Tuesday, 15 October 2019

A Wake Up Call

For anyone interested in the world of probation post TR, last night's episode 5 of Crime and Punishment on Channel 4 is a 'must see'. To be perfectly frank I found it deeply worrying because much of what has been said on this blog over the years was turned into reality and captured on camera for all to see.

 We saw the true effect of giving probation officers nothing but high risk cases, namely no opportunity of respite from the constant stress such clients bring. My heart goes out to the officer who, even though working a three day week, is scoring 168% according to the Workload Management Tool. When asked about the effect of having to deal with the personal threats and risks involved, Verity's momentary loss of composure confirms what I know to be true, namely that the working environment created by TR within many NPS offices is putting staff at serious risk of harm and the possibility of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

 The reality shown in this documentary should be a wake up call to all currently involved in the re-design of the probation service and lessons must be learned, not least the vital importance of balanced and diverse caseloads in order to help protect staff from burnout or serious psychological harm. 

 Postscript

 Following on from my observations above, I've just remembered something I saw on Twitter a couple of weeks ago that rather concerned me. Normally there's absolutely nothing of any interest on the Twitter feeds of senior NPS managers, just the usual vacuous guff about important meetings etc, but this caught my eye:-
"Today I am so proud to announce the launch of the NWNPS staff support team. 35 trained NPS volunteers of all grades offering confidential non judgemental support to colleagues in NW prioritising well being and advise. Thank you colleagues for caring."
It's from Roz Hamilton, Divisional Director for North West, National Probation Service and it got me thinking. Given the stress, anger and low morale we all know is around in NPS, resulting in high sickness levels and poor retention rates, in all honesty who would feel it safe and comfortable to approach fellow staff, possibly in management and even if assured of confidentiality? Surely it must be obvious it could give rise to serious conflicts of interest and a potential minefield in terms of loyalties, responsibilities and information? Am I the only one who wouldn't touch it with a barge pole and feel any support service must be independent and arms length?

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33 comments:

  1. Anonymous15 October 2019 at 09:02

    I couldn't face watching it. I didn't want to re-traumatise myself & subject my partner to another prolonged period of my anger, resentment & general distress at the situation. Sounds like I made a good decision.

    Once upon a time there were regular supervision sessions with one's line manager, weekly team meetings, quarterly divisional meetings & an annual gathering. Plus one had a sense of day-to-day support within a cohesive team.

    When I worked as a counsellor/therapist I had 6-weekly management supervision (targets etc), monthly clinical supervision (case discussion etc), bi-monthly team meetings, & was encouraged to access continuing professional development (cpd) as often as possible.

    I checked my diaries & in my last 2 years as a crc PO I had 1 (ONE!) formal appraisal meeting. There was no supervision, no team meeting, no cpd. No-one cared, no-one was listening. Everyone was in survival mode, dog-eat-dog. I had applied for three training opportunities & was refused every one. My caseload was at 173% when I finally escaped. It took a year to recover & before I felt able to return to employment. And I think I was lucky compared to others.

    The failure to care for employees' well-being must be addressed. How can a professional service be provided when the professionals are fucked up?

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  2. Anonymous15 October 2019 at 09:59

    "35 trained NPS volunteers of all grades offering confidential non judgemental support to colleagues in NW prioritising well being and advise [sic]"

    1. Isn't that the statutory duty of care of the employer?

    2. If its as bad as the tv programme suggests, how can there be 35 staff with the capacity to give time & emotional support?
    3. As Jim quite rightly points out, what about "serious conflicts of interest and a potential minefield in terms of loyalties, responsibilities and information". We all know the 'hidden agenda' is rife; that at a time of survival (as identified by @09.02) knowledge is power and signs of weakness are exploited. How 'confidential' is it when there's a Serious Further Offence investigation? Will the Panel call your confidante as a witness to share their thoughts as to your capability?

    It sums up NOMS/HMPPS bullying tactics to a tee - set everyone against everyone & see who rats first; use any means possible to clear the decks, to remove the naysayers & the dissenters. But coat it in a layer of sickly sweet bullshit: "Thank you colleagues for caring".

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    1. Anonymous15 October 2019 at 14:26

      In my view a lot of management don’t really seem to care about the wellbeing of their staff and often choose to ignore or gloss over issues that staff may raise. Much of the time they don’t always seem to listen to TU Reps either. Sometimes HR advice is not always correct!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous16 October 2019 at 06:12

      Why did they bother training volunteers? Just stick a kiosk in each office, provide robotic counselling to help recalibrate algorithms, so workers cope better in an insane working environment. Would anyone seriously trust an NPS volunteer with personal and sensitive information? I'd see them more as commissars whose first duty will be to the employer.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous15 October 2019 at 10:56

    "A Wake Up Call " - ???

    I can't see how anyone at HMPPS/NPS can sleep at night, its such a precarious mess of THEIR making.

    Its only the dedicated frontliners who have any idea what they're doing, and HMPPS/NPS seem hellbent on trying to shut them down with dangerously high caseloads, pissing them around with pay & leave, over-burdening them with bureaucracy & red tape, & undermining their professional role with political ideology:

    "The heavy emphasis on law and order – a traditional Tory tune on which Team Boris feels the party is out of key – is seen as a direct line to the working class voters in the north and midlands whom Johnson will target. He didn’t choose a hardline home secretary in Priti Patel by accident. But the approach is one-sided; there’s no mention in the seven criminal justice bills of the vital role rehabilitation could play in tackling our high rates of reoffending. It doesn’t fit the election script; longer sentences do." Independent

    "At the end of a decade of cuts to police and criminal justice budgets under successive Tory prime ministers, when the murder rate has risen sharply and youths in particular are at greater risk of serious violence than for many years, this retro emphasis on retribution, at the expense of prevention and rehabilitation, is worthy of contempt." The Guardian

    "My Government is committed to addressing violent crime, and to strengthening public confidence in the criminal justice system. New sentencing laws will see that the most serious offenders spend longer in custody to reflect better the severity of their crimes [Sentencing Bill]." Brenda 'erself

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    1. Anonymous17 October 2019 at 08:15

      Priti Patel told the Tory faithful in Manchester: ”As we renew our place as the party of law and order in Britain, let the message go out from this hall today: to the British people – we hear you; to the police service – we back you; and to the criminals, I simply say this: We are coming after you.”

      Delete
    2. Anonymous17 October 2019 at 08:35

      Ms Patel has been sharpening her blades for some time. In 2018 she put many questions to Young Rory, including:

      * To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders by local authority area of their residence are subject to multi-agency public protection arrangements.

      * To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many convicted sex offenders are currently (a) in custody and (b) not in custody.

      The answers came as follows:

      The number of MAPPA offenders by MAPPA area (based on police force areas) can be found at gov.uk at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/multi-agency-public-protection-arrangements-mappa-annual-report-2016-to-2017 in the MAPPA Annual Report 2016-17 Area Tables column P.

      76,794 nationally as at 31/3/2017;
      *** Update = 80, 983 at 31/3/2018 ***

      The number of sex offenders in custody for a current sexual offence can be found at gov.uk at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/676246/prison-population-q4-2017.xlsx tab 1.2b cell F6 (sentenced and in custody) and tab 1.2a cell F6 (on remand and in custody).

      Sentenced & in custody
      12,603 @ q4-2017 ::: 13,562 @ q3-2019
      on remand & in custody
      797 @ q4-2017 ::: 716 @ q3-2019

      Delete
    3. Anonymous18 October 2019 at 06:34

      "My Government is committed to addressing violent crime..."

      * UK putting trade with China above security and human rights abuses
      * Five opposition parties call for Britain to drop Saudi weapons sales
      * UK and US bombs caused nearly 1,000 civilian casualties in Yemen
      * Woman faces forced marriage or death as UK deports her to Pakistan
      * Westminster rough sleepers evicted after complaint by Commons chaplain (because they smell)

      * Harry Dunn: Family lawyer says Trump 'henchmen' tried to force meeting with Anne Sacoolas - “I spoke with Boris he asked me if I’d do that, and I did it,” he said. “I offered to bring the person in question in and they weren't ready for it."

      Delete
  4. Anonymous15 October 2019 at 15:38

    https://amp-lbc-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/amp.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/eddie-mair/prison-officer-calls-new-jail-terms-stunt/?amp_js_v=a2&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQCKAE%3D#aoh=15711500802461&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.lbc.co.uk%2Fradio%2Fpresenters%2Feddie-mair%2Fprison-officer-calls-new-jail-terms-stunt%2F

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    1. Jim Brown16 October 2019 at 07:45

      "The prison service is in crisis and it was this government that have ripped the heart and soul out of it", prison officer union head tells Eddie Mair, after tougher jail terms were announced today in the Queen's speech.

      Eddie said that if the government promised more prison places, he guessed that'd be good news for prison officers.

      Gillan said it was not because "the prison population has been rising and the amount of prison officers has actually been going down. That's what we've been saying over the last nine years."

      "There are less prison officers now than in 2010 and yet the prison population has risen. So I see this today as using nothing more than my members again as a publicity stunt. It's a populist scenario here and I've got to say we're used to our members being used as a political football whether it was under the last Labour government or whether it's under the government now.

      "And it's my members are left to pick up the pieces so I hope nobody's fooled by this piece of populism."

      Eddie asked about the proposal to increase sentences for people convicted of sexual and violent offences, which is "the idea is that if they're sentenced to four years or more they'll have to serve two thirds of their sentence in prison."

      Gillan replied that the sentencing is a matter for the courts, "but the reality is we've got to have the resources to deal with it."

      He continued that Boris Johnson has "announced an additional 20,000 police officers which would increase conviction rates, but members are still picking the pieces up. There's been no indication they're going to increase the number of prison officers."

      "It's this government, actually, that have ripped the heart and soul out of the criminal justice system and now they're saying they're going to piece is all back together and everything's going to be OK. Well the prison service is in crisis."

      Gillan then referenced Sutton Prison this weekend which saw one prisoner murder another, which is under police investigation.

      "Record assaults on prison officers now standing at 10,000 a year. Suicides in prison's on the up. Self-harm, the mental illness, and yet prison officers are paid a pittance, their health and safety on a daily basis is in jeopardy. And yet this government do not seem to care."

      Delete
  5. Anonymous15 October 2019 at 21:04

    Despite the explicitly appalling state of our CJ system, the injustices it generates & the efforts of many to bring this to public attention, NO-ONE gives a flying fig.

    The nation is much happier making a far more discerning set of choices:

    - Tory lock-em-up/hang-em-high policies - YES
    - a very nasty & very dim Home Secretary - YES
    - a lying, mysoginist bully in Number 10 - YES

    All fed by mainstream media - Sky, BBC, Daily Rags - and encouraged by the Chuckle Brother tactics of Her Majesty's Opposition.

    And its going to get much, much worse, folks.

    The politics of Brexit will see the UK well and truly Officially Fucked by the weekend. The usual suspects will spin the utter disaster as a triumph; they will pocket £billions then piss off in short order as the nation collapses around our ears; and the hyenas-in-waiting will tear each other limb-from-limb in a desperate bid for whatever's left.

    Truth - often described as the first victim of war - succumbed to fatal injuries long ago. Now the 'ordinary' UK citizen, their rights as human beings & the structure we call 'society' is about to become collateral damage in this war of attrition.

    Thank You Colleagues!

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  6. anonymous15 October 2019 at 22:57

    I am working in NPS with a caseload of high risk cases, in a culture of top down blame and overload of work. I thought I was doing ok, bar the increasing alcohol consumption and associated sleep problems, but now I am introduced to the grand-daughters new boyfriend and I am preoccupied with the idea that he is grooming the family. No evidence, I am just hyper suspicious all the damn time of everyone and everything. I have no idea how sane this is or I am, and nowhere I can safely take this to. Running out of steam and to be honest, health. I really need to get out asap

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    1. Anonymous22 October 2019 at 23:44

      What has this job come to. Once a vocation but I can relate to the sleepless nights and unfortunately, the alcohol to deal with it. That coupled with the command and conquer rule and everything fitting into a nice neat little box. It needs to be realised that the people we deal with are unique, they have their own needs and not a set time frame to work within. I joined to help people 15 years ago and that no longer seems to be the main focus. The frustrating thing is there is so much potential in the people I work with but we are not able to embrace that due to the parameters we now have to work within with the case loads we have. An absolute shocking state of affairs really

      Delete
  7. anonymous16 October 2019 at 12:56

    "any support service must be independent and arms length?" Absolutely! and professional, for that matter. The only information the employer should have is the number of staff accessing the professional counselling they should be providing

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  8. Anonymous16 October 2019 at 13:25

    https://www-birminghammail-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/hmp-hewells-grange-set-close-17093457.amp?amp_js_v=a2&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQCKAE%3D#aoh=15712286028629&amp_ct=1571228605033&csi=1&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.birminghammail.co.uk%2Fnews%2Fmidlands-news%2Fhmp-hewells-grange-set-close-17093457

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    1. Jim Brown19 October 2019 at 08:13

      An open prison in Worcestershire is reportedly being closed by the Ministry of Justice - having been branded the "worst in Britain".

      HMP Hewell was condemned as "totally unacceptable" by inspectors and is set to be shut "as its current condition is unacceptable and refurbishing it would not deliver value for the taxpayer". The Grange - on the site of the Worcestershire jail - is being closed down today, according to reports.

      BBC News reports that Peter Clarke, chief inspector of prisons, said the Grange had the worst conditions of any open prison he'd ever seen.

      At the time of publication, details surrounding where the 200 inmates will be transferred are unclear.

      Some prisoners may have to return to "closed" conditions because of a shortage of open spaces locally, the BBC reports.

      HMP Hewell, on the outskirts of Redditch , has been hit by rocketing death rates and chronic overcrowding. It is the prison where evil Leo Barnes managed to hang himself in 2015 – in the middle of his trial for the murder of helpless pensioners Cynthia Beamond and Philip Silverstone. But that was just one of a catalogue of problems at Hewell since it was officially opened on June 25, 2008. There have been suicides, blunders, escapes – and even a murder.

      The Howard League for Penal Reform recorded one murder and four suicides at Hewell in the space of just 12 months between 2014 and 2015.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous16 October 2019 at 14:35

    From napo - talks have broken down re staff transferring to nps terms and conditions.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Andrew_S_Hatton16 October 2019 at 20:14

    London CRC Probation have made it into Private Eye 1507 page 39

    https://essexandrew.wordpress.com/2019/10/16/private-eye-report-probation-firm-profit-from-failure/

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  11. Anonymous17 October 2019 at 08:42

    "And its going to get much, much worse, folks. The politics of Brexit will see the UK well and truly Officially Fucked by the weekend."

    Its coming... the 'deal' is almost there; the DUP are playing their walk-on part; the spin-meisters are in control (no leaks as yet); the Labour right-wing are back in action, ensuring they scupper any chance of effective Labour; the hyenas are chomping at the bit...

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous18 October 2019 at 05:51

    Monetise the mayhem & get in there before Viz JB.

    The Kissing Therapist - "Howay - are yers a fat lass? Or are yers ugly? Gizza couple of cans of Stella and ahs'll give yers a great big smacker on the lips, then all the lads'll think yer're gorgeous. Ah promise it won't be sexual or owt like that."
    _________________________

    But wait, what's this sick shit I see?

    https://www.patreon.com/posts/kissing-therapy-22625154

    "Kissing Therapy Proper Counseling Previews

    Kate goes to her school counselor to try therapeutic hypnosis to learn how to make friends again.

    We'll be developing Kissing Therapy Proper Counseling soon. To give you an idea of some of the characters you can expect to see I'm happy to show you some of our concept art.

    As before, Kissing Therapy is a dark yuri game. So I'll leave you to speculate on what might happen!"

    FFS!!! Still, no doubt Priti will put a stop to it - won't she?

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous18 October 2019 at 10:57

    https://www-chroniclelive-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/metro-thug-attacked-probation-officer-17103776.amp?amp_js_v=a2&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQCKAE%3D#aoh=15713924062323&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.chroniclelive.co.uk%2Fnews%2Fnorth-east-news%2Fmetro-thug-attacked-probation-officer-17103776

    ReplyDelete
  14. Jim Brown19 October 2019 at 07:18

    A probation officer was beaten up on a train by a thug who blamed him for his friend being sent to prison.

    Grant Embleton, pictured sticking his tongue out for his police mugshot, headbutted the victim and then caused a cut above his eye with a bottle during the violence on the packed Metro, with children present. Newcastle Crown Court heard the probation officer's wound bled "profusely" and he has struggled to return to work in the aftermath of the attack, which happened during a journey in North Tyneside.

    Embleton, 28, of no fixed address, who has a record for violence, admitted causing unlawful wounding and has been jailed for two years.

    Judge Tim Gittins told Embleton: "This has had a traumatic psychological effect on him, being off work as he has been for a period of months and on a reduced workload now. He is still receiving counselling to come to terms with the fear of meeting you, or people like you, who decide to try and cause harm to him, simply for going about his work. He, and others like him, who are engaged in public services, in difficult circumstances, are entitled to expect, and will receive, the protection of the courts."

    Judge Gittins issued Embleton with a restraining order to keep him away from the victim in future.

    The court heard Embleton, who had been drinking, had been told the probation officer had been the one who "dealt with" one of his friends and had something to do with his return back to custody.

    Judge Gittins said the pal's incarceration was likely to have "everything to do with his own behaviour" rather than anything the probation officer did. The court heard Embleton "intimidated" and "goaded" the victim, who asked him to stop as there was children present.

    Judge Gittins said: "He quietly asked you to go away and you tried to grab him to remove him, against his will, from the Metro, to assault him no doubt. It caused a four centimetre wound which bled profusely and left him needing hospital treatment." Judge Gittins said the victim was "unable to get away" due to the enclosed location of the attack and added: "It was in front of others on a crowded train, that included young children."

    Richard Herrmann, defending, said there were single blows thrown rather than a prolonged and sustained attack.

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    1. Anonymous19 October 2019 at 07:33

      "Richard Herrmann, defending, said there were single blows thrown rather than a prolonged and sustained attack."

      So that's ok then. For a minute there I thought an unprovoked attack with a weapon was serious.

      I know they have a job to do but sometimes they don't help their profession - or their clients.

      Delete
  15. Andrew_S_Hatton20 October 2019 at 07:52

    RE: "Tuesday, 15 October 2019 - A Wake Up Call"

    We - the folk who understand the world of probation from the very front-line - are not awake yet - unless we are now exchanging opinions away from this blog - in ways I do not have access to - (I am aware there is a mysterious [to me] Facebook Group which presumably is selective about whom is invited to take part, so I could be wrong) -

    Meanwhile Napo seems to be dying. - and no activity seems to reach the national media and internet about serious engagement with probation from either Unison - probation secion, or GMB - Chief Officers of Probation section (if it still exists) & almost none from The Probation Institute.

    Now a chance discovery

    " This programme will be available shortly after broadcast

    Dame Glenys Stacey, former Chief Inspector of Probation

    Desert Island Discs

    Dame Glenys Stacey has spent 40 years in public service, including high profile work as a regulator in key areas of national life. She has just stepped down after her five year term as Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Probation during which she criticised the decision to privatise the Probation service calling it “irredeemably flawed”.

    Glenys was born in Walsall Wood in the West Midlands, where her father was a painter and decorator for the council and her mother worked full time in Union Locks. She left school at 16 and her first job was in an explosives factory. She became a legal executive before deciding to take A levels and then study law at the University of Kent. She was the founding CEO of the Criminal Cases Review Commission, set up by the government in January 1997, after the miscarriages of justice in the cases of the Birmingham Six and the Guildford Four. As Chief Executive of Animal Health, she oversaw the management of the outbreak of foot and mouth in 2007 and then led Ofqual for five years, during the reform of GCSEs and A levels.

    She was awarded a Damehood in 2016 for her services to education and earlier this year she became a founding Board Member of the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation, an advisory body established by the government. "

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0009jf1

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    1. Anonymous20 October 2019 at 12:21

      Straying a bit, but referencing probation privatisation, this article in the Guardian makes for interesting reading, and perhaps should serve as a wake up call to the government when thinking about outsourcing public services in the future.

      https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/20/tax-havens-uk-government-pays-millions-strategic-suppliers?amp_js_v=a2&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQCKAE%3D#aoh=15715663374494&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2F2019%2Foct%2F20%2Ftax-havens-uk-government-pays-millions-strategic-suppliers

      'Getafix

      Delete
    2. Anonymous20 October 2019 at 12:46

      "25 of the government’s 34 strategic suppliers – organisations that receive £100m or more in revenue from the government – operate in offshore centres.

      According to estimates, they account for about a fifth of total central government procurement spend. Of these, 19 had operations in jurisdictions included on the EU’s “blacklist” or “greylist” of countries that are considered to be non-compliant with EU international standards for “good tax behaviour”, according to the report."

      And people wonder why the billionaire bullies want to leave the EU.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous20 October 2019 at 12:57

      "Procurement is the UK government’s largest expenditure, valued at £284bn. Of the 25 organisations with links to tax havens, 20 benefited from contracts worth a combined £41bn awarded between 2011 and 2017."

      That's £41bn of UK taxpayer money given away to 20 tax cheats in just six years, or £57m a week.

      So why don't the Tories want us to abandon privatisation in the same way they want us to abandon the EU? Perhaps because the billionaire bullies & their chums are profiting from the process?

      Delete
  16. Anonymous21 October 2019 at 10:20

    If any political observers had bothered to take a look, they could be forgiven if they thought the disastrous TR & Probation OmniShambles debacle was a dry run for the BrexitShambles. All the elements are there:

    * the starting point = the ideology of personal gain – power, influence, money: GREED

    * the childish ideologue opening the box, prepared to risk everything on a personal whim;

    * the ill-prepared, ill-considered unilateral change in the face of reason;

    * the ‘strong & stable’ leadership during the short life of the experiment viz-2016-2019 = Cameron/May/Johnson; 2012-2019 = Grayling/Gove/Truss/Lidington/Gauke/Buckland

    * the evangelical insistence all was fine;

    * the blatant, outrageous lies & misdirections;

    * the shameless acts of bullying, abusing & dismissing those who didn’t concur;

    * the exorbitant, scandalous cost to the public purse;

    * the various generous rewards for those who were enablers;

    * the detrimental impact upon ordinary folk in the UK;


    And unless there's a spectacular shift that no-one can yet see coming, nothing's going to change for some considerable years to come.

    Its beyond my comprehension but it seems the UK will continue to drool & fawn over BoJo's performances, more reminiscent of a Victorian music hall compere (viz-Leonard Sachs in The Good Old Days) than the gravitas of statesmanship.

    Me? I'm clearly a coulrophobic.

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    1. Andrew_S_Hatton21 October 2019 at 11:41

      Yes - well said & probation was not the first by any means - within Criminal Justice including policing - we have had digitalisation and (non) sharing of records - going back decades - forensic science laboratories and the system of qualified interpreters - previously it was piecemeal - but that very fact meant that it did not all break down at the same time.

      Even before that we had the splitting and outsourcing of power supply - which I am personally being reminded currently is an utter shambles - I gave up expecting any sort of common sense from the company who I left (sent an engineer from Milton Keynes to Essex to replace a meter that was left broken for about a year) & the replacement company - who three months in cannot even accurately record a meter reading.

      Thank goodness I do not need Universal Credit!

      Delete
  17. Anonymous21 October 2019 at 11:10

    https://amp-ft-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/amp.ft.com/content/55c42d4c-ef37-11e9-ad1e-4367d8281195?amp_js_v=a2&amp_gsa=1#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcontent%2F55c42d4c-ef37-11e9-ad1e-4367d8281195

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    1. Anonymous21 October 2019 at 11:36

      Subscribe to read:
      Botched outsourcing ‘wasted’ £14bn in taxpayers’ money

      Delete
    2. Anonymous21 October 2019 at 11:41

      Also from FT, but back in 2013:

      In the UK public sector, the main impetus came from the reforms of Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s that pushed public authorities to adopt free-market principles. According to the Conservatives, local authorities should concentrate on being commissioners rather than providers of public services.

      But outsourcing has gathered strength over the past two decades and is now a widely accepted practice in public and private sectors worldwide.

      Outsourcing is different from pure subcontracting because it often involves the transfer of staff to a specialist service provider. An engineering company may focus on design, rather than providing food for its staff – bringing in an external caterer, for example – or a hospital may decide to concentrate on clinical practice, using a facilities management provider to maintain buildings.

      The success of outsourcing has fuelled the growth of a number of multinational specialists – many of them spawned 20 or 30 years ago. Serco, G4S, Sodexo and Compass are among the large multinationals that have grown exponentially in the past three decades as a result of this trend.

      Outsourcing has often attracted controversy as it is associated with the transfer of staff to the new company. Unions say these companies tend to introduce lower pay and poorer conditions in the long run.

      Although existing staff who transfer have their wages and conditions initially protected by law – at least in the UK – in the long term they do tend to be paid less, in part because contractors often compete for work on price as well as service.

      The UK government – already a leader in outsourcing – is even considering placing its procurement functions at the Ministry of Defence in private hands.

      If the government does find a private-sector company to manage its £14bn annual procurement budget, this would represent the first time any government with a sizeable military operation will have outsourced the purchasing of equipment such as tanks, aircraft and communication technology.

      https://www.ft.com/content/ee63a82c-d353-11e2-b3ff-00144feab7de

      Delete
    3. Anonymous21 October 2019 at 11:50

      The Tories have spent the last 9 years wasting public money at an alarming rate. This from 2010 about the Dept of Health spending over the first FIVE MONTHS by the coalition (aka Tory) govt:

      The details of £1.85bn of Department of Health spending since the coalition government came to power has been revealed.

      Under new open government policy, central government must publish all items of spending over £25,000. Every such item of spending from May to September can now be viewed on the government’s data.gov.uk website.

      The 6,100 financial transactions released by the DH revealed the amount spent on technology. Some £124m was spent with BT, which provides the NHS IT scheme. Both CSC Computer Sciences and software firm Bytes Technology Group received around £45m.

      Spending on consultants continued during the first five months of the new government despite a pledge to reduce it. McKinsey and Co received £6.5m and QI Consulting received £6m from the DH.

      Outsourcing firm Capita and private provider Care UK both received around £14m.

      Transactions worth £12.6m related to pharmaceuticals firm Actavis UK were reported by the DH. Three other medicines companies, Wockhardt UK, Sandoz and Sanofi Aventis all received over £5m to “stock essential medicines”.

      The Cabinet Office released the data for all government departments. Minster Francis Maude said: “It is our ambition to make the UK the most transparent and accountable government in the world.

      “I want the public hold us to account for what we do and, by publishing this data today, taxpayers will be able to see exactly how we spend their money. This will not always be easy but we expect the public to hold our feet to the fire and make sure that not a penny of their money is wasted.”


      The Tory chumocracy isn't too far behind the Russian oligarchy.

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