The Surreal World of TR

The things I do for this blog now include getting utterly drenched in Liverpool yesterday on my way to a joint event put on by Liverpool John Moores University and the Probation Journal, a sort of post mortem on 'Transforming Rehabilitation'. The star turn was Oliver Lodge of the National Audit Office and author of three out of the four NAO reports on TR to date.

Having reminded us that the NAO's job is never to question government policy, but rather examine and audit in respect of Value For (Taxpayer's) Money, a trot through the key findings of all four reports, delivered in a typical accountants' flat, unemotional tone, nevertheless was devastating in utterly demolishing this particular bit of government policy. A bit surreal really, but a situation rather neatly encapsulated by a bit of typically British understatement "not a pretty picture" he said.  There really was nothing and I mean nothing, to commend TR, according to the man from the government department whose job it is to never question government policy - well, except this:- 

'At the end of the TR contracts, the cost will be £822m less than before.' 

I had to have a long think about this figure and indeed I seem to recall that the TR architect himself, Chris Grayling, has already quoted it in defence of the TR omnishambles. Lets just ponder for one minute what this figure of underfunding has meant over the last few years:-

• careers ruined
• stress caused
• sick leave increase
• staff vacancies
• recruitment stymied
• reduction in training 
• more victims
• more crime
• more SFOs
• community orders not made
• increase in recalls to prison
• accommodation not found
• jobs not secured

This is not a comprehensive list, but you get the idea, a situation confirmed in spades by all the other panel speakers whether academics, from NPS, from CRC or Napo. They all spoke movingly and unlike our friend Oliver from the NAO, passionately about the horror of TR and Lol Burke in particular reminded the audience that its introduction has been likened to  workplace violence. I personally know of a colleagues having been diagnosed with PTSD.

The NAO has suggested in the strongest terms that TR2 be 'paused' and are very concerned at the 'huge challenge to come'. We know the outgoing HMI says TR is 'irredeemably flawed' and the Justice Committee are very concerned. As yet there has been no response to last years 'sham' consultation, but some say we will hear in May. We could be in for another round of trauma folks.  

--oo00oo--

This letter in the Telegraph confirms the magistrates are not happy:-

Probation reform

SIR – The report by Dame Glenys Stacey, HM Chief Inspector of Probation, on the state of the probation service is extremely concerning (report, March 28), suggesting that existing provision is simply not fit for purpose.

The report highlights poor performance, dwindling confidence among magistrates in the delivery of community sentences, and the risk that people are being sent to prison when a suitable community sentence might have made this avoidable.

As the Ministry of Justice decides on its next steps in reforming the probation service, these matters must be addressed. Magistrates will not be able to impose community sentences with confidence unless they know that they can be delivered.

John Bache JP
National Chairman, Magistrates Association
London SW8

--oo00oo--

We wonder what the new HMI and current MoJ insider will make of it all:-

The Secretary of State has announced the appointment of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Probation.

The Secretary of State has announced the appointment of Justin Russell as Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Probation for a tenure of 3 years. His appointment will commence on 1 June 2019 and run until 31 May 2022.

The appointment follows a report from the Justice Select, Committee into Justin’s suitability for the role, published on 8 March, and a public hearing with the committee held on 5 March.

Appointments and re-appointments are regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments, and have been made in line with the Governance Code on Public Appointments.

HM Chief Inspectorate of Probation

The Chief Inspector of Probation reports directly to Ministers, but operates independently of government and the services under its scrutiny. The Chief Inspector has a duty to ensure the inspection of probation and youth offending services in England and Wales and to provide independent scrutiny of the quality of work undertaken with individual offenders.

Justin Russell Biography

Mr Russell has spent over thirty years working on a wide range of criminal justice issues as a researcher, policy maker and major programme leader and has a long-standing interest and involvement in probation and youth justice policy. Mr Russell has also worked for the Audit Commission and Mental Health Foundation and was a non-executive Director of Turning Point from 2005 to 2011. Until recently, he was Director General for Justice Analysis and Offender Policy at the Ministry of Justice and is currently the Director General for No Deal EU Exit Planning at the Ministry of Justice.

--oo00oo--

Finally, Bob Neill writing in the Times makes clear his view that prison reform can only happen if probation is fixed:-

Time for rethink on a prisons policy that amounts to crisis management

The government’s approach to prisons in England and Wales is failing to deliver.

The prison population has nearly doubled since the early 1990s — currently standing at 82,000 — and forecasts to 2022 suggest that even more people than that will be in prison by then. This is against the backdrop of a £1.2bn black hole in the Ministry of Justice’s finances, with many prisons overcrowded and a rapidly changing prisoner demographic.

There are many people in prison with drug, alcohol and mental health problems, and prison is often not the best place for them to get help. Despite this, we use custodial sentences more than any other nation in western Europe, and we get considerably worse results in terms of turning people’s lives around and preventing reoffending.

The Commons justice committee’s wide-ranging report, published today after almost 18-months of evidence gathering, proposes a range of solutions.

David Gauke, the justice secretary, is right in his assertion that there is a strong case for abolishing short sentences of six months or less altogether — and not purely because it is an easy way of saving money or closing prisons.

The ministry has rightly focused on safety and decency in prisons, however this has come directly at the expense of rehabilitation. We heard robust evidence that poor access to rehabilitation has a cyclical impact on the degradation of regimes and on safety, which can in turn lead to violence and self-harm. There must now be a dual approach to maintain safety and decency, but also improve rehabilitation.

Without doubt, prison will always have a role in dealing with the most serious crimes and those who are a threat to society, but cutting the use of short sentences, and instead properly investing in tough and rigorous community rehabilitation services would go a long way to solving many of the problems I have described.

Almost a third of prisoners are on sentences of less than 12 months. Better access to support and opportunities for offenders would reduce repeat imprisonment, bring down the estimated £15 billion annual cost of reoffending, and start to alleviate pressure on jails.

It is time for a serious and open public debate about the criminal justice system, the role of prison and its affordability. The government has acknowledged this, but it should happen sooner rather than later so the public can understand the challenging nature of decisions around criminal justice.

No solution is straightforward, but ministers must produce a plan that shows a more joined-up approach to the way we use imprisonment and how that is linked to the rest of the criminal justice system.

At present, we waste unsustainable vast sums of public money, but also fail the thousands of people convicted of less serious offences who need support to move on from their past mistakes. It is time for a serious rethink.

Bob Neill is a Conservative MP and chairman of the justice select committee.