NPS Recruitment Problems Explained

Following on from the recent HMI report on NPS central functions, the BBC's Home Affairs correspondent Danny Shaw used Twitter to beg a question and I reproduce some of the responses:-

WANTED: Men - to serve as probation officers. The service is dominated by white women, inspectors say, and doesn’t properly reflect the gender & ethnic profile of the offenders they supervise. Why is the service unable to attract enough men? Inspectors also urge probation staff to show more professional curiosity, not to accept what offenders say at face value. A timely intervention perhaps...amid concerns about supervision of serial rapist Joseph McCann & London Bridge killer Usman Khan. All this against background of staff vacancies - 650 unfilled posts, a legacy of recruitment freeze around the time of probation reforms in 2014/15 - and high caseloads. Staff responsible for 39 cases each on average, with some looking after 60 offenders.

I’ve got twenty years in probation and can recommend it as a career to other men. To attract more male applicants they need to increase starting pay and change entry requirements. I wouldn’t be able to “get in” now and I’ve managed to claw myself up to an area manager grade.

And it will get worse as once this latest recruitment is over TPOs will be expected to pay for any criminal justice modules they have outstanding on top of any student debt. Thereby also excluding those with huge amounts of life experience so valuable to a job like this!

I feel we were so much luckier years ago to have 2 years post graduate training, otherwise are people just expected to live by their wits?

Katie Lomas An interesting question and one Napo have been asking for some time. Lots of factors but suppressed wages, lack of recognition of professionalism and entry requirements that, until recently, favoured younger women graduates all have an impact.

I have worked as a PO for several years in Cat. B local remand prisons. Then moved over to my current role as a offender manager for the CJS across Devon & Cornwall for the last 18 months. Would like to work in probation but keep getting told I don’t have the qualifications!!

Because the one male friend I know who was a Probation Officer was so stressed by his job he had a nervous breakdown, one mistake and the sword of Damocles is swung upon their heads as Politicians avoided blame for their lack of investment in the service.

MoJ data show the NPS has not managed to increase the overall number of Probation Officers in the 5 years since TR. Those at Director and SPO grade have increased markedly. Maybe decent wages would make a difference.

Sociology of women and work 101 - the feminisation of a profession or semi-profession results in impoverished working conditions. Not meant to be patronising. Just stating a fact. Look to any of the medical-related professions, primary school teaching and so on.

Low pay, low status, little advancement possibilities, huge workload, few good results - men know better than that.

Traditionally probation only had 4 grades and there was no recruitment problem then when I started in 1970s though comparative pay was already falling hence Butterworth Enquiry, but pay has continued to fall & then crash from about 2008.

Presumably the same Inspectors asked ‘How did this come about?’...Qualifications overtook experience, targets overtook professional judgements....a theme carried across so many public services.....

The question should be why can’t the probation service recruit staff at all?

Because as per usual, where women dominate the workforce, the pay is low and the work is hard.

Because it's shit money, massive work load and a thankless task...

Is the equality/diversity employment pendulum swinging back to a more central position I wonder?

Check the rate of pay. Where women dominate, this can reflect low wages.

It doesn't pay well enough for the amount and type of work that has to be done.

Or the level of responsibility they carry.

I think pay has a lot to answer for. You can earn more in prison or social work. My local social worker counterpart is on 10k+ more than me.

Why would you want to do this job? It’s all so so in need of change!

In what other position would you be expected to supervise high risk people who have committed murder, rape and sexual offences, write parole reports and attend Oral Hearings for a starting salary of under 32k?

--oo00oo--

Meanwhile on Facebook there's been response to the HMI report:-

My heart goes out to former probation colleague's in both the NPS & the CRCs. The staffing crisis is real & does damage to each and every member of staff and offenders being supervised. I am also concerned the current PO training at 15 months is insufficient to equip Probation Officers with the skills & abilities they need to work with offenders.

Same, glad I got out when I did.

I would love a job in probation. Have applied many times, have a first class criminology/law degree with voluntary experience in mentoring young offenders. I’m 47 white and never even got to the interview stage of the process. I tried 5 times and gave up.

Did you try applying to a CRC or only NPS?

What a shame it sounds like you have a lot to offer and are serious about the job to try 5 times not just a passing phase like some of the appointees I’ve met. In my view the recruitment process seriously needs looking at. Good luck.

Only NPS.

What annoyed me the most is you cannot get feedback from the recruitment process. I couldn’t work out what I was doing wrong or what they are after. It’s highly frustrating. I’m currently doing a MA in social work at least this gives me a recognised qualification course. I’m afraid I’ve heard too many similar stories about criminology students.

Since I left it seemed to me that they took people who were already working in Probation because they knew the IT system, which was awful, and how the offices operated.

Apply to volunteer for the CRC. You get crucial experience and work directly with offenders. It’s brilliant and the probation staff I worked with were amazing. You also get opportunities straight away with emails about up and coming jobs. Good luck.

Register for agency work with probation. CRC if you can. As above.

I'm glad I was able to take early retirement and redundancy before it all kicked off! I warned the people that I worked with that if they thought it was bad then it was going to get worse. Unfortunately they did not have the opportunity that I had. Mind you - redundancy of £14,000 for 31 years service was crap!

Me too. I got out at the right time. All this was forecast and I do feel for colleagues still there struggling. I also agree with the redundancy. What a load of rubbish pittance for long service and stress.

I currently work in admin, 11 years service. Can't believe that is all you got. What was your role? x

Started as a Community Service Officer in 1981 - loved that job, then they decided to change everything from a centralised CS office and move it to individual offices - that didn't work, then I had to lose my CS caseload and be a Probation Services Officer. Eventually I had a caseload and was a Court officer managing breach of Court Orders. I think over my time I did most things! I was at the top of my pay scale for a long time!

Worked for probation for nearly 11 year but because I don't have a degree I am not allowed to progress to PO, yet I basically do a PO job.

Are you able to do the 4 knowledge modules? I think it's the sponsored route, that will mean you can then go for the PQiP. xx

Not the point. Some PSO's have experience and skills and do the work already - too few PQiP places in the past - lack of support etc and then training is back to basics - frustrating!

Been a PO for 21 years and not got a degree. But then I came through the DipSW route.

I have just been given a blanket no.

There will be apprenticeships coming soon for PSOs to progress.

When you can qualify in 15 months, without having to write a single report and have insufficient time to experience all areas of the job, coupled with the shambles that was TR, I’m not surprised at all!!

By the time we got as far as Charles Clarke, I could see what was happening. The Govt was determined to deprofessionalise and wreck any system that was seen as helpful. Privatisation was inevitable. I really feel for you all. Being a PO/SW completely broke me.

I was a PSO for 15 years and had the opportunity to qualify via PQF over the 3 years. They really need to bring that method back. I have AP, court YOs and rural working as experience as my time as PSO and still nothing prepared me enough to transition at the time of qualifying to a PO over 5 years ago!

No shit sherlock.

The training of new probation officers is going to further contribute to the issues raised in this piece, it is appallingly poor! Newly qualified POs can take up a post with absolutely zero court experience and hence no PSR writing and risk assessment skills. This is where you earn your stripes, questioning, enquiring, challenging the offence account. New staff are scared to ask questions as they not equipped to engage in appropriate interviewing skills. Disasters will increase over the next five years without doubt.

What a holy mess. I too am glad I retired before all this, however, I'm also angry at the complete bollocks made of what was a very good professional service, with ethics and really good training/mentoring. Of course, there are still good people with high values and great skills trying to work in horrendous circumstances. It beggars belief what this Tory privatisation ideology has done.

There does'nt seem to be much or any reference made to the totally shambolic CRC sector the so called "Privatised" half of Probation in this article. I worked in both National and Private sectors, and was, before Grayling and his band of lunatics ripped apart a dedicated, effective and internationally recognised organisation for the sake of putting public money into greedy private pockets, extremely proud of the work we did! As if it's not galling enough to blame the overworked staff whom are still trying to do the job as it used to be done, no blame has been apportioned to the CRCs and their "Managers" whom, in my experience, made it impossible to work effectively by pulling resources, equipment and experience, and replacing same with a "System" that prioritised data entries over effective supervision of offenders, and untrained, inexperienced staff, most of whom tried desperately hard to work out what they were supposed to do! I eventually, after almost 25+ years in the service, walked out in disgust at the CRCs totally abhorrent practice of putting profit before public safety, but still, with my retirement looming ominously on the horizon, remain extremely proud of the work I and my colleagues achieved before the "Government" decimated the profession. It's about time the blame for all the problems was placed at the feet of those whom engineered the problems and NOT at the feet of the staff!