"Probation as a capitalised Noun no longer exists. The Tory assassins have completed their covert task.
Gawke is only the latest in a string of temps who have never mentioned 'Probation' once, let alone 'probation'. Even the other newcomer Rory Stewart - a half-decent constituency MP & an educated man who understands the importance of language in history - refuses to accept 'Probation' as a part of his job title. He knows its part of the Tory narrative to totally erase the left-leaning legacy. He is bright, and he is ambitious; so he plays ball.
The NPS is so very close to being completely absorbed into HMPPS; which will be re-branded - perhaps 'Her Majesty's Prison & Rehabilitation Service' - as Spurr's final spiteful legacy before he sails through the revolving door into a luxurious life of a gilt-edged pension, a knighthood, honorary membership of the LTA & numerous lucrative ACOBA-approved directorships.
The work that a probation service provider does is already being reinvented, diluted & ersatz academics undertaking the KSS^CRC experimental research will unveil groundbreaking revelations in the coming months."
He mentioned the word probation once. You are correct, however, not as a capitalised noun, instead as an add-on to prisons. This shows that the low status of probation under HMPPS is the same as it was under NOMS. Perhaps worse, as David Gauke seems to think probation is an employment / careers service.
ReplyDeleteHere’s what he said;
“The prison and probation service have an important role to help offenders build the skills and experience they need whilst they’re in prison so they can have the right attitude for work and get a job when they’re released.”
Clearly he’s just another tool in a long line of justice secretary’s that have no idea what Criminal Justice System is. Maybe Sonia Crozier can apologise for that too?!
I dont think probation is dead. I think it's confused, dysfunctional, buried under layers of political IDIOTology, and means too many different things to too many different people. It's an identity crisis.
DeleteI also think that some of that identity crisis is propagated from within the service itself.
I personally feel the mantra of 'public protection' advances the probation cause very far at all.
I think probation can mitigate some of the risks people may pose to public safety, but really, is its primary function a public protection agency?
If it is, should it be?
If it is and should be, then probation have to accept responsibility for everything and every time someone under their supervision offends against public safety.
I certainly think probation can mitigate with regard to public safety, but I don't think that should be is sole purpose. Its much more then that.
Maybe a good blog post for the future could be,
"What is the purpose of probation, discuss."
I'd be very suprised if it didn't show up at least a dozen differing opinions, and legitamately held beliefs.
'Getafix
https://www.suffolk.police.uk/join-us/current-vacancies/public-protection-officer-x3
DeleteApplications are invited for the above post within the Public Protection Unit at Lowestoft.
DeleteThe successful applicant will be part of the Public Protection Unit, whose responsibilities include management of Registered Sex Offenders, Violent Offenders and Potentially Dangerous Persons in the community.
The successful applicant will also visit and carry out risk assessments on registered sex offenders, as well as assisting in managing sex offenders in the community on a multi-agency basis. This work is undertaken in conjunction with other agencies including the National Probation Service (NPS), Children and Young People Services (CYPS) and the Prison Service. The multi-agency management is undertaken within the framework of the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangement (MAPPA).
Applications are invited for the above post within the Public Protection Unit at Lowestoft.
The successful applicant will be part of the Public Protection Unit, whose responsibilities include management of Registered Sex Offenders, Violent Offenders and Potentially Dangerous Persons in the community.
The successful applicant will also visit and carry out risk assessments on registered sex offenders, as well as assisting in managing sex offenders in the community on a multi-agency basis. This work is undertaken in conjunction with other agencies including the National Probation Service (NPS), Children and Young People Services (CYPS) and the Prison Service. The multi-agency management is undertaken within the framework of the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangement (MAPPA).
'Interserve plans further job cuts as it fights bankruptcy fears ... Ms White, an industry veteran who joined from Sodexo last autumn, believes she can cut millions of pounds in procurement costs because Interserve’s “federated” approach meant there were few centralised functions. She has acknowledged the company under predecessor Adrian Ringrose, who was forced out last year, expanded too fast, MAKING ACQUISITIONS AND CONTRACT WINS IN SECTORS OF WHICH IT HAD LITTLE EXPERIENCE, according to briefings to analysts.'
ReplyDeletehttps://www.ft.com/content/f235a57c-1f93-11e8-9efc-0cd3483b8b80
Manchester CRC are doing their bit we have no pens and photocopy on double sides. Don't they have to show their accounts by 31/3.
DeleteNo phone lines in our area and you can’t order a new toner cartridge for the printer until it commands you to hoping you get a new one In time.
DeleteI think the least we can do is apply CPR in the hope an ambulance arrives in time. It wont be a Tory ambulance, for sure.
ReplyDeleteToday's Guardian.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/mar/07/oxford-university-backs-down-in-pensions-dispute
Why didn't NAPO do this to safeguard our pensions? Too late for many former probation members.
The dispute between universities and their staff may be closer to a resolution after the University of Oxford said it would seek to reverse its stance on pensions changes that unions say would cost retirees up to £10,000 a year.
DeleteThe about-turn means Oxford joins an increasing number of universities that have broken ranks with the position taken by Universities UK (UUK), which claims the staff pension scheme needs dramatic reform in order to continue.
Cambridge, Manchester, St Andrews and Warwick universities have distanced themselves from the UUK’s stance, and Imperial College’s leadership has made a direct appeal to the pensions regulator asking for the issue to be resolved by an independent panel of experts.
I think the argument over the term Probation is arguably a red herring. The issue, for me, is what are the needs and who will meet them? If 'Probation' was absorbed into Social Care in the way that Youth Offending is, I would have no problem with that. The service could have the social work base that we have generally argued is necessary to secure change in those we work with. Call it the 'Adult Offending Service' is you want, I don't really mind. What I care about is whether what we are doing in order to secure change in the individuals we are working with is in any way effective. I feat that much of what we are currently doing is not. At best it is the efficient production of an increasingly useless product. Rather like a lot of the superficial work that takes place in prisons.
ReplyDeleteThe elimination of the WORD Probation is something that should have been reasonably easy to secure. The elimination of the IDEA of Probation is something that Government will live to regret.
AS for 'Left leaning'; it has never ceased to amaze me how the 'Right' can completely ignore evidence of success if it offends their two dimensional sensibilities. Michael Howard said 'Prison works'. Chris Patton said 'if Probation didn't exist, we would need to invent it'. I know which one I believe.
I blame the Russians
ReplyDeleteMany of the SOS's ilk have tried to do away with the word or concept of prpobation but like the proverbial Norweigan blue....it is not dead...just sleeping
ReplyDeleteMr. Praline: Look, matey, I know a dead parrot when I see one, and I'm looking at one right now.
DeleteOwner: No no he's not dead, he's, he's restin'! Remarkable bird, the Norwegian Blue, idn'it, ay? Beautiful plumage!
Mr. Praline: The plumage don't enter into it. It's stone dead.
Wasn't it the late Roy Jenkins who described probation as "the glue which holds the criminal justice system together". Or maybe that's just me being whimsical.
ReplyDeleteProbation ' left leaning' . Have you met the average probation officer now ? Nothing very left leaning about em
ReplyDeleteAnd quite right too. We want our Probation Officers to reflect society as a whole, not just one section of it.
ReplyDeleteIs there a report due to be published on London CRC tomorrow?
ReplyDeleteA Pre-Sentence Report, perhaps? Or maybe a Social Inquiry Report?
DeleteWith all economic problems the country faces, housing, prisons, food banks, NHS, crisis everywhere you look, austerity strangling society, and council tax set to soar with no prospect of a payrise, I'm not convinced that this is the best use of money by our cash strapped government.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-43324619
The UK is to pay for a new wing in one of Nigeria's largest prisons to help expedite the transfer of offenders from British jails.
DeleteUp to £700,000 will be spent on a 112-bed annex in Kiri Kiri prison in the country's largest city Lagos. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said it would enable eligible Nigerian inmates serving time in the UK to return home to complete their sentences.
The UK and Nigeria signed a prisoner transfer agreement in 2014. It means citizens of one who commit crimes in the other will serve sentences in their homeland.
According to Ministry of Justice figures, there were 320 Nigerian prisoners in British jails at the end of 2016, accounting for 3% of the foreign prisoner population. The Nigerian prison extension will be paid for out of the government's Conflict, Stability and Security Fund, which provides development and security support to countries which are at risk of conflict or instability. Mr Johnson said the move would help "improve the capacity" of the Nigerian prison service. "The provision of this assistance is in line with the government's security and stability objectives in West Africa," he added in a written statement to Parliament.
According to tenders placed with construction firms, the project will cost £695,525. At the end of 2016 there were just under 10,000 foreign nationals within the UK prison population, 19% of which were from African countries.