An Harmonious and Uplifting Song

                          NAPO Cymru Panel Discussion at the Welsh Assembly

L to R  Dean Rogers, Bernie Bowen Thompson, Lisa Robinson, Su McConnel, Anne Fox, Darren Mc Garvey 

“Listen to us, don’t have us at the table as a tick-box gesture.”

A strong consensus was emerging at the NAPO-hosted panel discussion at the Welsh Assembly on Wednesday, considering the question “How do you solve a problem like Probation”. The context of this event is the launch last year of the Commission on Justice in Wales, the first of their terms of reference being: “promoting better outcomes in terms of access to justice, reducing crime and promoting rehabilitation.”

NAPO Cymru invited a range of speakers with different backgrounds and perspectives on rehabilitation, from as far apart as Plymouth, London and Glasgow, and from the Third Sector, Academic Research, and Social Campaigning. The invited audience included Assembly members, members of the Wales Justice Commission, Welsh Government policy staff, County Councillors, and campaigners as well as Probation staff.

The event opened with words from Secretary to the Commission on Justice in Wales Andrew Felton, saying that the call for evidence would be announced in coming weeks, inviting submissions and that they “were not ruling anything out”. Nadine Marshall, who has campaigned for greater transparency in SFO processes for victims following the death of her son Conner, asked from the floor if individuals might submit evidence, and was encouraged to do so.

Dean Rogers NAPO Assistant Gen Secretary, said that TR and the privatisation of probation had been “an unmitigated disaster”. Looking forward, NAPO seeks to build a consensus approach with all stakeholders; an effective plan for the future of rehabilitation services should be built by listening and collaborating. He gave five “key tests”

• Pragmatic collaborative approach, not driven by any ideology
• Local service
• Strong leadership able to withstand government pressures “stand up to Westminster”
• Unified delivery of service
• Not for profit: crucial role for 3rd sector

Writer, broadcaster and community activist Darren McGarvey gave a compelling social and health/trauma informed account of crime in the community and the pioneering work of the Scotland Violence Reduction Unit, a community engagement model that is leading the UK in violence reduction. The Scottish perspective is in stark contrast to England and Wales: “probation” is embedded in social services, and “probation officers” are Criminal Justice Social Workers. 

He remarked “you do the work with people, not to them”. He spoke about “class, the elephant in the room” commenting that the correlation between deprivation and crime is hardly controversial, going on to say this is as much a Public Health issue as a criminal justice one. Darren McGarvey also described the “bold and progressive” decision by Scottish Government to move away from short term prison sentences (under 3 months) in favour of community supervision.

During questions and answers, we heard about the investment by Welsh Government into a joined-up police and health approach to violent crime. Janine Roderick, Wales Policy Lead for health and policing, said “There has been significant investment in this. We have a great opportunity in Wales”

Anne Fox, CEO of Clinks, made the - devastating for many probation staff present- observation that “the 3rd Sector supports desistence, in an ethos of mentoring, befriending, and advising: that ethos is not the same in statutory organisations like the MoJ.” 3rd Sector organisations are particularly effective in supporting and working with particular groups, eg BAME, women. She spoke about the devastating effects of TR on her sector, with work and opportunity shrivelling: “TR has been awful…. The rate-card must go”. She envisioned a future probation service working collaboratively with the 3rd sector and had this advice for Probation:

• Seize the opportunity of devolution (of justice)
• Define the role: what the statutory duties and expectations of Probation are
• Understand what people need to desist 
• Don’t do it without the voluntary/third sector

Dr Jill Annison, Associate Professor at University of Plymouth, has been involved in training Probation Officers, as well as research and publishing in the field of Criminal Justice and Rehabilitation. “After so much fragmentation, I find it hard to describe what Probation as a concept represents now” she opened. The rhetoric of TR was that this was the only way to achieve change, (top down restructure): “the scope for grass roots progressive change was lost”. She described the importance of relationships with individual clients, requiring “critical, skilled, professional, well-trained staff”, who stuck with individuals through their “often sig-zag paths” to pro-social and healthy living: also the importance of collaborative relationships at a community organisational level : “Probation used to be, and should be, the glue that held local partnerships together.” 

A published author on the subject, she went on to comment that the issue of women in the CJS is “one of the most dispiriting aspects of TR”. For this group, there is a particular need for an holistic, sustained, joined-up approach, “time-limited interventions are not the answer”. Her advice for those looking to the future of Probation was “to look hard at the training and Continuous Professional Development” as this had been pushed aside in TR.

Bernie Bowen Thomson CEO of Safer Wales, was the last speaker. She reminded us that “Offenders are ultimately people within our communities” and called on the Justice Commission to look at

• Women in the CJS
• A gender-informed approach
• You must not ignore the lives and environment 
• Generational impact of CJS

She set her comments in the context of the Well-being and Future Generations Act Wales, “if we get it right for women in the criminal justice system, we get it right for future generations”. Echoing Darren McGarvey’s point, she talked about individuals and communities living in “toxic stress”. She spoke about confusion following TR, in particular in commissioning and funding. “What is required is needs-informed services, and this is not helped by competitive tendering”. 

She called on commissioners to listen, and to look for sustainable collaboration between statutory agencies and the 3rd Sector. Listening and collaboration should happen at all levels; local, regional and national. To Probation, she said, “We want to be there with you” and to the Commission she asked “Listen to us, don’t have us at the table as a tick-box gesture”.

Comments during Q&A sessions included

Probation Officer “Desistence is filtered out of current probation practice, by the structures and systems” …” Commercial Confidentiality shrouds any accountability of CRCs”… “the only accountability is to the budget sheet”.

“Most of the TR money was spent on the change, not on the work”.

Ian Lawrence, NAPO Gen Secretary: “There is climate of innovation in Wales, and appetite to do things right, courage to do them differently, to ask brave questions, and to listen to the answers. The lack of professional standards, and the diminished emphasis on, and investment in qualification and continuous training, is a growing issue. Establishing Professional standards, and a Licence to Practice, is a key NAPO issue. To work out what is to happen next, we must forge alliances.

Anne Fox “The contracts drive out experience… we have lost the sense that we are working with people. Take it (Probation) off the MoJ… The MoJ style of recruitment and selection: we are precluding people with convictions, people who don’t fit a particular mould, we should be pushing the envelope. Resist the building of a Women’s Prison in Wales, we have a wealth of, albeit badly underfunded, women’s centres.

Su McConnel, NAPO Cymru Communications Officer, said “It was so encouraging to see members of the Commission here today, listening to the authentic, varied voices of experience and expertise. It was remarkable how, given the invitation to set out their vision of a future probation service, these varied voices sang an harmonious and uplifting song. NAPO Cymru is very grateful to Jayne Bryant AM, who sponsored this event, and to all the contributors, from the panel and the floor.”