk of risk escalation, less risk of failures to complete orders as less challenging of thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, behaviour. As long as you turn up or answer the phone and say you're ok, then that's you off the hook 'til next appointment. Superficial case management? Discrepancies between reported/recorded assessments and actual risks of reoffending? Who really knows until some time in the future.

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Yes, I believe this is the situation! The long term effect will be less effective risk management. It will carry on regardless UNTIL there are some serious incidents, life changing injuries or death. Then hey presto ...someone will be all over your records like a rash for serious further offence review. The CRC will probably try to get out of it but ultimately as the whole sorry state unfolds heads will roll at the top! Make sure you record your views in contacts 'could not duscuss xyz as we were overheard'. Managers may not like it but tough shit!

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We're all nervous wrecks in our CRC office, we have to dot all our Is and cross our Ts and if we don't the performance team send the manager an email. No-one wants to be here anymore, but car finance and mortgages make it difficult to leave.

2 comments:

  1. Dear me. What a sorry state of affairs! Can anyone else see any parallels with what is going on in se rail service? There was something about it in the news today with a demonstration and placards reading 'bring back british rail' .Did the minister also resign? You cannot run a company successfully in the long term if the majority of the frontline staff are demoralised and things are not improving. What are sodexo, working links et al doing to improve morale? They should be listening to staff and working with them and not against them. Otherwise things will only continue to get worse.

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  2. Just picking up on the "we're all in it together/one nation" stuff, this from The Guardian last month:

    "In the aftermath of the expenses scandal, politicians promised a complete reform. Three key things needed changing: transparency, the rules and the culture. Years later, however, and the radical sweeping reforms still do not seem to have materialised... A new watchdog called the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) has control over MPs’ pay and expenses.

    “Our rules are a clean break from the old system of allowances,” it stated when it was set up in 2009. “The new rules are fair (to MPs and the public purse), workable and transparent.”

    However, despite what MPs may claim, these largely superficial changes do not mean the expenses problem is fixed. Since David Cameron became prime minister, the amount that MPs claim each year has risen by 43%. Total business costs and expenses rose from £79m in 2010/11, to £113m in 2014/15. Parliamentarians are claiming more and more on things such as air travel and rent."

    Many of those with their snouts deep in the trough weren't MPs in 2009 yet they have quickly adopted their colleagues' old habits of employing family members, etc. And this after their salaries were increased from £67K to £74K to allegedly reduce the 'need' to claim expenses. So 11% pay rise AND 43% increase in expenses... Win, Win!!

    Should've been a Member of the One Nation Parliament.

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