Damning Probation Report 3

Well, what a day! It was interesting to note the tone of the London CRC press release. Not in the slightest apologetic but rather arrogant, crying foul that only 40 cases were involved in the inspection, completely ignoring the fact that if extrapolated, the picture might be much, much worse. I mean, didn't every office have a large management poster in it proclaiming that 'only 50% of cases had a full OASys'?

Basically, as of now, London CRC is in 'special measures' and possibly until the spring. I understand NOMS have sent in a crack team to oversee the changes they want to see and Paul McDowell will most likely be driving these changes, such as frontline staff increases as part of the 20:20 Vision Project. My guess is his star is definitely in the ascendancy as a trouble shooter.

Interestingly, the new London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, is taking a close interest in what has been going on in probation on his patch and his Mayors Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) looks likely to be a prominent part of the group monitoring the improvement programme. It seems the NPS will also be calling some shots and this might be seen as part of a trend that sees NPS becoming more involved with CRCs operationally. Perhaps NPS involvement in CRC business could be seen as an acknowledgement and recognition that not all 'innovation' is either realistically deliverable or indeed, actually wanted. 

At a guess, the inspectors are most likely to return towards the end of 2017 after change has bedded in a bit, some money has been spent and staff are hopefully feeling less battered and bruised. However, there is the distinct possibility that if things haven't improved substantially, then heads will almost certainly start to roll. No doubt in the meantime, I'd be surprised if the MoJ isn't quietly working up a plan B with very discreet discussions taking place with some of the big boys such as the likes of Amey and Capita. 

I'm led to believe Amey have been loaning MTCnovo several experts in HR and Facilities Management - at considerable expense - and it should be remembered that Capita are the only other company that had designs on the London contract from the beginning.

This is all incredibly embarrassing and humiliating for MTCnovo, but they basically find themselves over the proverbial barrel and had to agree to anything short of being stripped of the contract. Although it means they will be allowed to continue, it will only be under close supervision and scrutiny. If they screw up or more skeletons are discovered, then NOMS grip will no doubt tighten and it could well be 'curtains' for our American cousins.

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Postscript

Always pleased to have confirmation that the blog is widely read and I'm happy to highlight the following correction that arrived on the blog this afternoon:-

Jane Parsons, HMI Probation 15 December 2016 at 17:39

I would like to correct an assertion made here:

"These sort of events are to a large degree 'stage-managed' by the MoJ who of course are free to decide when any report is published, especially if it contains bad and politically-damaging news"

The Ministry of Justice does not decide when we publish our reports. We are an independent inspectorate and publish our reports as soon as they are ready.

Jane Parsons, HM Inspectorate of Probation

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Thanks to the reader for sending me the following mailout to London Napo members this afternoon. (I've edited out 'other news')

Today has seen the publication of the HMI Probation report into probation services in North London. This report is hugely critical of the service and has generated significant press and wider interest. Napo has been heavily engaged in this. Here’s the link to our official statement, which is on the Napo website.

We wanted to additionally write directly to members in all parts of the service across London to add some more information about our engagement at national and London wide level and to explain more fully the position we’ve been presenting on behalf of members. Please share with colleagues who may not be in a union and ask them to join to strengthen the collective hand of staff during the coming period of continued uncertainty and change.

Yesterday, Dean Rogers and Napo London CRC Co-Chair David Raho were involved in a briefing with Helga Swindenbank, Paul McDowell and other CRC senior managers about the content of the report and the CRC reaction. This morning, Dean joined Ian Lawrence (Napo General Secretary) and Yvonne Pattison (Napo National Co-Chair) in a meeting at NOMS with Helga, alongside with NPS senior managers Sonia Crozier, Jude Grey and Kilvinder Vigurs. These meetings were honest and constructive. Dean has also recently been discussing operational challenges with Rise senior managers. We’ve made a number of critical points consistently at these meetings, including:

• Staff can in no way be held responsible for the problems identified within the report for both the CRC and the NPS. Better staff morale is essential to better service delivery. This means urgently addressing issues with workloads, being secure in your role and being able to deliver what’s expected (with resourcing and training implications), better support for line managers, stable and workable IT for everyone, and far better pay and reward. No change programme will be sustainable unless it prioritises and addresses all of these challenges. 

• Whilst Napo predicted all of these issues just saying, “We told you so” isn’t enough – Napo will be a critical friend of whoever is providing services and expect, going forward, that the professional voice of staff will be listened too and acted upon.

• The MoJ are equally to blame for the CRC problems, having given assurances they’d tested the cohort operating model before letting the contract and, despite known staffing shortages in London, believed it to be workable and safe. Given the MoJ’s track record we welcome the involvement of the Mayor’s Office in scrutinising efforts to deliver improvements for service users and the public. We believe devolved scrutiny and local accountability are an essential part of providing a sustainable, high quality service in London.

• A root problem for London is recruiting, retaining and developing staff – this predates the split. There has to be a probation wide strategy to address this urgently. This requires investment in high quality continuous professional development for all staff, especially recognising that London attracts more newly qualified staff; new appraisal and performance management systems; more first line managers with manageable numbers in their teams; and better pay and reward to meet London’s specific challenges. The CRC, Rise and the NPS should be working and delivering these together in partnership with unions and other stakeholders.

• In this regard we’re encouraged by progress recently in national pay talks but want unity in pressing Ministers for the additional resource and freedom to develop positive changes across the NPS, CRC and Rise. Minister’s should not be waiting until April to present solutions via a Probation Services Review – things are more urgent than that.

• We remained concerned about the sustainability of all of the CRC contracts. This may be the most critical report from HMIP to date but the problems identified are reflected across the country. There remains a strong likelihood that eventually one of the contracts will collapse – either because the company decides they can’t make a profit or HMIP decides cuts run too deeply into public safety. It is dangerous and scandalous that there is currently no contingency plan if this happened – there is no plan B. Napo does not think that the NPS could simply pick up failing CRC contracts. Nor is re-tendering to other struggling contractors a credible option. Napo is therefore pressing, alongside the Mayor’s Office and other stakeholders, for a sensible contingency to be developed now.

HMIP will be back for a follow up report at some point during 2017. This inevitably means that staff will feel under huge pressure with such a cloud hanging over London probation. Napo recognises this and will continue to champion and protect staff interests. The more members we have the more effectively we’ll be – partly because our voice will be stronger and also because, as a listening organisation the more confident and accurately we’ll be reflecting all staff’s real concerns. There really has never been a more important time to be a member of your union and professional association.

DEAN ROGERS (Assistant General Secretary) Lead National Napo Officer and Official for London
YVONNE PATTISON (National Co-Chair)

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Stop Press 
This from the Evening Standard:-

Sadiq Khan: Give City Hall control of failing probation services

City Hall should be given control of the supervision of freed offenders in London, Sadiq Khan said today.

A watchdog has warned that the public is being put at risk by “unacceptable” probation failings in the capital.

The chief inspector of probation, Dame Glenys Stacey, said the “poor performance” of the London Community Rehabilitation Company, a private provider responsible for most probation work in the city, meant some offenders were not being monitored for months. Others were “lost in the system” with the result that Londoners were being “exposed unduly to the risk of harm”.

In response, the Mayor said the Government’s decision to privatise most probation work last year had backfired: “Today’s report is deeply alarming and shows that London’s probation service is simply not working, with Londoners significantly more at risk as a result of the upheaval caused by privatisation.

“Reoffending costs London almost £2.3 billion each year. I will continue to make the case to the Government that responsibility for probation services in London should be devolved to City Hall, so we can drive the very necessary long-lasting improvements that will cut reoffending, reduce crime, improve public safety and save the taxpayer money.”

The Ministry of Justice also described the findings, drawn from an analysis of cases in north London, as “unacceptable” and said it had deployed a team to improve performance. The LCRC said it had already implemented reforms and viewed public safety as its “number one priority”.