Following quite a bit of thought I've come to the conclusion there really isn't anything much that I'd either like to write about or flag up for discussion at the moment, a decision assisted by noticing that the big topic over on the 'secret' Facebook page is about the £150 bonus payments.
I'm conscious there are still a lot of readers with 1,800 visits yesterday, so although I don't feel there is anything useful to say or highlight at the moment, that need not hinder anyone taking the opportunity to make contributions in the usual way either on the blog direct, or via the contact details on the profile page. Guest blog pieces are always welcome at any time.
Depending on what readers flag up or happens that is particularly noteworthy, I'll review the situation and post something, but in the meantime I'll hand things over to you and review any incoming contributions on a regular basis. Thanks for reading, take care and stay safe.
Thank you JB during this time your blog supports many and frustrated pressured people air their views here . It is a great help to see how we all experience the direction of work drifting through crisis.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone revealed the contents of 'the lovely email' yet? Maybe it was about the £150/£1500 NPS bribes?
ReplyDeleteI'm with poster from yesterday who offered the thought that Napo should be ashamed about targetting the £60K cash-for-carers payment to the families of those who've died as frontline carers.
Whilst probation staff have not been suitably protected by their employers (a situation the union could remedy by recommending staff refuse to work in such dangerous conditions) they most certainly have not been up to their elbows in bodily fluids or tending to the dead, the dying & the bereaved, they get paid a damn sight more than most carers & many nurses, and they have death-in-service policies - something most carers won't have on their minimum wage zero-hours contracts. Plus there's the £150 covid19 bonus.
It shows a distinct lack of sensitivity/empathy & portrays the union as a spoilt selfish brat that feels left out - "its not fair!".
How's that for starters?
Also, ex-ONS statistician on radio this morning observed that (1) the government are clearly tailoring their statistics & keeping losses to a minimum, not least by only releasing deaths in hospitals as a number and (2) looking at the ONS data he suggests the death toll is "at least twice that of the NHS figure" and "its probably 45,000, not 27,500".
The email and letter was from divisional directors to probation staff and their children saying what a good job we are all doing and how important we are as ‘essential’ workers.
DeleteThe divisional directors are all working from home. The letters were a standard format which they all copied from each other. And the staff that received them, the sheep that we are, replied and told the Divisional Directors how thankful and grateful we are to be forced to work on the frontline with no protective gear, for no extra pay, and because we bow to JFDI.
We helped them tick the box that says staff have been consulted and are aware of all the risks involved.
Thank you. That sounds like NPS/HMPPS.
DeleteWell done.
ReplyDeleteI simply do not know how to effectively advance the spirit of probation that I found the first time I went into a probation office as a prospective probation officer on a Saturday morning in 1972 - when I was met by an SPO who had been suggested as someone I might meet by a magistrate I knew at Sittingbourne Methodist Church.
Has it gone forever?
Some good few years ago a public figure associated with a prison reform charity was addressing a public meeting in Chelmsford about a local death in custody that concerned me a lot at the time. One prisoner killed the other in the same cell, one had initially been taken into custody because of a severe psychotic episode.
I ventured then that with probation orders by then already a sentence - the whole nature of the business has changed and maybe we almost needed to start again as volunteers going to the magistrates' courts and offering to assist folk who were not detained and perhaps suggesting deferment to Magistrates where such adjudications were possible, I lacked the energy, committment or organisational skills to do anything about it.
I commend all who continue with the spirit of those police court missionaries who aim to support individuals find their own legal path ahead despite past convictions, whilst simultaneously striving to take actions that protect the public from those same "clients"
Has it gone forever?
DeleteI think it's certainly gone for now Andrew. But I think somewhere down the line some bright spark will have an idea and reinvent it all again.
It may be as a consequence of the prison service thinking that's informed probation over the last decade or so, but I see probation in today's world being located less as a problem solving rehabilative service, and more of a punitive enforced compliance based service.
It's become part of the deterent aspect of criminal justice, and that's a long way from the ethos that the service was born from.
Probation has become confined and restricted, leaving the individual probation officer with little or no autonomy.
Practice is tailored to process. Process measuers proformance, and proformance is used as an indicator of professionalism.
The interviews that take place in probation offices today have no real difference to the interviews that take place in the job centre. Interviewees attend because they have to, and know the need to demonstrate compliance to the process or risk sanction. The interviewer needs convincing those processes are being adhered to (or not) and updates their systems with the required information to keep the process going. See you at your next appointment. Process, process, process.
The word rehabilitation itself has become in recent years a strange abstract concept. It's become conflated with compliance. It's become prescriptive. Somehow, if someone can demonstrate compliance for a given period of time they've been rehabilitated.
I think thats an od notion, as I don't see how rehabilitation can ever be something that's enforced.
Infact I think in certain situations trying to 'enforce' rehabilitation can be counter productive.
I think we live in a strange old world that's lost its way and become far more complicated then it needs to be.
Has it gone forever? Probably not. Like fashon, it'll re-emerge somewhere down the line. It might even be seen as 'cool and retro' when it does, and people may wonder why it ever changed in the first place.
'Getafix
Stay safe Jim x
ReplyDeletePublic Information Servoice - Charlie Says...
ReplyDeletehttps://www.fast.ai/2020/04/13/masks-summary/
Masks for all? The science says yes.
Written: 13 Apr 2020 by Professor Trisha Greenhalgh OBE and Jeremy Howard
Confused about mask wearing? Sure, it’s complicated. But not as complicated as some people imply. We’ve been looking at the science (see our papers Face Masks Against COVID-19: An Evidence Review — with 84 references! — and Face masks for the public during the covid-19 crisis). Here’s a summary of the different streams of evidence, and our take on what it all means.
Conclusion
Whilst not every piece of scientific evidence supports mask-wearing, most of it points in the same direction. Our assessment of this evidence leads us to a clear conclusion: keep your droplets to yourself – wear a mask.
You can make one at home, from a t-shirt, handkerchief, or paper towel, or even just wrap a scarf or bandana around your face. Ideally, use tightly woven fabric that you can still breathe through. Researchers recommend including a layer of paper towel as a disposable filter; you can simply slide it between two layers of cloth. There is no evidence that your mask needs to be made with any particular expertise or care to be effective for source control. You can put a cloth mask in the laundry and reuse it, just like you re-use a t-shirt.
If it turns out that you’re incubating COVID-19, the people you care about will be glad you wore a mask.
https://www.fast.ai/2020/04/20/skeptics-masks/
Masks - FAQ for Skeptics
Written: 20 Apr 2020 by Jeremy Howard
They said right at the beginning that virus droplets pass through paper and homemade masks. It is a false science. There is a reason NHS staff require FFP2 and FFP3 masks.
DeleteThe lower end masks apply an extra layer to add to the 2m social distancing. It has never been suggested that such masks should be used by medical staff in close proximity to sick patients. "There is a reason NHS staff require FFP2 and FFP3 masks." Yes. Correct. Absolutely. No-one disagrees.
DeleteThe article is about "Face masks for the public".
Masks in public places are about further limiting risks in the context of social distancing.
I repeat;
DeleteThey said right at the beginning that virus droplets pass through paper and homemade masks.
Paper and homemade masks do not add any protection because the virus particles are minute enough to pass through paper and cloth. They are simply encouraging us to us these useless options to preserve supplies of the good masks for the NHS.
Because we do not need to use medical grade supplies if we are adhering to social distancing guidelines/rules.
DeleteYes, the virus might pass through a cotton mask & a paper filter, but with far less velocity & much reduced 'reach'.
Sneeze or cough into the air; or sneeze & cough into a cotton barrier. Which is most likely to cover the person next to you in droplets? Which would you orefer? I assume you use a hanky or a tissue? A facemask for public transport is akin to an in situ hanky/tissue.
It is an ADDED layer alongside the 2m spacing to help limit the potential to spread, NOT a medical grade barrier.
And its a darn sight more effective than the tinfoil skull cap 22:29 is probably wearing to keep 5G at bay.
Yes, the virus does pass through a cotton mask & a paper filter,
DeleteIf the nay-sayer/s above had taken the time to read the articles referenced via the links you would have seen these issues addressed. I will therefore spoon the relevant Q&A piece here:
Delete"If it’s spread through the air, can a cloth mask really stop it? Isn’t the virus too small? - Coronavirus particles **are** so small that they **can** fit through the weave of most household cloth materials. Medical masks, such as N95 respirators, use special materials that create difficult to navigate pathways in the fabric that make it very hard for these tiny particles to get through the material. They also are specially fitted to the face of each healthcare worker to minimize gaps that these particles can get through... [but] ... the droplets that are ejected from an infected mask wearer are far bigger than the virus particles, and are easily blocked with around 99% efficacy, as shown in this recent NEJM paper that used laser light scattering to explore the effect. (The paper includes videos that make it easy to see for yourself what’s going on.)"
Sorry but you'll have to visit & watch the video for yourself. I can't so that for you.
Cotton/paper/nylon facemasks serve as an extra element to add to 2m social distancing, to help limit the risk of distribution of the virus in our snot, saliva, mucus or other bodily fluids.
I imagine this thread might keep on going round & round ad nauseaum.
Meanwhile ....
ReplyDeleteSo far, 5 probation staff have died (2 CRC staff, 1 NPS member of staff, 1 agency worker and 1 private contractor employee).
HMPPS continues to withhold figures released on how many members of probation staff have tested positive for COVID.
The NPS Special Payments Scheme (£150 a month) equates to a measly £37.50 a week to balance the realistic risk of death at work.
Senior managers receive an extra £1500 monthly bonus to lead from the front(room). As with TR, they will be remembered for their inaction and failure to speak up for probation staff.
The @NPsBirmingham Bronze Commander is busy following up all telephone calls with a text message survey to determine if he/shouts on the telephone.
Boris is preparing to send us all back to work, and potentially to our deaths.
Thanks Jim, and stay safe.
Bronze Commander. That's got to be the shittest superhero yet....
DeleteAnd never forget the ENTIRE cabinet voted against increasing nurses's pay & MPs gave themselves a £10,000 cash windfall to cover working from home.
DeleteProtect the NHS? Bollox. Its to protect their own wealth & power.
Stay safe Jim. I've chosen to distance myself from a lot of the special circumstances and bonus pay talk where I work. I have no interest in pushing myself to feel or be under any obligation to work 5 weeks every month. It sits uncomfortably that I don't see similar bonuses for other frontline key workers and that the NPS scheme is being applied so inconsistently and the goal posts for eligibility are being changed.
ReplyDeleteThere is an unpleasantness to all this. It has created division and, dare I say it, what feels like "money grabbing" by a few. The wrong people are likely to be rewarded the most.
I concur, divide and conquer as ever in Probation..
Delete... just to add, I am not saying there should not be recognition. I just think it would have been better to decide who, and how much, later.
ReplyDeleteArguing about money and who gets and who deserves only serves to legitimise the concept that financial renumeration is an acceptable means to get people to risk their lives and negate liability.
DeleteIt's not an acceptable means and it shouldn't negate liability.
HMPPS and NPS can keep their £150 special and bonus payments. I wouldn’t lower myself to beg for £37.50 a week. To accept this insult is to accept my colleagues were sent to their deaths for £37.50. Meanwhile senior managers receive £1500 a month to sit at home alongside on-call and overtime payments.
ReplyDeleteIll instead be submitting a claim for the lack of direction and protection from probation, and the stress, anxiety and symptoms suffered since the start of the virus in the UK on 28th February.
Man down t’ pub says probation management is preparing for a deluge of similar claims.
What do you mean by a claim? Have you resigned from your post and will be going to an employment tribunal to claim constructive unfair dismissal? The only other claim you could make is that your employer has breached the T&Cs of your contract or has breached health and safety law, neither of which is the case for NPS or any of the CRCs during Covid-19 unless you're able to tell me otherwise?
DeleteMan down my pub tells me 12.38 needs a glass of shut the hell up as you dont know what you're talking about!
DeleteLawyers warn employers could face legal claims after lockdown eases.
DeleteInadequate protection measures expected to lead to action from workers over Covid-19
https://www.ft.com/content/5e0ceec9-0342-402d-993a-03553c588400
Buckland on R4 Any Questions - shrugging off any and all responsibility for Tory mismanagement of the pandemic response by saying "all parties agreed to the cross-party approach to addressing the virus, as did the public"
ReplyDeleteSo now its OUR fucking fault!!
Slow to respond, no PPE, no testing strategy, starting then stopping a herd immunity approach - OUR fault.
Prof Anthony Costello had some wiser words to share.
Too many greedy pigs on here wanting all the money. If it's not a vocation,you need to move on. Who cares. My 150 going to the NHS. Can't even have a good night out with 1500 let alone 150. Its just paper. Get over it
ReplyDeleteThe number of prisoners believed to have been infected with coronavirus may be up to six times as many as the published figure, it has emerged.
ReplyDeletePublic Health England (PHE) says it has found 1,783 "possible/probable" cases - on top of 304 confirmed infections across jails in England and Wales.
PHE's report says there have been no "explosive outbreaks" in prisons, but "significant threat levels" remain.
Measures to quarantine new and at-risk inmates are needed for a year, it adds.
The report, published by the Ministry of Justice, says access to testing for prisoners has been "limited and variable".
"Therefore, the number of laboratory confirmed cases reported does not represent the true burden of infection in the prison system," it said.
"During outbreaks, where a number of positive laboratory samples have been received (usually around five or more) on prisoners who have been swabbed, then subsequent cases who meet the clinical case definition are included as 'possible/probable cases'."
Of the 1,783 "possible/probable" cases by the end of last week:
398 were in Welsh prisons
298 in the West Midlands
264 in south-east England
Wales also had more confirmed cases (77) than anywhere else.
PHE said officials had responded to outbreaks in 75 different "custodial institutions", with 35 inmates treated in hospital and 15 deaths.
But the report says the frequency of outbreaks and the number of cases is reducing, indicating that the initial wave of infections is being "contained effectively" - which it says is a "cause for cautious optimism".
Previous modelling suggested there could be between 1,800 and 2,300 deaths, depending on reductions in the prisoner population.
The report goes on to warn, however, that restrictions will be needed until the "end of the financial year", that is April 2021.
"In the absence of a vaccine or effective treatment, risks of large outbreaks in the prison estate will remain.
"These risks may be escalated later in the year relating to relaxation of wider community restrictions, some return of normal police and court activities."
With measures in place, the report estimates there will be 2,800 infections and 100 deaths.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52449920
There's so much our beloved Boris The Clown has in common with Trump, not least his capacity to avoid doing the job he's paid to do wherever possible. Boris absented himself from Cobra meetings & other key tasks during Jan & Feb as the pandemic developed, preferring to hide at Chequers while deciding how to tell people his partner was pregnant, should they get married and other pressing matters of state.
ReplyDeleteAs for Trump, Mitch McConnell complained “Trump was so distracted by impeachment he couldn't focus on Corona!"
Except when Trump held rallies on Jan 9, Jan 14, Jan 28, Jan 30, Feb 10, Feb 19, Feb 20, Feb 21, Feb 28 ...
... and golfed on Jan 18, Jan 19, Feb 1, Feb 15, Mar 7, Mar 8
US death toll now close to 70,000. Trump has just invested half-a-billion tax payer dollars in an unproven drug company:
"John Shiver, the head of R&D for Sanofi Pasteur vaccines, said he could have a product ready for the clinic in a year -- perhaps a vaccine for the public in as "few as several years."
Lenny Schleifer, the founder and CEO of Regeneron -- which aims to conduct clinical trials this summer -- who talked of pumping 200,000 doses per month of its therapeutic vaccine from his factory, starting in August, "if all goes well."
"So that process would be faster than John's?" he said, pointing at Shiver.
Stéphane Bancel of Moderna Inc. said he is "very proud to be working with the US government and to have already sent, in only 42 days from the sequence of the virus, our vaccine to Dr. Fauci's team at the NIH."
the federal Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) awarded Moderna up to $483 million to accelerate the development and manufacturing of the vaccine. Janssen Research & Development -- part of Johnson & Johnson -- received $456 million, and a third company, Sanofi, received up to $30 million.
Johnson & Johnson is a household name with a long list of approved medicines; Sanofi has been making vaccines for more than 100 years. Moderna's appeal [to Trump] is not what it has done, but what it says is possible.
It has been noted that Moderna's then lack of scientific publishing was similar to that of Theranos, now disgraced for raising some $700 million in venture capital for a blood-testing technology that turned out to be a sham."
Moderna say they'll have millions of vaccine doses available for the US before the end of the year.
Hey come on no knocking the king of clown. Bojo trim both blond both over weight both elected by a quirky change if politics they brought about nationalism. Both as thick as posts .
DeleteSorry spell checker trump and of
DeleteWe have all been dealing with COVID-19 since 28th February 2020.
ReplyDeleteRaho speaks;
I don't expect this to be a popular view but I would like to say that I feel very uncomfortable about the Covid-19 bonus payments so called 'Danger Money' discussion. This seems to me to be very divisive and starting to get a bit unbecoming of our profession.
A bonus that is being paid to some frontline probation staff and not others?
A bonus paid on the recommendation of managers?
What about staff who have an underlying health condition and cannot risk going into an office? Don't pay them!!!
What about those who have contracted the virus during the course of their work? Don't pay them!!!
Ought not the focus of our efforts and attention be on keeping frontline practitioners and those who need to self-isolate due to vulnerabilities safe?
Surely we should be insisting this bonus is paid to all probation frontline staff equally or we should refuse to accept it on principle.
An undignified individualistic scramble for cash cheapens us and in my view is not reflective of the best of the sort of values our profession used to hold dear, stand up for, and even aspire to be reflecting in our practise.
Have we sunk so low?
Surely it is important to remember those values more than ever now.
Should we not refuse payment until a full equalities impact assessment has taken place and only at such time we are assured that the criteria for payment is both fair and in all cases equitable across the profession?
No frontline probation practitioner should be left behind or financially penalised or this simply serves to further fragment and damage our profession.
(Facebook)
Nah, come on Raho, what's wrong with a bit of an undignified scramble for the cash?
DeleteThe profession's values & dignity started to unravel with the antics of sex pest AGS Ledger and continued with the pick'n'mix culture generated by TR, the loss of jobs, the loss of EVR, the loss of resources, pay, professional judgement, etc. Divide & Rule / Command & Control have always been the preferred MOs of NOMS/HMPPS. Its the simple serpent's dream scenario.
And what about the £1500?
We both know Raho won’t comment on senior management. I’ll do it for him.
DeleteProbation Senior Management getting £1500 a month to work from home is shocking. All lesser grade employees scramble about for a £150 ‘bonus’ payment, only received if they entered a probation officer AND sat in a room with a potentially infected offender since 23rd March 2020.
Which Senior Manager will be sharing their monthly £1500 for leading from the front(room) with those that did not receive a ‘bonus’?
Or on suitable gloves, masks, sanitizer and vending machines to protect those soon returning to work so they don’t have to rely on the inadequate shite HMPPS provides us?
[sarcasm alert for those of a sensitive disposition]
Delete"a £150 ‘bonus’ payment only received if they entered a probation officer"
Any particular probation officer in mind?
Or just any probation officer?
[typos can be fun - I enjoyed that one]
Also getting it for doorstep visits if you get out of your car..
DeleteRaho come on modesty . Talking if equalities you had non-issue nabbing the vice chair role under the sharp practice of the rules . Did little there and departed as soon as your prop left. Now where are these claimed scruples from .
Delete“ Which Senior Manager will be sharing their monthly £1500 for leading from the front(room) with those that did not receive a ‘bonus’?
ReplyDeleteOr on suitable gloves, masks, sanitizer and vending machines to protect those soon returning to work so they don’t have to rely on the inadequate shite HMPPS provides us?”
We’ll see if the @NPsBirmingham Bronze Commander tweets this !
People should remember that any bonuses paid may have implications on their tax.
DeleteHM Gov advice for employers....
Cash bonuses (including vouchers exchangeable for cash)
The bonus you’ve paid counts as earnings, so:
add it to your employee’s other earnings
deduct and pay Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax and Class 1 National Insurance through payroll
Take now pay later?
In APs we don’t know if we are getting any bonus payment. AP managers are living large on on-call overtime payments working from home. I do not want the shitty £150 (£100 after tax) payment and I’m more interested in getting PPE. The PPE we do have is limited and the offenders / residents are not allowed to use it. Managers pretend to care for the residents but we don’t even offer them face masks or gloves.
ReplyDeleteSorry, did I read that right - APs are NOT offering PPE or forms of containment/barrier equipment to residents?
DeleteIsn't there a duty of care to the residents? Even if there's a nominal service charge (which would be crass but unsurprising) the residents must surely be provided with PPE?
It also demonstrates the ongoing callous fuck-you attitude towards frontline staff.
In APs the PPE is reserved for staff only. This is UK wide for PPE issued to APs by HMPPS. This is full PPE including masks. Probation offices don’t receive any this even though that is where the staff deaths have been.
DeleteAvailability varies but you are right, the PPE issued is for staff to use but only if a resident has to self isolate or is tested positive for Covid-19. There is another smaller PPE kit for use in a medical emergency. Other than gloves and intermittent supplies of hand sanitiser, there is no special or extra PPE for staff to use day to day. Residential Workers who are not vulnerable cannot work from home; cannot always maintain distance and have frequent contact with residents, often for more than 15 minutes at a time. That is without starting to consider dealing with the more challenging behaviour. The PPE is there for a reason but there isn't much of it, a few days worth of some items at best.
ReplyDeleteI suspect that's because AP staff are untrained, i.e.can't hold high risk cases and are therefore prepared to be sacrificed..i.e collateral damage, otherwise known as cannon fodder, sorry but true
Delete‘Cannon fodder’ would be every member of staff below senior managers receiving £1500 a month bonuses to work from home.
DeleteIn days of yore when a social work ethos was prevalent, Napo would have fought tooth and nail to ensure all probation staff were afforded a safe working environment.
DeleteThey would undoubtedly have ensured a minimum of suitable PPE for all - including staff & residents at hostels - regular deep cleaning of probation premises & clarity regarding social distancing at work.
The Probation Boards would have responded positively to such requirements and any location regarded as posing a risk to staff or service users would have been closed if it couldn't be made safe.
It happened when the HIV/AIDS virus first arrived, when a strong policy which supported staff and service users alike was acted upon.
Getafix rightly speaks of the current situation as "something really unpleasant" (below).
I find something really unpleasant in giving staff at APs PPE and not residents. It like lifeboat places on the Titanic being prioritised for first class passangers.
ReplyDeleteBut on just a very practical level even the very best PPE only offers 'some' protection. It's not a failsafe. Therefore in a residential setting like APs, not providing PPE to the residents, allowing the potential for the virus to propagate amongst those with no PPE must increase the risk of infection for everyone even to those provided with PPE?
It's akin to safe sex with a damaged condom.
'Getafix
I'm really unhappy at the level of bullying targeted towards the NPS Birmingham command. Typical of this blog. Bullies bullying and Jim sulking as everyone can see the blog for what it has become. You dont see managers on here bullying and targeting staff. You dont see napo doing this either. You see plenty of the other though. Lots of bullying towards napo and generally brass.
ReplyDeleteA concerned PO!
What’s the NPS Birmingham command?
DeleteI see it now and then, someone posts critique against something, perhaps a bit attacking, and gets a reply from another person in the style of "stop complaining", "you don't know what you're talking about", or "you are so negative". And this response gets turned around with "stop complaining yourself", branching the discussion into nonsense.
DeleteIs there a word for when someone brings nothing to the discussion and just complains about the complainer like this?
“You don’t see Napo doing this either”
DeleteHold that thought.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2554363/Predatory-union-chief-quits-campaign-harassment-against-ex-girlfriend.html
Concerned what does that mean and misplaced. You ought to realise Napo have done their very unfair yard and a half and their failures are commented as they don't have able leadership. Your concern is misplaced or are you Napo.
Delete"A concerned PO" - the present unsatisfactory state of affairs has been a long time coming. Ever since the Probation Service was politicised, which enabled manipulative careerist managers to exploit the rarefied atmospheres of the organisations they worked in.
ReplyDeleteWhere previously there had been a social work ethos (as mentioned by 09:55 above) which, despite a hierarchical structure, held tightly onto principles of taking good care of staff and fighting for the rights of those the services worked with.
Some said it was a naiive world, some said it wrapped staff in cotton wool, some said it was unrealistic - but on the whole it tended to promote a positive workplace & lifestyle culture of looking after each other. It wasn't trendy, it wasn't cool, it was the butt of many jokes, but it DID keep many people safe. In the 70's & 80's the Probation Service had an enviable reputation for being a good employer if you identified as BAME, LGBT, differently abled, if you brought different skills or experiences or cultures. Similarly Napo was pro-active with ABPO, LAGIP, etc. Where are they now?
Cut to the 90's and the political influences were already eroding the Probation Service. Probation studies were excised from the social work courses and set apart (the recent blog on Paul Senior's efforts documented that), replacing "advise assist & befriend" with enforcement, control & command, and the bizarre catch-all "public protection".
The noughties had barely arrived - "As part of a widespread review of the criminal justice system, in March 2003 the Government commissioned the businessman Patrick Carter (now Lord Carter of Coles) to review correctional services in England and Wales, with the objective of establishing a "credible and effective system, which is focused on reducing crime and maintaining public confidence, whilst remaining affordable."
And what came with it?
"On 6 January 2004, in an instant response to the Carter Report published the same day, the Government announced the establishment of an integrated National Offender Management Service (NOMS) which would have the twin aims of reducing re-offending and providing end-to-end management of offenders."
And thus the 'modern' probation service was created, with its new target-driven imperatives within the command and control structure of NOMS. Henceforth the notion of a safe workplace, a protected workplace, a creative workplace was thrown out of the top floor window. The idea that Probation professionals would design and run their profession was gone.
contd
contd
Delete"On 20 July 2004, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Correctional Services and Reducing Re-offending, Mr Paul Goggins MP, announced that the Government had decided to postpone its original proposal for the immediate establishment of NOMS' ten regional boards and the separation of Probation staff into 'offender management' and 'intervention'..."
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200405/cmselect/cmhaff/193/19306.htm
The tsunami of policy & structural change, restruture and reimagined targets battered the probation services until, eventually, they were fragmented into Trusts:
House of Lords, March 2008: "The provisions in Part 1 of the Offender Management Act 2007 make two distinct changes from the previous legislation on probation provision, the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000. First, the Offender Management Act 2007 places the statutory duty for the provision of probation services on to the Secretary of State. Under the 2000 Act, this statutory duty had been placed on local probation boards. Secondly, the Offender Management Act 2007 allows for the establishment of probation trusts, as the public sector bodies to provide probation services, and to eventually replace local probation boards."
So from 2000 on the bullying, back-biting, undermining & generally abusive culture prevalent in many organisations finally found its way into the probation world. It has grown into an unpleasant tumour full of resentment, vindictive acts, nepotism, exclusion, greed & opportunism.
Those vile, damaging traits of career bullies have been fostered and encouraged by NOMS/HMPPS under the guise of ambition and talent, bringing forth the non sequiturs of going forward, it is what it is, we are where we are.
And so, 11:59, we end up with a frightened, angry and excluded workforce who want to express their anger. People who want to say the organisations they labour under are bullies without empathy so they come here and cite examples of insensitivity and utter bullshit, of staff being exploited, of staff being treated unfairly.
Its a different world and I'm glad I ain't having to breathe the same toxic air anymore.
New Covid-19 telephone line for people on probation in Eastbourne
DeleteThe organisation which supervises low and medium risk offenders in Eastbourne and the surrounding areas this week launched a new telephone helpline for people on probation worried about the impact of Covid-19 on areas of their life such as finances, housing and mental health.
The Kent, Surrey and Sussex Community rehabilitation Company has set up the advice line for the 8,650 people it supervises in the region to signpost them to services quickly as their circumstances change as a result of the pandemic. It is hoped that by intervening early to offer help, probation workers can ease the pandemic’s impact on areas of offenders’ lives which may drive their criminal behaviour.
The support line is staffed by a dedicated team of skilled and experienced probation workers, some of whom have had their usual work suspended due to restrictions in place as part of the nationwide lockdown. It is in addition to the routine and regular appointments people on probation maintain with their supervising officer.
The service is open every day except bank holidays and available to a total of 19,000 offenders under KSS CRC supervision.
Details of how to reach the service have been shared directly with offenders through their supervisors.
KSS CRC deputy chief probation officer, Cynthia Allen, said, “This support line will provide the people we supervise with advice they need to tackle the problems they face because of the pandemic. Many of the root causes offending behaviour may be made worse at this time, whether that is down to loss of jobs creating financial stress or anxiety about the future exacerbating anger, mental ill-health or substance misuse issues.
“Early intervention to signpost people to the support available is at the heart of our approach. This will help the people we supervise to make better choices, reduce the likelihood of reoffending and strengthen the safety of everyone in the communities we serve.”
Defining 'probation worker' would be helpful.
Delete“to signpost them to service”
DeleteMeaning it does not offer anything.
Jim muzzle 19.15 and 21.31. Both moaning negative hombres. Its something they are doing to help the most vulnerable whilst you're on your phones being touch text warriors. I welcome anything different that may help. It says it will be staffed every day except bank holidays. I doubt you will be working this weekend. Enjoy the sun! Jim, you silenced Hatton last night so do away with these two bozo comments too!
ReplyDeleteSuch charm and grace - considering membership of a select committee in relation to the reports produced when viewed 15 or so years later is just too complex for some & probably has no place as a blog comment, anyway!
DeleteAnnon @07:49
DeleteIf your comment reflects the way you normally speak and the language you use, then I hope you're not one of those answering the phone in Kent.
No I dont work in Kent. I left NPS years ago. The point was that this town or service are trying to do something that may help some people and they are being criticised for it
DeleteYou could have made that comment before without the nasty tone and words like muzzle and bozo.
DeleteLike many on here, you moan about what you don't like, or it's not what you want to hear, but never have anything constructive to say.
Isn't that the typical trait of a keyboard warrior?