Pick of the Week 52

I don't think we can afford to be too purist about professional judgement. Sure, it's important that probation officers are not mere automatons, but sometimes the problems in the system need social fixes and policy changes that are beyond the individual officers, however well-intentioned. There is evidence of institutional racism in sentencing: Asians and blacks whose rate of imprisonment is 20% greater than their white counterparts. There is also decades-old evidence of a postcode lottery in sentencing practices across the country. Given a choice, a black offender would have a better chance of a non-custodial if sentenced by a bias-free robot rather than a free-thinking, unbounded professional. The independent, wise professional is a myth anyway, as the criminal justice system has never been a bias-free zone, as social psychology is replete with examples of non-legal variables impacting on sentencing.

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I think that's a point very well made. Sometimes professional judgement is bound by professional judgements made by others from other agencies with different agendas, but once the direction of travel is set in motion then professional judgement becomes tied within particular parameters. This case reported today interests me a lot. A judgement has been made that directs a person into the CJS. I personally feel that is the wrong approach, and a direction towards mental health services would have been more suitable. The professional judgements made on this person from those he meets in the CJS, are likely to be quite different from those he would have met in mental health services. I find the case upsetting.

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Anybody that's likely to breach the terms of a suspended sentence is to my mind just as likely to breach the terms of a community order. I wonder how much of removing suspended sentences from the sentencing options is about reducing the prison population, and how much of it is about increasing the 'supply chain' for CRCs? Whatever it is, people are now being sentenced on the basis of systematic government failings and not on the basis of the most suitable or appropriate sentence available. I'm actually pretty impressed too that probation officers can sit with judges and agree to remove sentencing options. They've obviously got more clout then I've gave them credit for!!

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There Is something fishy about all this Suspended Sentence stuff. Seems as if probation rolled over to appease magistrates. They can’t really be saying that probation are proposing Suspended Sentences illegally AND the Courts are therefore imposing them illegally? I think the issue is that probation are proposing Suspended Sentences appropriately. Magistrates do not like feeling obliged to invoke the custody if the sentence is breached because they’re then blamed for prison overcrowding. If they don’t invoke the custody and the person reoffends then the Magistrates are blamed for being soft. Probation should have instead been telling Magistrates if they don’t like our proposals then don’t request a PSR. This is what happens when we have directors whipped by prisons and politicians.

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I don't bother with an alarm clock these days, I just get up when the pinging of notifications of emails from recruiting agencies looking for POs flatlines into a whine.

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Seems like the agency has been told to vet the competence of their agency staff. I'm sure it's not their idea.

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What a load of shite. An agency delivering OASys training.

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Probably ex-probation senior managers who, having been the privileged few who voted themselves eligible for EVR, are now casually pocketing more public funds as sessional trainers for RSG. Wonder if they'll come face-to-face with those they shafted into unemployment? Might be worth going just to witness the fighting...

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Rory Stewart gave a peculiar contribution to the last TR Justice Select Committee, in which he said in effect that the CRCs were victims of their own success, (it was convoluted, but that was the argument) and then went on to say that, yeah, TR hadn't been a success, it was all a bit of a mess, but it had been such a traumatic and expensive upheaval that it would not be a good idea to do much in the way of major re-upheaval.

“I am in blood stepped in so far that should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o’er,” (Scottish play)

What Rory and the whole sorry bunch at the top end of probation fail to grasp (they never did) is the scale of energy and talent that would be released if they pulled the plug on TR, tore up the contracts and got to fixing probation. What they fail to grasp, (they never did) is that there is a huge well of expertise and knowledge to draw on. All they have to do is demonstrate they have the bottle to do it

"But screw your courage to the sticking-place, And we’ll not fail" also from the Scottish play.

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Boiling frog syndrome. Spot on. I am leaving as soon as I can. I will mourn, but then the bereavement process started in 2014.

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Advice from one boiling frog to another: leave before you croak. Heavens, temping used to be the poor relation of stable permanent posts, insecure and unsupported: not the safer healthier option.

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I am a great professional, highly qualified and experienced, dedicated and hard working. However, give me 90 mile an hour work to do, with no time to take a break, heavily targeted and electronically whipped then I will fail or leave or both. I left.

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Probation has a high sickness and mortality rate. NPS and CRC, both drive you into the ground with overwhelming work, targets, managerial abuse, toxic and dirty work environments, and a general lack of care for staff. And the moment you’re long term sick or dead they’ll replace you within 3 days. No matter how good or bad a Probation Officer you think you are, whether a sheep, complainer, rebel or brown-noser, what you really are to probation management is expendable, replaceable and easily forgotten. So remember this next time you’re asked or compelled to do more than you should and learn to say no. There are many jobs better than probation.

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I think the workplace across most sectors is now a toxic mixture of stress and relentless target driven exhaustion. The workplace has become a galley ship, with employees manning the oars whilst the privateer masters bang the drum ever faster and demand more and more. It's profit that matters. Professionalism is just an expensive obstacle to reaching targets, signing off and claiming payment. The workforce are mules, a necessary evil the corporations must endure in their pursuit of ever greater profits. The employment market in 2018 is just another government created crisis. It's unhealthy, and quantity driven, quality means less dividends for shareholders. It's just a dirty world we live in where there's no trust anymore, and the only thing that matters is profit.

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Bullying & abusive behaviour by management began escalating when the pre-privatisation Trusts were created. I had several months' sick leave shortly before the TR debacle kicked off. I saw my own GP but her reports weren't good enough for the Trust so they commissioned a new report from their own Occ Health GP. The OH GP was initially very hostile, had clearly been briefed against me & was dismissive of my own GP's views.

After two lengthy & very tense meetings the OH GP wrote a report which was factual, but with a clear bias against myself & my situation. I felt utterly crushed, and when OH GP asked me back for a further meeting I was guarded, angry & very anxious. His opening gambit was to show me a letter he'd received from the Trust which stated that the Trust wanted him to "tweak" his report saying it was "not strong enough for their needs". He told me he realised he had been 'played' by the Trust, was led to believe I was "a malingerer and a troublemaker", that he was sorry he had not previously believed my account of the bullying & abusive practices, that he now had "a much clearer appreciation" of my situation and that he would be taking "appropriate professional action".

The following week I was offered a generous return-to-work package which allowed me to keep all of my accrued annual leave (as opposed to using it for the RTW). I was in a union. I did have a union rep. They were fucking useless. I complained to the branch, region & HQ - never got a reply. The rep was subsequently promoted & went on to become the 'fixer' for the Trust's primary bully. Who knows, perhaps they are still enjoying shitting on people in NPS or CRC? Along came TR, the shafting process and the non-EVR omnishambles.

I left. My GP says I'm no longer at immediate risk of, to use Jermey *unt's compassionate euphemism, "a shortened life".

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If the caseloads and constant grind won't change we need to push for something that will extend careers. Only this week there was chat about teachers being allowed to apply for 12 months paid sabbatical. I'd like a 3 month break every 3 years, either a sabbatical taken from accrued leave or placement in a non operational/ non-client facing role. In the meantime we need meaningful clinical supervision rather than line management supervision.

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No you need managers to stop making the work environment so demanding. No amount of supervision, therapy or leave is going to change this.

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Nothing more stressful than having urgent reports to write and the IT system isn't working. Not for a couple of hours but days! Told at 8am when only 4 people in using laptops that too many users making the system slow!!! Get a grip Working Links!

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But why are you stressed, it is not your problem. Record on ND every day “IT system not working, report cannot be started/completed”. When the deadline is imminent you email your manager, stating the problem and how they intend to resolve it. This is what managers are for.

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Joint announcement - let's peer through the smoke & into the mirrors...

- explore the prospects: there's nothing to see
- independent of the dispute: the dispute is sidelined
- reassessment around funding streams: we're changing the rules
- capacity to meet costing implications: there is no capacity
- series of further meetings: stalling, delaying, obstructing
- as soon as more news becomes available: there is no more news

The Message: "you ain't gonna get jack, folks"

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"The employer reported that they are currently involved in talks with the MoJ and explained the work that they are undertaking as a result of the recent findings of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee. This has led to some reassessment by all CRC contract holders around future funding streams and their capacity to meet the costing implications of the unions likely pay claims "

Napo is doing what it must do ask for more pay in line with any Union function. The dispute me well be on going but pay is a matter of all sides to attend to. What the report says is there is no money for pay claims and the MoJ are in talks. What does that really mean Working Links Cant pay staff so what?

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So will the majority of PO's who left in the last year to go to NPS etc get any back pay? Seriously folks there are virtually no non agency PO's left in Working Links now. It will take more than a miserly few quid to sort that problem out. Sooner they fold the better. You can't run a service like this on agency staff. No offence but it is bad economically as well as in terms of overall commitment to the service users and employers. Or do I misunderstand the meaning of transformation?

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Can you see WL tracing ex-employees to give them money? Sadly the 'joint statement' bears no resemblance to previous slash, parry & riposte of Dino; sounds like another Napo HQ fudge-up. Are we sure HQ aren't in the pocket of Spurr & MoJ? They seem determined to take everything down a cul-de-sac, leaving members in the shit.

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No we cannot be sure if a Napo Spurr MoJ allegiance is a factor but there is no way Dino would be any part of that not a chance he is pro member pro rights pro union full stop.