Dame Glenys promises more tales of woe:-
Robert Neill
Chair of the Justice Select Committee
Date: 2 January 2019
Dear Bob
I am writing to let you know of outline plans that may be of interest to the Committee as it considers its schedule of work over the coming months.
Firstly, you will know that the criminal justice chief inspectors have recently published our joint plans. During 2019, HMCPSI will lead an inspection of evidence-led prosecutions of domestic abuse offences, following HMI Probation’s September 2018 inspection report on the work undertaken by CRCs in domestic abuse cases. I am pleased that together the chief inspectors maintain an interest in this important area of work. HMICFRS will lead an inspection of crimes against older people, and an inspection of the use of new bail provisions. For our part at HMI Probation, we will lead an inspection of Integrated Offender Management, supported by HMICFRS. With no one prescribed model, chief inspectors are keen to see how it is working, post Transforming Rehabilitation.
At HMI Probation, we intend to begin our regular annual consultation on our own plans later this month. Much of our inspection schedule is already set, as we are committed to inspecting all CRCs and all NPS divisions annually. However, we will be consulting on outline proposals for inspecting probation services as they transition to fewer CRCs and more NPS divisions.
Assuming those proposed changes to probation services go ahead, we will be aiming in due course to conduct inspections of the proposed coterminous NPS divisions and CRCs sufficiently closely in time, so that we bring most benefit to the system overall. It will inevitably take a little time to get to that position, but I am confident that our standards and methodologies will stand us in good stead. I appreciate that with Brexit and other uncertainties, the proposed transition to new probation arrangements is not necessarily certain. We are keeping as well informed as we can.
In our consultation we will be seeking views on future thematic inspections, while reminding consultees of how we determine topics. Our criteria include the potential impact of our findings, risks to public protection, significant changes to public policy, and the views of key stakeholders including of course those of the Select Committee. We already have in hand, thematic inspections of sexual offender work, jointly with HMI Prisons (report to be published later this month) and post sentence probation supervision for those adults sentenced to less than twelve months.
With that consultation completed we will then update our corporate plan. As it is, we do not envisage making any changes to our established strategic objectives. I do expect HMI Probation to make a bigger contribution than previously to the evidence base for what constitutes effective probation services. We began publishing a series of research and analysis bulletins last year, Independent inspection of adult and youth offending work showing what can be gleaned from our ever-growing data set. We intend to continue with the series and also to conduct more research, in collaboration with others.
Finally, we have two further publications planned for the early part of the year that will be of interest to the Committee. The first is an annual report. We last reported in this way in December 2017. Since then we have changed materially the way we inspect and the questions we ask of all cases, but by early spring we will use the evidence base from our new inspections to report on the systemic issues prevailing nationally. Secondly, as chair of the criminal justice joint chief inspectors’ group, I am leading on the preparation of a state of the nation report for criminal justice as a whole. We aim to publish the report in May. The criminal justice chief inspectors will be happy to appear together before the committee in relation to that report, should the committee wish.
I hope that you and other committee members find this brief update helpful. If you require any further information, please do say.
Yours sincerely,
Dame Glenys Stacey
HM Chief Inspector of Probation
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And the MoJ will continue to squander our money:-
Ministry of Justice abandons key plank of £280m IT project
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And the MoJ will continue to squander our money:-
Ministry of Justice abandons key plank of £280m IT project
Exclusive Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service has halted one of the core workstreams of its £280m Common Platform Programme, putting three years' of development work on ice in favour of keeping an "end-of-life legacy system" in use.
In an email seen by The Register, HMCTS Crime Programme Director Gemma Hewison told selected staff that the Crown Prosecution Service's core Case Management System (CMS) would be "reused" instead of being replaced altogether, as planned.
The project to replace CMS forms a core part of a £280m IT procurement programme, which itself is a cornerstone of a £1bn Ministry of Justice project to transform the British justice system and its record-keeping.
The Common Platform Programme (CPP) was explicitly described as replacing "the existing HMCTS and CPS case management systems with a single system" in a 2016 HMCTS blog post. Dumping that "core workstream" raises big questions over the future of the CPP – and whether hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers' money was spent wisely.
At the time of its launch in 2014, the programme was meant to be complete by March 2019. Ominously, that date has slipped to 2020 and with this latest decision is likely to be even more delayed.
In the email seen by El Reg, Hewison revealed that the decision to reuse the case management system was made because the Crown Prosecution Service had spent so much money over the last two years keeping the system operational. Senior civil servants felt that "the immediate need to replace it has therefore diminished".
Hewison appeared to leave the door open to continuing with the CMS replacement in the future, writing that "we should consider the order in which we deliver key elements" of the CPP, while admitting that "HMCTS and CPS have considered options to improve pace". In plain English, deadlines are slipping and the programme's delivery date is becoming later and later.
She exhorted her staff to "just continue" with development work, even though the public and private sector workforce writing CMS's replacement have just been told that their product is going to be shelved and possibly will not be deployed at all.
In an email seen by The Register, HMCTS Crime Programme Director Gemma Hewison told selected staff that the Crown Prosecution Service's core Case Management System (CMS) would be "reused" instead of being replaced altogether, as planned.
The project to replace CMS forms a core part of a £280m IT procurement programme, which itself is a cornerstone of a £1bn Ministry of Justice project to transform the British justice system and its record-keeping.
The Common Platform Programme (CPP) was explicitly described as replacing "the existing HMCTS and CPS case management systems with a single system" in a 2016 HMCTS blog post. Dumping that "core workstream" raises big questions over the future of the CPP – and whether hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers' money was spent wisely.
At the time of its launch in 2014, the programme was meant to be complete by March 2019. Ominously, that date has slipped to 2020 and with this latest decision is likely to be even more delayed.
In the email seen by El Reg, Hewison revealed that the decision to reuse the case management system was made because the Crown Prosecution Service had spent so much money over the last two years keeping the system operational. Senior civil servants felt that "the immediate need to replace it has therefore diminished".
Hewison appeared to leave the door open to continuing with the CMS replacement in the future, writing that "we should consider the order in which we deliver key elements" of the CPP, while admitting that "HMCTS and CPS have considered options to improve pace". In plain English, deadlines are slipping and the programme's delivery date is becoming later and later.
She exhorted her staff to "just continue" with development work, even though the public and private sector workforce writing CMS's replacement have just been told that their product is going to be shelved and possibly will not be deployed at all.
Thanks Jim. Always pleased to read new bits & bats. This govt is fast imploding so I'm sure there'll be plenty more to feast on very soon.
ReplyDeleteIt would seem the coroner presiding over the inquest in Manchester is not going to leave any stone unturned or allow any agency to dodge scrutiny.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/michael-hoolickin-inquest-timothy-deakin-15659410
'Getafix
Parents of murdered young dad say they're 'absolutely heartbroken' after his inquest is halted again
DeleteThe parents of a young dad who was stabbed to death by a violent criminal out on license say they have been left 'heartbroken' after his inquest was put on hold for a second time.
Michael Hoolickin, 27, was knifed five times by Timothy Deakin outside a pub in Middleton after the dad-of-one chastised him for hitting a woman.
At the time, Deakin, 23, had been on license with ten conditions attached after he was released from prison, having served half a four year and eight month sentence for biting half a man's ear off.
A previous hearing in June last year was put on hold so that further investigations could be carried out to determine whether Deakin should have been recalled to prison prior to murdering Mr Hoolickin.
Information only emerged on the second day of the previous inquest that Deakin had been suspected of breaching his license conditions on numerous occasions by carrying weapons, dealing drugs and spending time with a co-defendant.
As Mr Hoolickin's inquest resumed on Wednesday, the court was told by Deakin's probation case manager that she believed the thug should have been recalled months before committing the murder.
Case manager Natalia Atkinson said the threshold for recall in Deakin's case had been 'firmly met.'
But as the Heywood hearing entered its second day, Coroner for north Manchester Joanne Kearsley halted the inquest for a second time after new concerns were raised about the way information was communicated between Greater Manchester Police and the Probation Service.
Questions about the way GMP's Spotlight team communicated information and intelligence about offenders to the probation service were raised, requiring 'further investigation,' according to Ms Kearsley.
Due to the nature of his previous offending, Deakin was categorised as a 'high risk' offender, meaning he was the subject of an Integrated Offender Management [IOM] system.
The IOM is a cross-agency response designed to bring services such as GMP and the probation service together, in order to share information and manage an offender's risk of harm within the community.
Ms Kearsley stated further information was required from both GMP and the Probation Service about the way the system had been operating at the time, before the inquest could resume.
She told the court it would be 'manifestly unfair' for Greater Manchester Police to answer those questions without the option of legal representation.
Mr Hoolickin's family now face another agonising six-month delay to receive answers about why Deakin was not sent back to prison.
Addressing his family, Ms Kearsley said: "I know that it is with a heavy heart that you recognise the need for an adjournment and this is not how you wanted to be concluding matters today.
"There may be further evidence and the last thing that you want is to leave here feeling that we have not fully explored this.
"It is not an easy decision but I am going to adjourn this inquest today to carry out further investigations.
"If we do this, we do this fully."
That seems hopeful with the coroner taking it so seriously - hopefully we will hear more as matters progress.
DeleteIt is awful for all concerned that such tragedies ever happen
Once again Probation is featured in the latest edition of Private Eye (page 10).Executives at CRCs rewarded for failure !
ReplyDeleteIt is about the revolving door between government and commercial companies.
DeleteHilda Swidenback, lately boss of MTC's London CRC has been working at MOJ since September.
do you have any more information?
DeleteBBC News website:-
ReplyDeleteFour working single mothers have won a High Court challenge over the government's universal credit scheme.
They argued a "fundamental problem" with the system meant their monthly payments varied "enormously", leaving them out of pocket and struggling financially.
Lawyers for the women said the problem was likely to affect "tens of thousands of people" claiming the benefit.
A DWP spokesman said: "We are carefully considering the court's judgment."
It comes as Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd announced a raft of changes to the government's flagship scheme, including a U-turn on plans to extend a benefits cap on families with more than two children.
Universal credit is a means-tested benefit, rolling six separate benefits into one payment.
It has proved controversial almost from its inception, with reports of IT issues, massive overspends, administrative problems and delays to the scheme's roll-out.
On Friday, it was announced that Danielle Johnson, Claire Woods, Erin Barrett and Katie Stewart had succeeded in a judicial review action against the government over the method used to calculate payments.
It followed a hearing in November when the court was told the women were struggling financially, with some falling into debt or relying on food banks.
Tessa Gregory, a solicitor from law firm Leigh Day, who represented part-time dinner lady Danielle Johnson from Keighley, West Yorkshire, said her client was "a hard-working single mum" and "precisely the kind of person universal credit was supposed to help".
But Ms Gregory said the "rigid income assessment system" had left her £500 out of pocket over the year and spiralling into debt.
When calculating universal credit, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) sets assessment periods for each person to look at how much they earn - from the 1st of the month to the end of the month, for example.
But lawyers for the mothers said a problem arises when claimants are paid by employers on a date which "clashes" with their assessment period.
For example, they pointed out that if a claimant is paid early because of a weekend or bank holiday, the system counts them as having been paid twice in one month and they receive a "vastly reduced" universal credit payment.
Two judges in London concluded the work and pensions secretary had "wrongly interpreted" the relevant regulations.
Ms Gregory called for Ms Rudd to take "immediate steps to ensure that no other claimants are adversely affected" and "ensure all those who have suffered because of this unlawful conduct are swiftly and fairly compensated".
On Friday Ms Rudd promised to make the universal credit system more "individual" and tailor it to claimants needs, for example by making payments more regular.
She also confirmed she would delay asking Parliament to authorise the transfer of three million people on to universal credit until next year, after a pilot of the transfer from existing benefits has been completed.