TR2 Will Also Be a Disaster

Following the very sad events of Friday and the disgraceful decision by Boris Johnson to 'weaponise' the tragedy for political gain despite the ongoing protests from affected parties, at least the 'oven-ready' Brexit mantra is now off the political agenda. It was never intended, but probation is now at the centre of political attention and in particular the omnishambolic part-privatisation driven through by Chris Grayling and equally enthusiastic coalition partners the Liberal Democrats. 

Despite the MoJ admitting it had all been a complete disaster, as accurately predicted by all leading criminal justice commentators including this blog, the Tory government has insisted that the service remains fractured under new proposals currently out to tender. It should be noteworthy that the FT is scathing:-     

Probation service reforms criticised over commitment to rehabilitation

Ministers have been accused of failing to learn the lessons of the disastrous part-privatisation of probation services, after the justice ministry released the first raft of new contracts for outsourced provision in the sector. 

The first tranche of contracts, worth £1.26bn, were put out for tender in November inviting private and voluntary organisations to provide services including rehabilitation, unpaid work opportunities and training for offenders. The documents offer more detail on the “renationalisation” of probation services in England and Wales, which was promised by the government in May when it announced it would scrap the current regime after just five years. 

Probation has come under renewed scrutiny in the aftermath of last week’s terror attack in London. The attack was carried out by Usman Khan who was on licence after being released from prison last year. The botched 2014 reforms by former justice minister Chris Grayling outsourced the management of low-and medium-risk offenders to private providers such as Sodexo and Interserve. The publicly run National Probation Service continued to manage high-risk individuals. The result was a fractured, underfunded system that critics say was not fit for purpose.

Under the proposed new system, the management of all offenders will return to the NPS, with the private sector and charities contracted to provide services and support as offenders return to society. But professional bodies have warned the new regime has failed to address the shortcomings of the one it is designed to replace and would struggle to achieve its core aim of helping offenders reintegrate. Critics point to a preference in the new contracts for “high volume, standardised interventions”, and say it raises concerns about the government’s commitment to rehabilitation. 

Almost half of prisoners reoffend within a year of release, rising to nearly two-thirds for petty offenders serving sentences of less than 12 months, according to the Prison Reform Trust, which puts the cost of reoffending to government at about £18.1bn a year. Mike Trace, chief executive of the Forward Trust, a charity that works with offenders and may bid for some work, said: “There’s a tendency to go for stack ‘em high and treat ‘em cheap programmes to show something is being done.” He said that the market for interventions to reduce reoffending has too often focused resources on cheaper — but ineffective — low-threshold interventions, ignoring the MoJ’s own evidence that placing offenders in safe accommodation, finding them jobs, or helping them to overcome drug or alcohol addiction, are more successful. 

Another concern is that the split between the NPS and contractors would create a system as “fractured” as the one it is designed to replace. “Any case management system that means offenders get passed from pillar to post, and never build a relationship with an adviser or mentor, are flawed,” Mr Trace said. The new contracts, which are set to begin in April 2021 and are split into 12 regions, cover a number of services, including the provision of unpaid jobs for offenders and programmes to help with alcohol or relationship problems. A second tranche will follow early next year, according to the Ministry of Justice, for programmes including resettlement, housing and women’s support.

According to analysts, the decision to split the tendering process and the structure of the new system would mean officers having to co-ordinate an individual’s probation plan with two separate organisations. “Although the splits create different friction points to the previous privatisation, the divisions could again fracture the service and hamper access to consistent high quality rehabilitation,” said Helen Schofield, acting chief executive of the Probation Institute think-tank. 

The Ministry of Justice, which declined to comment citing “purdah” rules during a general election, has previously insisted that the new contracts are designed to reduce the fracturing of services. But David Raho, chair of the National Association of Probation Officers in London, said the reforms would “satisfy no one” and called for the service to be fully nationalised. “What is needed is an entirely joined up and integrated public probation service that frees up frontline professionals to tackle reoffending.” Much will depend on the outcome of the election on 12 December. While a Conservative government would be expected to continue with the reforms, Labour has pledged to nationalise all parts of the probation service.