As many probation staff continue to try and reconcile new operating instructions being issued by NPS and CRC managements, both with government instruction and common sense, this platform received 4,495 visits yesterday. (It should be noted that union guidance has been amended, but good luck spotting the changes.) Today attention inevitably turns to the prison estate with news of increasing numbers of prison staff not reporting for duty either due to sickness or self-isolation. This from BBC website:-
Coronavirus: Inmates could be freed to ease virus pressure on jails
Coronavirus: Inmates could be freed to ease virus pressure on jails
The government is considering releasing some offenders from prisons in England and Wales to ease pressures caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Justice Secretary Robert Buckland said the virus poses an "acute" risk in prisons, many of which are overcrowded.
Some 3,500 prison staff - about 10% of the workforce - were off work on Tuesday because they were ill or self-isolating, a committee of MPs was told. Mr Buckland said releasing some inmates could help to "alleviate" pressures.
The justice secretary told the Commons justice committee he was "keen" to make use of release on temporary licence - where prisoners are let out for short periods, after a risk assessment. Mr Buckland said he was looking "very carefully" at whether or not 50 pregnant prisoners could be released. He also indicated some of the 9,000 inmates who are on remand, awaiting trial, could be transferred to bail hostels, if it was safe to do so.
Mr Buckland said the prison service must "balance the protection of life with the need to protect the public", but releasing prisoners early could help to "alleviate some of the pressures" the virus was having on the system. However, he pointed out that releasing more prisoners would be a "challenge" for probation staff.
Amnesty International UK's head of policy and government affairs, Allan Hogarth, said elderly prisoners and those with underlying medical conditions should "immediately" be considered for release "if they do not pose a threat to themselves or society".
Mr Buckland's appearance before the committee came as all visits to prisons were cancelled, as part of measures to curb the spread of the virus. Outside visitors, group activities and education classes have all been banned and inmates have been confined to their cells for 23 hours a day.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said 55 prisons across England and Wales would be given 900 phones to allow prisoners to stay in touch with family members during the ban. The phones will not have internet access and would only be handed out to risk-assessed prisoners on a temporary basis, the MoJ said.
The justice committee also heard from Jo Farrar, chief executive of the Prison and Probation Service, who said 13 inmates had tested positive for coronavirus. The confirmed cases were in nine prisons although more jails are suspected to have had cases.
According to the latest Department of Health figures, there are now more than 8,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK - although the actual number cases is likely to be far higher. Some 422 of those patients have died. Mr Buckland said more tests for the virus were needed in prisons, and more personal protective equipment (PPE) was needed for staff. About 50,000 protective masks have been delivered for staff to use and a ban on bringing hand sanitiser into prisons has been lifted.
--oo00oo--
This from Eric Allison in the Guardian yesterday:-
Coronavirus is a disaster for UK prisons. Releasing the harmless now will save lives
The Prisoners’ Advice Service (PAS), a charity of which I am a trustee, asked the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) last week to release groups of prisoners in order to lessen the impact of coronavirus in the penal estate. They have done it in Iran, so why not here?
The UK government has already announced that it intends to ease pressure on prisons by increasing the number of prisoners released on home detention curfew with a tag. But the PAS is calling for those inmates who are old or infirm; or have long passed their tariffs – if they are serving a wretched imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence; or simply do not pose a threat, to be released immediately. These include the more than 1,700 prisoners, mostly men, aged 70 and over – some of whom are 80 or older, with a growing number in their 90s.
Releasing these prisoners, who are now completely harmless, will undoubtedly save lives, not just of prisoners but also of prison officers and other staff, especially in jails where there are wings full of elderly inmates. We have already had the first case of Covid-19 in a prisoner at Strangeways in Manchester. Make no mistake, this virus will take hold. Nowhere more so than in our antiquated local jails, such as Strangeways, where two or more prisoners are crammed into cells Victorian prison planners designed for one. Please tell us, justice minister, how such inmates can self-isolate?
Only last month a report from the National Audit Office on the physical state of prisons revealed a shocking state of disrepair, from leaking roofs and failing heating systems to broken cell windows and rat infestations. So, how can they possibly provide the hygienic conditions needed – particularly for frail, elderly prisoners – to fight this virus. Last year inspectors found that 10 out of 35 men’s prisons weren’t meeting minimum standards of cleanliness and infection control compliance.
When serving time, I experienced a few hairy moments, occasions when I felt my actions would lead to my physical harm. But my biggest fear, always, was suffering a serious illness. Of all the myths peddled by the MoJ, the line that prisoners receive healthcare comparable with that they would receive in the community is the hardest one to swallow.
Writing about the state of the prison system in England and Wales, my inbox is full of horror stories of medical neglect in the penal estate. They include prisoners who have died in hospital, more often than not in chains, after prison medical staff had ignored signs of serious illness until it was too late. The one I recount here did not end in death, but the scale of the neglect still shocks me.
A prisoner in a Midlands jail complained of severe pains in his leg. He was given paracetamol. Then his leg began to turn black and started to smell. The man did not have great mental capacity and simply accepted his pain. He was discharged from a relatively small sentence and his son immediately took him to their GP, who referred him immediately to a specialist. It was, of course, gangrene and there was nothing to be done but amputate. I put them in touch with a lawyer and the man eventually received compensation. But no treatment, on a leg that had turned black and smelly?
Ironically for the hang ’em and flog ’em brigade, the least dangerous prisons in terms of coronavirus will be the high security ones, which house those who have committed the most serious crimes. They are not overcrowded and all inmates have single cells. The local jails may well transform into charnel houses if nothing is done to release those who represent at worst a nuisance, rather than a danger to society.
On Saturday night I spoke to a pal from the old days, who is now retired from the game but keeps abreast of prison matters. He’s a Londoner and we discussed the impact this virus may have on the local jails he and I know well: Pentonville, Wandsworth and Wormwood Scrubs. We discussed our chances of survival if we were back inside any of them. Would we get the medical care our ages (we are now in our 70s) and our underlying medical conditions (I was a heavy smoker) required?
“More likely to be struck by lightning,” he said. “In Pentonville, we’d be lucky to get a mattress to sleep on.”
As many as 60% of prisoners could become infected with coronavirus, according to Prof Richard Coker at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who has looked at the potential spread of the virus in locked establishments.
Those who say criminals deserve what they get should bear in mind that, in life, as in prisons, there is a pecking order. The poor and disadvantaged, who have committed no crimes, will be the next in the line of fire of this disease.
Eric Allison is the Guardian’s prisons correspondent. He spent 16 years in prison for theft-related offences
The Prisoners’ Advice Service (PAS), a charity of which I am a trustee, asked the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) last week to release groups of prisoners in order to lessen the impact of coronavirus in the penal estate. They have done it in Iran, so why not here?
The UK government has already announced that it intends to ease pressure on prisons by increasing the number of prisoners released on home detention curfew with a tag. But the PAS is calling for those inmates who are old or infirm; or have long passed their tariffs – if they are serving a wretched imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence; or simply do not pose a threat, to be released immediately. These include the more than 1,700 prisoners, mostly men, aged 70 and over – some of whom are 80 or older, with a growing number in their 90s.
Releasing these prisoners, who are now completely harmless, will undoubtedly save lives, not just of prisoners but also of prison officers and other staff, especially in jails where there are wings full of elderly inmates. We have already had the first case of Covid-19 in a prisoner at Strangeways in Manchester. Make no mistake, this virus will take hold. Nowhere more so than in our antiquated local jails, such as Strangeways, where two or more prisoners are crammed into cells Victorian prison planners designed for one. Please tell us, justice minister, how such inmates can self-isolate?
Only last month a report from the National Audit Office on the physical state of prisons revealed a shocking state of disrepair, from leaking roofs and failing heating systems to broken cell windows and rat infestations. So, how can they possibly provide the hygienic conditions needed – particularly for frail, elderly prisoners – to fight this virus. Last year inspectors found that 10 out of 35 men’s prisons weren’t meeting minimum standards of cleanliness and infection control compliance.
When serving time, I experienced a few hairy moments, occasions when I felt my actions would lead to my physical harm. But my biggest fear, always, was suffering a serious illness. Of all the myths peddled by the MoJ, the line that prisoners receive healthcare comparable with that they would receive in the community is the hardest one to swallow.
Writing about the state of the prison system in England and Wales, my inbox is full of horror stories of medical neglect in the penal estate. They include prisoners who have died in hospital, more often than not in chains, after prison medical staff had ignored signs of serious illness until it was too late. The one I recount here did not end in death, but the scale of the neglect still shocks me.
A prisoner in a Midlands jail complained of severe pains in his leg. He was given paracetamol. Then his leg began to turn black and started to smell. The man did not have great mental capacity and simply accepted his pain. He was discharged from a relatively small sentence and his son immediately took him to their GP, who referred him immediately to a specialist. It was, of course, gangrene and there was nothing to be done but amputate. I put them in touch with a lawyer and the man eventually received compensation. But no treatment, on a leg that had turned black and smelly?
Ironically for the hang ’em and flog ’em brigade, the least dangerous prisons in terms of coronavirus will be the high security ones, which house those who have committed the most serious crimes. They are not overcrowded and all inmates have single cells. The local jails may well transform into charnel houses if nothing is done to release those who represent at worst a nuisance, rather than a danger to society.
On Saturday night I spoke to a pal from the old days, who is now retired from the game but keeps abreast of prison matters. He’s a Londoner and we discussed the impact this virus may have on the local jails he and I know well: Pentonville, Wandsworth and Wormwood Scrubs. We discussed our chances of survival if we were back inside any of them. Would we get the medical care our ages (we are now in our 70s) and our underlying medical conditions (I was a heavy smoker) required?
“More likely to be struck by lightning,” he said. “In Pentonville, we’d be lucky to get a mattress to sleep on.”
As many as 60% of prisoners could become infected with coronavirus, according to Prof Richard Coker at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who has looked at the potential spread of the virus in locked establishments.
Those who say criminals deserve what they get should bear in mind that, in life, as in prisons, there is a pecking order. The poor and disadvantaged, who have committed no crimes, will be the next in the line of fire of this disease.
Eric Allison is the Guardian’s prisons correspondent. He spent 16 years in prison for theft-related offences
POA national chair has tweeted this morning:
ReplyDeleteColleagues :NO exceptions to the following:
All non-essential activities involving groups of people should be stopped. This includes social visits, education, non-essential work, association, communal dining, periods of mass prisoner movement, religious services and gym
UPDATE FROM GENERAL SECRETARY STEVE GILLAN (24/3/20)
ReplyDeleteThe POA are putting out regular advice during this National Emergency of COVID-19. Our members are rightly anxious and at times frightened and that is a natural reaction. You have been identified as Key Workers and that means like all other Key Workers you are expected to attend work when you are fit and well. That is something that I support but at the same time I do not support presenteeism because when you are ill and turning up for work that does not assist anyone and could spread the virus. The messages from the Prime Minister will confuse some people about social distancing and remaining at home, along with instructions to not travel unnecessarily. Obviously, that does not apply to Key Workers such as yourselves because when you are fit and well you are expected to turn up for work.
Workers such as you, Police Officers, Nurses, Doctors and all health workers including Cleaners, Firefighters, Shopworkers and all other Key Workers are doing a brave and at times a thankless task.
too big to post in one go. Link is here:
https://www.poauk.org.uk/index.php?circulars&newsdetail=20200324-9_update-general-secretary
Small point, but important: Sad that even the POA can't bring themselves to recognise or acknowledge Probation staff
DeleteBehind the scenes the POA and all other Trade Unions affiliated to the TUC are working with their respective Employers and indeed Government Officials in a constructive manner. The Director General Phil Copple and the CEO Jo Farrar are in constant touch with the National Chairman Mark Fairhurst and myself. This is a time of National crisis in working together and looking for solutions. I make no apology for working in partnership with the Director General of HMPPS because not to do so and look for problems at every turn would not in my view keep our members safe or indeed those in our care. The POA in Scotland are doing exactly the same with their employer as is the same in Northern Ireland. I am also liaising with Special Hospitals in the NHS and our private sector providers, Sodexo, G4S, and Serco and having a constructive dialogue with them.
DeleteThere is no blue- print for this and having been involved as a POA member for 30 years I personally have not come across anything so challenging in that duration. We need to all pull together and make agreements that probably we would never have entertained in normal times. I recognise that most POA members are true professionals and will do their very best to look after those in our care and indeed look after each other. Difficult decisions will have to be made in the coming days, weeks and months but I am confident we will all rise to the challenge.
That is why I personally have offered last week in my spare time to go back to the landings as a volunteer even although I left the Prison Service in 2010. The reason I have done that is because I believe it is the right thing to do. You never forget how to be a Prison Officer and if I can assist by doing that then I am quite prepared to do so if the Prison Service give me the green light.
I would ask our members wherever you are to remain patient with the NEC and your respective employers. I know this is a difficult time for you and your families and there are genuine concerns surrounding Personal Protective Equipment, COVID-19 testing arrangements and genuine concerns about regimes. As stated previously the POA are dealing with those concerns and we have the ear of the Director General Phil Copple and other employers’ senior officials. We all know this is not a game this has serious consequences if contingency plans are breached or some Prisons are over ambitious in what they think is safe to carry out. All of us need to remain calm and help each other in these testing times with different ways of working.
On a personal note just in relation to HMPPS and the Director General Phil Copple. In my view he has shown true leadership and at every opportunity picked up the phone late into the night to keep myself and the National Chairman informed. We do not always agree on every issue, but professional partnership working is imperative during this crisis. For those that use social media please refrain from abusive or insulting language. The POA will not always respond to social media questions because sometimes it is security sensitive. I know the majority of our members are professional and want to be seen in a professional light and use social media responsibly please help us to help you.
I intend to do a regular briefing on a weekly basis but please keep safe and look after yourselves and your families in these difficult times that no one has experienced before. Working constructively with employers, Government and each other will see us through this major challenge.
Yours Sincerely
STEVE GILLAN
General Secretary
Releasing prisoners will not be ‘harmless’ or ‘save lives’ if they have symptoms and will not be tested for Coronavirus. If they are expected to report to probation offices on release for face to face appointments with probation workers this will be harmful and will cost lives.
ReplyDeleteCurrently probation workers continue to work in probation offices. They are being required to meet with colleagues and offenders face to face. There is no protective wear and no social distancing. This is shocking as Offenders carry an increased risk of the virus.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-52009733
Inside Time say:
ReplyDeleteThe prisons listed below have active Twitter accounts which are a good source of up-to-date information on the specific prisons during the current crisis...
Belmarsh, Doncaster, Ford, Forest Bank, Full Sutton, Guys Marsh, Haverigg, Hull, Kirkham, Lincoln, Liverpool, Long Lartin, Manchester, Peterboro, Portland, Send, Stafford, Swaleside, Thorn Cross, Wealstun, Woodhill, Wormwood Scrubs, Wymott
If prisoners are being given phones to keep in touch with family why then are POs expected to see them face to face. Why can't we use those phones for oasys interviews!!
ReplyDeleteAnger perfectly understandable but please direct it towards the right people. There is no need to be rude. Everyone is feeling awful already, no need to be nasty.
DeleteAnon 12:45 Have deleted offending and unfortunate intemperate post. Thanks for spotting. Lets all try and be understanding at this difficult and challenging time.
DeleteI didn't see the offensive post but if it was aimed at my remark 847 then to clarify I was suggesting these phones could also be used to contact the offenders for oasys interviews rather than as currently directed doing them face to face. My point was if measures can be implemented for offenders why can the not be implemented to aid staff doing their job. Simple as that.
DeleteNPS North West have shut their head office and staff are remote working,( and rightly so) but the same people were adamant yesterday that front line staff should expose themselves to danger needlessly..
ReplyDeleteNo doubt they will also be claiming any additional payments in full
Along similar lines an unhappy person sends a message to the POA:
Delete"It's fantastic that staff actually working with prisoners on the landings, dealing with potential high risk of infection are getting £150 a month, and the Governors getting £1500 for working from home is terrific. It should stop that divide between staff and governors"
PDF link at bottom of this page which details prison staff 'reward package':
Deletehttps://www.poauk.org.uk/index.php?circulars&newsdetail=20200324-9_coronavirus-update
Jo Grady: 'We are pleased that the government has listened to the concerns being raised and moved to stop all face-to-face education activity within prisons. The health and safety of staff and prisoners is paramount.'
ReplyDeleteUCU welcomes move to stop face-to-face prison education during coronavirus crisis
UCU has welcomed the move to suspend prison education as part of a wider prison lockdown in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) advised the Justice Select Committee this afternoon that it was moving to an exceptional delivery model, and has now confirmed to prison governors and prison education providers that all non-essential activities involving groups of people, including prison education, should be stopped with immediate effect.
The union had called for face-to-face provision to be stopped after members raised concerns about health and safety. A survey of prison education staff highlighted widespread concerns about a lack of basic handwashing facilities, classrooms not being cleaned between lessons and equipment being shared between prisoners and staff.
https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/10732/UCU-welcomes-move-to-stop-face-to-face-prison-education-during-coronavirus-crisis
Interesting background reading here pre-covid19 explosion:
ReplyDeletehttps://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cdp-2020-0060/
Releasing prisoners early is not a criminal justice issue, its a public health issue. I've been struck during this virus outbreak by just how difficult some people seem to find it to think how things may be done in any other way than the way they're normally done. Everything is done in a certain way, we're used to those ways and being forced to change those normal and familiar structures is causing emense stress, confusion and even panic.
ReplyDeleteBut things have to be done differently now, and the way we do things in the future may have to be different too.
I'm inclined to agree with the criminologists, that releasing the very short term prisoners on mass is not the right approach to take. I think it counterproductive for example to release prisoners who will be homeless upon release. I also think that releasing prisoners who's lifestyles are so chaotic that they can't be relied upon to follow the advice being given for public safety isn't the right thing to do. Chaotic lifestyles and homelessness make up a large proportion of those serving the shortest sentences.
To that extent would it not be safer to look at releasing longer term prisoners instead? For example anyone serving 3years or more with less then 6months left to serve that are not in for a violent or sexual offence? Wouldnt they be a safer population to think about releasing on public health grounds? They could be tagged, and a tag dosen't have to be 7pm till 7am, a tag curfew can be set for any period of time, 18 or even 20 hour curfew.
The landscape they would be released to is one on lockdown anyway, and by the time this period of lockdown is finished, those being released early would be due for release anyway.
There is a flaw to my thinking however, and that is that it is the over crowded and densely populated local prisons where the risk of infection and transmittion is greatest, and those are full of either very short term prisoners or of prisoners just beginning long sentences.
Releasing the very short term prisoners is of course the obvious place to look. But as I said earlier any such move is a public health stratagy, not a criminal justice one. Releasing prisoners early must be done to mitigate risk, not simply to transfer risk from one side of the wall to the other.
I think it's enevitable many prisoners will have to be released, but the obvious is not necessarily always the right answer.
'Getafix
Common sense is not very common; you are in a minority. Someone somewhere (can't remember who or where) has identified that those in the prison system LEAST at risk are those in the higher security prisons, with single cells & higher staff ratios.
DeleteThose most likely to be exposed to coronavirus COVID-19 are in the lower category estate, two or three to a cell, large wings, random mix of prisoners including many with mental health complications, reduced staffing, some who are happy to be there & don't want to be released into chaos. Now there's no association, no education, limited exercise...
Jailed into a cell without any activity is return to the sort of remand jails that held inmates for long periods and does a lot of damage to well being.
DeleteThis all falls to a lengthy series of failure by the Tories and the mentioned above hang em high brigade. Offending is a responsibility of the state and the state in the form of HM GOV should own it and have maintained the jails the staffing ratios and NEVER have privatised any part of it. Now it is likely the private estate will falter sharply and their burden falls to public services. Releasing prisoners rightly will see another influx for the NHS to face. The Tories are responsible whatever said and done. CUTS ON CUTS attacking the NHS fear of selling and then look what happens. They are stuffed with overpaid no consultant managers. Too many claims against it for errors because they are under resourced that is a further burden. Finally the heroes they are now get recognition from and insincere monster of a Tory leader BOJO. He is buffoon and looks responsible now for his appalling voting record. He ran the rugby no stop and then the Gold Cup for the Royals and oh no Charles has infection. Was he not at the gold cup despite early public health warnings. I bet he wont be needing to call 111 and queue up with the masses. One rule for them then as the Tories should start to realise they need to reinvest in the future in proper public services. Not a party policy football but a stated and in law inflation and capacity proof organisation.
The POA at least are protecting their own members. Unlike the probation union who is so obviously behind any curve they have become irrelevant. Who on earth would not have formally objected to 1500 risk money going to managers while a tenth of that to the frontline taking all the heat. These leaders will need proper investigation and scrutiny at some point. Incredibly and back to the prison no leaderships seem to state openly what the situation will develop into. By not releasing and what should be to a public owned service of Tagging and specific curfew for early release. The alternative is death in jails at a record level and infrastructure that wont be able to cope and the severe risk of reinfection from having to remove the dead and dying from a closed environment. They should spell out what we are facing and clear it up before its a bigger problem. How intelligent are the leaders then ? Answers on a stamp.
Stop HS2 then and redirect the money to NHS ?
DeleteI'd also like to see the disingenuous Tories stop their revisionist approach. How multi-millionaire Jeremy *unt can possibly, with a straight face, now proclaim he is on the side of the NHS workers when he gleefully oversaw the greatest slash-&-burn of their resources.
DeleteMaybe *unt's £millions could be requisitioned to fund PPE for the NHS? Or ring-fenced, home-delivered foodstuffs for frontline NHS staff?
I think probation management have been taking leadership guidance from lord Farquhar (shrek).
ReplyDelete“Some of you will die but it’s a sacrifice that I am willing to take”
Couldn’t make it up. As usual leading from the rear!!
Started reading again.
ReplyDelete"Between the campaigns of Crecy & Poitiers [c.1348] the Black Death had first swept over Europe from some unknown source in the Far East, with the ubiquity & violence usual to the incoming of a new disease. The obscurest hamlet had little chance of escape... The Black Death remained in the soil of England and became known as The Plague. It never again swept the whole country at one time but perpetually broke out in different localities... in London the plague was for long periods together endemic & nearly continual... rejoicing for the accession of James I [1603] was cut short by an outbreak that carried off 30,000... the accession of Charles I [1625] saw another outbreak... then between 1636 & 1665 there was a period of comparative immunity until a further outbreak in 1665 which, whilst not taking so many victims, struck the imagination more for it came in an age of greater civilization, comfort and security."
G.M. Trevelyan - English Social History, 1944
The more useful part comes next - in 1666 was The Great Fire. Trevelyan talks about the massive social changes brought about by the Fire which had impact upon the Plague, including replacing wood - the building material of choice - with bricks, and using carpets & panelling instead of straw & cloth hangings.
DeletePresumably we have to consider what significant changes we must make post-COVID19? Not just in terms of the virus, but also looking at the bigger picture, e.g. climate change, ecology, industry, economic choices.
It seems some have already made their choice - a number of public houses are having private lock-ins. Hurrah. Perhaps Darwinian theory may prevail... but most likely they will simply spread the virus & kill others while they escape with a sniffle. Shitheads!
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wsls.com/features/2020/03/18/2-cities-handled-this-health-crisis-different-the-results-couldnt-have-been-more-opposite/%3foutputType=amp
DeleteSo that’s nearly every probation office in breach !
ReplyDelete“ EMPLOYERS could be fined if they demand workers turn up when they should be at home, the Health Secretary has warned.
Matt Hancock told MPs that new guidance for employers will be published later today including guidance that staff should keep two metres apart.”
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/11244424/coronavirus-employers-fined-workers-turn-up-home/
Agree but they will say conveniently we are keyworkers. Keyworkers or not as we are not emergency services, there is no social distancing in place, equipment or wipes sanitisers provided. Furthermore, it is not absolutely necessary and we can work from home.
DeleteJust been told by my SPO that our office isn't closed after all and that all licence and order inductions have to be conducted face to face. Was told earlier in the week that only MAPPA 3 very high risk cases should be seen face to face and then only through the glass in reception having been let in one at a time. What the fuck is going on in these clowns heads? Do they simply not care about us or are they stupid? On another front they issued a "call to arms" today asking people to work in AP's. I kid you not. And the recompense. 30% in the week and 50% at the weekend. Let those pocketing 1500 quid a month extra do it. Call to arms my arse. I am self isolating having likely been exposed to the virus when visiting an AP last week but if I wasn't there is not a cat in hells chance I would be going into an office to do an induction. Let them discipline you if you refuse and see how far they get.
ReplyDeleteHi, can anyone tell me which areas were using the glass-screen reception area to see offenders? Seems like the only sensible option but my area seemingly won't consider it. Why are senior management so averse to making physical screening part of the response? Saying stay 2m apart and terminate the interview if an offender coughs just seems crazy and dangerous to me.
DeleteThere wont be any discipline action the managers are not able to manage the situation and the usual rules just do not apply. If they risk asses and provide the written guarantee of 2 meters apart then they cant call it a safe workplace simple.
DeleteWhat glass screen. We have no glass screens in our offices. This has been raised a number of times by staff.
DeleteAnyone got a contact number for Buckland, Johnson, Hancock or even Ian Lawrence?
ReplyDeleteNAPO Guidance issued yesterday (for all of its inherent flaws):
"Face to face contact should be retained for the following groups: TACT offenders, Offenders without recourse to a phone, Prison leavers reporting for their initial appointment (subsequent appointments can be done via telephone/Whatsapp/Skype where appropriate)"
Buy a cheap phone for offenders without a phone?
ReplyDeleteadvice for keyworker families with children still attending school
ReplyDeleteWe would advise that you please follow the advice provided by the NHS. We also need to keep you safe, once you leave the childcare setting.
Latest evidence is you are less likely to catch virus from a child coughing but more from things they touch. They are likely to be entirely asymptomatic.
So unfortunately the virus is likely to be all over surfaces. It can also live on skin/hair/clothes. If you have long hair - Tie it up. Remove rings/other jewellery.
When you arrive home please adhere to the following:
This is what we are required to do to decontaminate :
As soon as your child gets home:
1. Have a black bin liner ready just inside front door or back door
2. Take off your clothes
3. Place them all inside bin liner.
4. Open the washing machine using a cloth.
5. Put clothes into washing machine using the cloth then put the cloth into the washing machine.
5. Go straight to shower.
6. Do not touch door handles and if you have to, ensure they are wiped down after.
7. Wash your body and HAIR thoroughly with soap/shampoo/shower gel.
8. You can go and shut washing machine and put it on.
9. You should now be virus free.
Brass calling the shots
ReplyDeleteArticle in the Guardian suggests that there are already specified areas been allocated to store the bodies of those that may die in prison from Coronavirus. Pretty scarey.
ReplyDeleteReading between the lines of the article, I get the feeling that concerns about prisons 'exploding' are becoming a real concern.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/society/2020/mar/25/release-prisoners-or-face-jail-pandemic-says-chief
'Getafix
Prisoners should be released in order to prevent UK jails being overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemic, the head of the Prison Governors Association has told the Guardian.
DeleteAndrea Albutt said prisons were facing “unprecedented risk” and the release of some prisoners would help prevent disorder and slow the spread of the virus.
On Tuesday the Ministry of Justice announced that all visits to prisons would be suspended and inmates would be confined to their cells in an effort to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Albutt warned that a combination of prison overcrowding, prisoner lockdown and staff shortages as a result of prison workers needing to isolate themselves meant that the system was facing unprecedented pressure.
“Overcrowding, poor regime, reduced contact with family because we’re not having visits anymore – these are all things that can introduce instability,” she said. “If we can take one of them away, if we can reduce the level of overcrowding in our prisons, it will help towards the coming months.”
Albutt said jails were already severely overcrowded, with prisoners sharing cells designed for a single person.
“We’ve lots of prisoners, two people in a cell built for one,” she said, adding that around 80% of prisoners in Swansea were currently doubled up.“We have that all across the country.”
She added: “To reduce our population is always a good thing: it helps to stabilise prisons, it helps to calm prisons, it means that staff have got the greatest staff to prisoner ratio. If we have less prisoners doubled [up in cells], it will be easier to isolate those who’ve been confirmed as having the virus or have the symptoms, so we can delay the spread.”
Prisoners are particularly at risk because they are typically held in confined or overcrowded conditions, where the coronavirus can easily spread. The World Health Organization has warned prisons to expect “huge mortality rates” unless they act to prevent the disease from infiltrating jails. .
The Guardian has been told prisons in the UK have begun preparing for a possible rise in deaths. Two prisons in Merseyside, HMP Liverpool and HMP Altcourse, have been told there is a designated area in the region for storing additional bodies, according to one prison source. A separate source said staff at HMP Northumberland, which is run by the company Sodexo, have been told bodies could be removed to nearby army bases.
A Sodexo spokesperson declined to comment except to say: “We are working fully to guidelines issued from Public Health England, HMPPS and Sodexo.”
A prison service spokesperson said “robust contingency plans” had been put in place in consultation with with Public Health England and the Department of Health and Social Care. “These use available evidence and prioritise the safety of staff, prisoners and visitors while making sure normal regimes experience the minimum possible disruption.”
Some countries have already begun releasing prisoners. Iran said it would pardon 10,000 inmates “in light of the sensitive situation in the country”, while the chief justice of the US state of New Jersey signed an order releasing 1,000 people from county jails.
Thirteen cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in UK prisons so far, with the first patient reported at Strangeways in Manchester last Wednesday. The justice secretary, Robert Buckland, told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday that he was considering whether to release prisoners so as to reduce pressure.
The former justice secretary David Gauke last week called on the government to suspend short sentences to avoid the virus spreading. “There is a strong case for releasing some of those coming towards the end of their sentence a few months earlier,” he said. .
And despite some very 'big', 'historic', 'unprecedented' deicsions being made, the UK has dithered & dallied over just about everything relating to this virus pandemic.
Delete* Borders weren't closed
* Schools weren't closed
* The self-employed were omitted from initial financial support measures
* Rules were, and still are, unclear
* Millions of tests have now been purchased but...
... they now admit they can't release them because they don't know if they work or not!
* PPE is neither in sufficient supply nor of WHO designated quality
* The prison population could have been diluted already & prison staff suitably deployed
* ALL Probation staff could & should have been given clear & specific instructions
But no. Everything was delayed, ummed-&-ahhed about, denied then amended.
Thank The Gods for Prof.Neil Ferguson's virus modelling & his bold intervention, otherwise we'd be on a high-speed trajectory to Hell with the 100% fallible Herd Immunity model. That man has saved more lives than the whole of this shambolic government.
And will we ever know why they dithered & played with themselves? Fear? Incompetence? Undisclosed interests? A Secret Plan?
Is anyone else experiencing the same whereby those not at the coal face are putting out the fires and those in ivory tower at home working from the garden are barking orders to do this and that
ReplyDeleteOh yes and claiming you are not doing your duty or pulling together as one big hmpps team if you question anything.
DeleteNo our brass have been leading from the front getting stuck in showing us how it used to be done...apparently!
DeleteNot a dicky bird of management seen here for weeks. Plenty of social media posts showing them to have set up shop at home though.
DeleteManagers are trained to stay away. In the army, colonels sit back and plan. Young bucks go into battle. In the end, we all play different roles and we all share the victory. I dont begrudge management not being visible. They're doing their bit and I'm doing mine
DeleteNapo Email just received: -
ReplyDelete"Dear Andrew
Napo team working hard to get information and updates out
The Napo team are working hard to get accurate information and updates out to members during these extremely difficult times. We are in constant contact with senior HMPPS and equivalent CRC and Cafcass leaders and receive regular updates from them as things change rapidly. Please refer to our special webpage where we will continue to post all updates [https://www.napo.org.uk/covid-19-emergency].
Please also keep in touch via Branches and Link Officers and Officials to let us know where there are specific issues or new concerns not covered by the information we have issued, this allows us to raise them and to achieve some progress for you.
Today we have posted an update on APs from the regular contact that Siobhan Foreman has with AP senior leaders and a general update from the ongoing contact with HMPPS Senior leaders from Katie Lomas and Ian Lawrence. You can see both updates on the special webpage and also by clicking below
General Update (Bulletin 3)
Update on APs
In solidarity
Katie Lomas Ian Lawrence
National Chair General Secretary"
The items that are linked from that email seem to be on this web page
https://www.napo.org.uk/covid-19-emergency
PDF files you can downlaod
DeleteAP stuff here:
https://www.napo.org.uk/sites/default/files/AP%20Covid%20update%2025.3.20.pdf
Updated/amended HMPPS stuff here:
https://www.napo.org.uk/sites/default/files/Additional%20Guidance%20in%20light%20of%20the%20most%20recent%20Government%20Covid%2019%20Guidance_1.pdf
The latest NAPO e mail begins, ‘Following substantial contact from members yesterday the general guidance on operations has been updated on our webpage.’
ReplyDeleteGiven that they have previously ordered members not to contact them because they are too busy to respond, how and when did they have the substantial contact?
I can only assume they read the blog and grasped the real anger that was emerging.
Well, just lookee here:
ReplyDelete24/3/20: "Additional Guidance in light of the most recent Government Covid 19 Guidance"
25/3/20: "The guidance on responding to the C19 crisis (below) has been issued by HMPPS to the NPS and all CRCs. The unions have, and are doing their best to influence the content prior to issue, but Divisional NPS Management and CRC Management are responsible for its implementation. We are asking members to let Napo Branch Reps know where it is not being followed, or where there are inconsistent responses. This information is being shared with Napo Officers and Officials and is being escalated to senior HMPPS Leaders"
Same document (more or less) but very different headline presentation.
Jim - I hope you have copyright on your published material because all they're doing is cutting-&-pasting from your blog onto Napo headed paper. And they're getting paid by members.
DeleteThe comment @18:31 should have been appended to the comment @18:19. My apologies, as it doesn't make sense here.
DeleteNapo on the case of copy the blog . It may be coincidence. What I want to know is what actual qualification has the general secretary of Napo . Does he have degree a level or what does he understand plagiarism.
DeleteWhere's mushroom?
ReplyDeleteWhere's Net Nipper?
ReplyDeleteWhere's Papa?
Wheres Hatton?
ReplyDeleteGetafix?
Heard a Doctor on TV say to get through the boredom of self isolation we should finish things we start and thus have more calm in our lives.
ReplyDeleteI looked through the house to find all the things i've started but hadn't finished... so I finished off a bottle of Merlot, a bottle of Chardonnay, a bodle of Baileys, a butle of wum, tha mainder of Valiumun srciptuns, an a box a chocletz. Yu haf no idr how feckin fablus I feel rite now.
Sned this to all who need inner piss.
An telum u luvum.
I know😕inappropriate dry humour but self isolation is a twat, getting calls from colleagues concerned for my welfare when I actually feel safer than them. For now. Be safe, we have one life this is not a dummy run
ReplyDeleteFirst prisoner dies of Coronavirus at HMP Littlehay.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.google.com/amp/s/www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/sex-offender-84-becomes-first-21755468.amp