Principles for probation
I attended a meeting today on how to sort out probation. We agreed that it was under the ‘Chatham House Rule’, which means I can talk about what we talked about but I will not identify who was there or who said what. All I will say is that the meeting included some representatives from the professions and users in the system and the group will carry on working.
We tried to bring together some overriding principles that should govern any future reform of community justice. The Howard League has already drawn up a blueprint of ideas that includes principles and suggests a structure, and we submitted this to the Ministry of Justice consultation.
These are some of the principles that struck me as things we should agree:
- Probation should be reunited into one whole service. The split created by Chris Grayling has been disastrous on every level and will never work. Community sentences must have a voice in court if they are to merit confidence and private companies cannot do this because of the inherent conflict of interest.
- Probation should be separate to prisons. Some 200,000 people are sentenced to a community intervention each year and the service that manages them should have integrity and independence. Whilst the reintegration-from-prison function of probation is also critical, it should be not subsumed into the prison system but should be independent from it.
- Probation should not be a growth industry. Community supervision should be targeted and focused on only those who really need it.
- Probation should be linked to the services that support desistance. It is having somewhere to live, something to do all day and social interaction that turns lives round. Links with local authorities, voluntary groups, employers and health services are the most important relationships.
- Probation must be professional. No public service can be a profession if it is dancing to the tune of the overriding profit motive inherent in private companies.
- Probation must be coterminous with local services. Links with local authorities, voluntary groups, employers and health services are the most important relationships.
- Probation should be reconstructed to bring back community payback. Unpaid work was one of the most shambolic parts of the so-called service delivered by Working Links before it went bust. Community payback must be integrated into a public service because that is where the essential relationships with voluntary and faith groups, which provide the work opportunities, sit.
Ministers are thinking about what to do next. Something has to change as probation is not working and that is a disaster for victims and communities, and it is feeding the prison population. I hope they are listening to our sensible and workable suggestions.
Frances Crook
--oo00oo--
Postscript
I notice David Raho, Acting Napo Vice Chair, has offered the following thoughts over on Facebook and published here with permission:-
"These are good principles as you would expect from The Howard League. Where I differ slightly is that I do believe there is a role for private companies and the 3rd sector however it should always be the public sector calling the shots (if those commissioned to provide services need advice then they can ask for it) and commissioning services to be delivered consistently in a new formation of probation services that are devolved and locally accountable and firmly in the public sector.
We certainly need to try to drop all the pseudo civil servant nonsense and go back to being local authority workers focused on being in touch with local need and serving our communities rather than pandying to the whims of shady political masters in central government or indeed to multinational corporate interests.
Trusts were a good model of credible devolved services but they were never allowed by government to reach their full potential by being permitted and funded to take the next step towards becoming semi autonomous commissioning bodies. I believe that the creation of properly funded Trust like probation organisations with the power and resources to commission services based on local need and possibly covering larger geographical areas would be a good way to involve some of the talent and skills that private companies and the 3rd sector can contribute. This would encourage innovation and progress. If pursued this could also potentially provide a politically palatable pathway towards a better service rather than replicating the mistakes of TR1 on a bigger scale in TR2.
The NPS is unfortunately a good example of a centrally controlled locally unaccountable model of service delivery and Frances Crook rightly infers that something better and more Probation like is required to do the job properly."
David Raho
nice ideal. however powers that be love markets, profits, blaming others for continued mistakes
ReplyDeleteA probation service totally operating as a in house public service, with its own specific and unique identity separate from prison with strong links to other localised services and free from political medling?
ReplyDeleteI think I remember a probation service that was once exactly that. I also seem to remember that model working exceptionally well.
Privatisation and the introduction of profit into the CJS is corrosive and corrupts everything. It means you can't implement reforms to sentencing or prison or probation without considering how to maintain (and even grow) the supply chains and feeding streams that keep the private sector interested in taking contracts. To that extent private interest and profit will be a driver in CJS policy making and that's just wrong in my book.
'Getafix
Here's a shocking situation that those working in Kent NPS and CRC will no doubt be aware of.
DeleteWhen profit and funding collide?
https://www.kentonline.co.uk/maidstone/news/warning-over-very-public-failure-as-ex-offenders-face-homelessness-199574/
'Getafix
Ex-offenders face a life on the streets as a stand-off between two authorities continues over who should fund vital accommodation.
DeleteKent County Council has spent months arguing with the Ministry of Justice that former criminals should be the responsibility of the National Probation Service and Community Rehabilitation Company.
Graham Gibbens, cabinet member for adult social care and public health, has now written an urgent letter to Secretary of State for Justice David Gauke pleading with him to help resolve the dispute and avoid a "very public failure".
Cllr Gibbens revealed KCC spends almost £630,000 each year on funding help for those who have served their time for violent crimes and sexual offences despite cuts to their own revenue.
A change of contracts handed out by the council means many charities, such as Pathways to Independence, must tell their current clients they will no longer have a roof over their heads from March 31.
In a letter to MP David Gauke, Cllr Gibbens said: "I am writing to draw your urgent attention to around 80 offenders in Kent that face eviction from their accommodation on March 31 because neither the National Probation Service or the Community Rehabilitation Company will provide the necessary supervision and rehabilitation support.
"I know that the Police and Crime Commissioner is among those who are extremely concerned that offenders, including those on the sex offenders register and those having committed violent offences, will be leaving their accommodation, many midway through their support plans.
"To date the council has been funding and commission these offender-related services but cannot continue to do so. It is clearly the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice. Against the backdrop of significant reduction in revenue support which in Kent has reduced from £225 million to £9 million for the coming year. We are currently spending £629,368 per annum on the service.
"Council Officers have over several months now tried to engage with the NPS and CRC so they can make appropriate arrangements to no avail. I suspect that you are not aware of this and what will be a very public failure by the Ministry of Justice to support this group of people with the increase in risk that they will reoffend and the implications for the wider justice system.
"You will appreciate that the failure of the NPS and CRC to provide the appropriate supervision and rehabilitation support that will enable them to stay in their accommodation is causing considerable alarm across our communities. I trust you will be able to intervene and reassure us accordingly."
Helen Campbell-Wroe, co-director of Pathways to Independence, helps provide accommodation through six hostels to 37 individuals who have a criminal history.
She said: "This organisation has been providing ex-offenders with this service for more than 30 years. These people have done their time and tariff.
"This week I am serving a 28-day notice. We as a homeless charity are having to make people homeless which is awful.
"This is removing 40% of our funding in one fell swoop. The main issues are where the men are going to go and that these provisions have been removed entirely from Kent."
Last week it was revealed young adults, many vulnerable, were told they would no longer be able to live at Trinity Foyer, in Church Street, Maidstone, following a change of service provider.
People aged 18-24 will have to find alternative accommodation or face being homeless on April 1.
Kent's Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Scott added: "I share Kent County Council’s concerns about the need to find a long-term solution to this potential problem and hope that you might be able to assist.
"Kent County Council’s strong leadership in taking on this gap in provision has been welcome. But with their resources being further stretched, and those of both Kent Police and my office not in a position to take up the funding gap, we need another approach."
The Ministry of Justice said the National Probation Service has to liaise with councils to secure accommodation for ex-offenders, even if it isn't a housing provider itself, and insists 230 more beds at bail hostels will be provided over the next two years.
DeleteA spokesperson added: “Kent County Council has made a decision not to invest in accommodation services to ex-offenders and we continue to work closely with them over options moving forwards.
“As part of the Government’s efforts to encourage long-term rehabilitation and ultimately reduce reoffending, we are working to ensure that everyone leaving prison has access to secure and stable accommodation.
“We’re investing £22 million in through-the-gate services to strengthen ties with key partners, including the third sector, local authorities and the police. We have also started a £6 million scheme that will help them stay off the streets and away from crime.”
https://www.consultancy.uk/news/20475/ey-reportedly-in-line-to-administrate-ailing-interserve
ReplyDeleteAs a standoff between shareholders and lenders at Interserve looks to continue well into the eleventh hour, EY has reportedly been earmarked to oversee an administration of the outsourcing firm. With a rescue plan for the company currently hanging in the balance, some 45,000 UK jobs could be on the line.
DeleteOver a year after Carillion fell into shock administration, the shadow of the collapsed government contractor still hangs heavy over the outsourcing industry. Now, one of the UK's largest providers of public services, Interserve, is reportedly teetering on the brink of collapse, following a year of being touted as ‘the next Carillion’.
The multinational support services and construction company based in the UK previously boasted a revenue of £3.2 billion in 2015, and a workforce of more than 75,000 people worldwide – 45,000 of whom are based in Britain. However, following a number of sharp declines, in late 2018, the firm’s shares tanked sharply as shareholders reacted badly to a rescue plan for what has proven to be a protracted crisis for the company.
Since then, the largest holder of Interserve’s stock has come forward with a counter proposal to the initial solution from lenders, which it labelled “an obscenity”. The new suggestions include a £75 million rights issue, and it is thought to be unlikely that lenders will accept it – particularly as Interserve’s lenders are understood to have lined up Big Four firm EY to manage the firm’s administration.
The hedge funds Coltrane and Farringdon, which own about 34% of the firm, were expected to vote against the debt-for-equity swap, which would massively dilute their stakes. While a report from Sky News has claimed that lenders may be prepared to revise the plan to give shareholders up to 5% of the business, however, the counter plan from Coltrane would hand only 65% of the company to creditors in exchange for £436 million of debt, leaving shareholders with an improved 10% of the equity, according to the Guardian.
While the move to position EY as would-be-liquidators is a precautionary measure, sources suggest it bodes badly for those who are still hoping for an agreement on the terms of a financial restructuring plan. One senior source familiar with discussions told the Guardian that a team led by EY’s Hunter Kelly, who worked on the House of Fraser pre-pack administration, has been earmarked to reprise the role with Interserve.
EY has expansive knowledge of the inner workings of Interserve, having previously been hired as an economic advisor to the firm alongside Big Four rival PwC and Oliver Wyman in 2017. While this would likely position the firm well for a role overseeing such an administration, however, it by no means guarantees its position.
The professional services giant was said to be in line to administrate Carillion early in 2018, thanks to its role in reviewing the company’s finances in the Summer of 2017. However, EY was eventually pipped to the post by PwC, which took on the lucrative administration instead.
CJAct1991 politicised sentencing. Put the omelette back in its shell?
ReplyDeleteWell said - thank you - that is from where we should start & return probation to a consent order.
Delete"Trusts were a good model of credible devolved services but they were never allowed by government to reach their full potential by being permitted and funded to take the next step towards becoming semi autonomous commissioning bodies."
ReplyDeleteBeg to differ. The notion of Trusts was a political move based upon TR-ideology that was corrupted by NOMS' authoritarian hierarchical chumocracy. Chiefs (CPOs, CEOs - whatever you want to call them) were at the beck & call of Spurr & his management team. Many (not all) were desperate to make it into the hallowed corridors of power; some had more pilots than British Airways in a bid to impress & ingratiate themselves. It was a stepping stone, a centrist fishing expedition exploiting ambition to lure Trusts into marketisation.
For me, Probation needs to be a centrally co-ordinated public body of locally-focused organisations that is independent of & from political whimsy, prisons & police - but nevertheless fully accountable to the Inspectorate. Even have a Probation Minister with oversight but NOT one who uses the service for party political advantage.
It needs to have clear, simple objectives, e.g. advise the court, manage the sentence of the court, aim to rehabilitate those directed to work with Probation staff.
It needs an authoritative voice in multi-disciplinary settings. It needs to be one of the many agencies contributing to resources in order to facilitate & achieve successful outcomes, e.g. adults' & children's social services, mental health, primary healthcare, substance use services, police, housing, prisons, etc.
"The NPS is unfortunately a good example of a centrally controlled locally unaccountable model of service delivery" - I agree. It is also subject to political (P & p) interference by far too many.
Recent senior leadership conference for both NPS and CRC, David Gauke asked the room why nobody spoke up to warn the Gov that TR was a bad idea. Room apparently fell silent.
ReplyDeleteOmg - unbelievable..
DeleteMr Gauke cannot even have seen the Risk Assessments that the MOJ refused to publish but folk like Harry Fletcher - see today's Daily Mirror helped expose anyway
Deletehttps://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/criminals-monitored-probation-contractors-kill-14056637
Now John Wiseman former Probation Trust Boss has tweeted that every one of the thirty five trusts warned against Transforming Rehabilitation
Deletehttps://screenshots.firefox.com/YiwyDGGe6Lh67vri/twitter.com
John W Who has effectively been sacked retired amounts to the same thing he could never survive the HMIP report .
Delete