Probation No Longer a Career

Every now and then a particularly erudite contribution arrives that seems to sum things up rather neatly:-

"I am old and grumpy but far from stuck in my ways. My comments and criticisms of the current ‘leadership,’ are from an analytical perspective, evidence based and with the benefit of 30 years experience. In my opinion, probation is no longer a career, but merely a stepping stone to something else.

We are seeing all the problems that the prison service had some years ago. No real problem with recruitment because it all looks good on paper, but severe problems with retention and, worse in my opinion, people putting themselves forward for management roles without the skills, ability or experience required and who have no hesitation in telling others how to do a job they were not capable of doing themselves.

We have a silent leadership with nothing to say on any national stage, but having sold all of your principles, beliefs and ethics are they surprised that the workers do not support them. 

There has been little comment on here about the outcome of the staff survey which once again this year, and despite claims that things would improve, demonstrate that there is a significant gap between what they claim and what we experience."

Discuss.

--oo00oo--

As this is published, I notice a major discussion has broken out over on Facebook regarding the extremely vexed question of ViSOR vetting for staff in NPS. It seems that this compulsory process is now centralised and disclosure must now include passwords for social media accounts. As has been suggested, although refusal to comply will not lead to dismissal, but rather banishment to the likes of court, many staff are now openly questioning the very future of probation as it becomes increasingly the admin arm of the police. This will cause Napo some embarrassment as they launch their 'reunification' campaign:-

Napo Reunify Probation Campaign Launched

Napo’s campaign to reunite the Probation Service starts now. The campaign is to be launched on the back of recent media coverage of the dangers of a split probation service evidenced by the shocking rise in SFOs since TR.

Napo will be urging Ministers to halt the current remarketisation exercise, following the MoJ ‘Strengthening Probation’ consultation. and crucially to bring the whole of the service back together under one agency - as is now proposed in Wales.

The first stage of the campaign will be to get parliamentarians on-board. The arguments we will be making will focus on 8 reasons for a unified probation service:

• We have a two-tier workforce for pay, conditions and professional standards.
• Marketisation has failed for clients, staff, public and CRCs themselves as none have made a profit.
• Public safety is compromised with a massive increase in SFOs and community safety completely undermined by a divided organisation.
• No local accountability or meaningful involvement with stakeholders by the NPS or the CRCs.
• NPS is paralysed by bureaucracy, inefficient and centralisation of processes. A one size fits all approach does not work.
• Staff burn out in the NPS from working solely with high risk and complex cases are having a detrimental impact on staff wellbeing.
• No end to end offender management which is proven to be the most effective for desistance.
• The need for profit has driven out the third sector organisations vital for local support.

Napo will be producing briefings for parliamentarians and the media on each of the 8 reasons over the coming 8 weeks.

We also hope to secure a date for a drop-in event in parliament, where MPs will be invited to meet with Napo Officials, Officers and Members at the event and to hear directly about the dangers of the split service and the need for this to end.

Napo has also produced postcards outlining the campaign and these are going out to branches now. We will be asking you to send a card to your constituency MP asking them to support the campaign.

--oo00oo--

So, how exactly is reunification of Probation under the dead hand of civil service control going to improve things? Even the Napo campaign admits that with NPS you get:-

• No local accountability or meaningful involvement with stakeholders by the NPS or the CRCs.
• NPS is paralysed by bureaucracy, inefficient and centralisation of processes. A one size fits all approach does not work.

Wales is different and is a devolved Administration. This simplistic campaign for reunification under NPS control in England has not been thought through and is not the answer to preserving the probation ethos. To put it bluntly, it will be the kiss of death for a once-proudly independent profession, destined to die a slow and lingering death at the hands of bureaucrats.