I'm going to be really controversial here. Having worked in NPS and CRC. I have to admit some of the work being done in the CRC is bloody brilliant and I hope we take this forward back into NPS.
Couldn’t agree more. As someone who has worked in a CRC where the parent company has invested and we have made great progress particularly with unpaid work and interventions I really hope the good practice is invested in and retained in the NPS.
I listened to the debate on BBC parliament this morning. 3 MPs complimented the work of KSS CRC. Made me proud to be part of it.
Yes and a number of MPs in the house did the same. We can carry our heads high.
I had a truly crap experience of working for a CRC, they clearly didn't want experienced staff (PO and PSO) as we cost more, made veiled threats to make people leave, didn't care about staff in general and then tried to lie and cover up when requirements weren't met. I'm now in a position where I have to climb the scale again, after losing pay and leave to return to NPS. So am I going to be lower grade to less experienced CRC staff who will be Tupe'd across?
That's awful. xx
Which CRC are you working for?
CGM
I welcome the chance to reunite with colleagues but there has been so much damage, so many people left the service entirely and service users have been let down by the loss of community links that CRC wouldn't pay for. How do we repair this?
I was one of those who really didn't want to see the split and was devastated when it happened. But in the past 9 months of being in a CRC I have seen the most innovative, creative and collaborative work even.
I was working from 1970s to 2011 and Probation changed dramatically in order to offset privatisation during that time. It lost a lot of good innovation during 1990s to assuage the powers-that-be regarding budget and so on. I'm glad you are getting satisfaction from your CRC. It's a pity that most providers were less than adequate though.
It is sad indeed. xx
I worked 1999 till 2019 in (probation trust then NPS) became disillusioned left and came back to CRC. Glad I did.
I worked 1999 till 2019 in (probation trust then NPS) became disillusioned left and came back to CRC. Glad I did.
I would love to know more about how it was in the 70s and 80s xx
The variety was fantastic - in a week I might do a court duty in either a magistrate's court and Crown court, a prison visit - office duty seeing casual callers without appointment and some family court work.
I worked in Merseyside from 1973-82, Essex from 82-88, did a locum senior court social worker job for 6 months in a north east London local authority and then returned to probation initially in Inner London, but after the merger of the five greater London services also briefly in north east London, which was where I grew up and included five years seconded to a London Local Prison, where much of the time I was on the new arrivals (sentenced) wing often as the only PO and with about 330 prisoners - it was rather different from working a rural part of Essex where clients were up to 20 miles from the office. The overriding feature was how my CQSW training came into use throughout and my first hand knowledge of family courts and Juvenile Court work was as useful when I worked in a prison as when I was involved in a contested case regarding wardship of a child that went to the House of Lords. By then end of my career it saw less variety but my earlier variety of practice was always valuable - I also did things like acted as a member of local charity organisations and helped in the setting up and running of an accommodation project.
The variety was fantastic - in a week I might do a court duty in either a magistrate's court and Crown court, a prison visit - office duty seeing casual callers without appointment and some family court work.
I worked in Merseyside from 1973-82, Essex from 82-88, did a locum senior court social worker job for 6 months in a north east London local authority and then returned to probation initially in Inner London, but after the merger of the five greater London services also briefly in north east London, which was where I grew up and included five years seconded to a London Local Prison, where much of the time I was on the new arrivals (sentenced) wing often as the only PO and with about 330 prisoners - it was rather different from working a rural part of Essex where clients were up to 20 miles from the office. The overriding feature was how my CQSW training came into use throughout and my first hand knowledge of family courts and Juvenile Court work was as useful when I worked in a prison as when I was involved in a contested case regarding wardship of a child that went to the House of Lords. By then end of my career it saw less variety but my earlier variety of practice was always valuable - I also did things like acted as a member of local charity organisations and helped in the setting up and running of an accommodation project.
That's so interesting! Thanks for sharing. It sounds like you loved the job. Let's hope we see some of this back.
I agree there are some good concepts to take over, it’s just shame the caseloads were unrealistic.
I worked with CRC part time. I thought and still think community payback is the best punishment. I got my house burgled 18mths ago, a bad one, smashed door and ransacked. If they caught the offenders (some hope!) I would rather they did community payback than toss it off in prison.
That's awful, sorry you had your house burgled! That's just awful x but yes I think you are right. Unpaid Work really can make a difference. X
Absolutely. I know there are a huge number of new and enthusiastic staff coming through but we have lost so many experienced staff.
Maybe many will return?
Depends where you were. I worked Moss Side in Manchester early on. Pretty desperate place. We were quite self sufficient and anarchic. Very community active. Had to be. Mind, we had our own offices. For a time we shared Zion Institute, a big old building in the middle of Hulme crescents, with the Northern Ballet and the Halle Orchestra. Guns, Dance and Music. Nothing was quite the same after that. lol.
I know there is good and less good practice in both CRCs and NPS Divisions but for the Government to decide to end the failed experiment that was Transforming Rehabilitation they must have felt the CRC service delivery models were not producing the outcomes that they wanted. This positive change in my view however will bring much further disruption to what is currently a fragmented probation service. We must hope in time a united public probation service can again become a world class public service and that former CRC and NPS staff can learn to work together again but TR and Grayling caused much damage that needs to be undone.
How true. xx
Seetec the parent company have voiced their concerns over this decision. However for once lobbying by private justice providers of MP's and the Conservative Party has not resulted in further multi million pound contracts being offered to the private sector.
Absolutely.
Civil service means you are a mere robot. No room to argue, challenge or innovate. You will get a huge shock. (one of the reasons I left Civil Service last year)……..
I have never seen an institution demoralise it’s workers more so than this.
It is unclear to me if NPS will change. Agree Civil Service rules impede innovation.
I really hope we will go back to trust status or similar......everything crossed.
Them were the days, Part Cs, eh? Every day by the seat of y'pants.
Advise, Assist and Befriend and the joint Social Work and Probation qualification. Golden times.
Really?
Seems many people have a different experience......
I guess so. I’ve been an officer for 20 years. Since 2014 in the CRC. I can honestly say hand on my heart it was the most terrible time of my career. The CRC provider I worked for lost the contact. The companies ethos was just bizarre. I don’t even know where to start.
I really wish we had kept trust status...........least with one unified organisation hopefully it will he more consistent.
Yes totally agree with that. However I think management at the time should have been a bit more pro active having gained trust status, ie bidding for more services.
Yes totally agree with that. However I think management at the time should have been a bit more pro active having gained trust status, ie bidding for more services.
Couldn't agree more !!!!
We had a really cringe team celebration in Lancs when we got trust status. And when we got a gold award, I think it was investors in people, they sent parcels of gold stuff to every office eg all gold chocolates, golden delicious apples...now you're lucky if you get tea and coffee at training, and that's NPS and CRC. Remember when lunch was provided at training courses? Those were the days he he.
Ha ha I remember it well......... or the meals at the Gujarat Hindu Centre? Made my day they did!
Yes! Really top food. Things were going down hill when I was doing PSO training with the CRC though, we got served pasta sandwiches.
Importantly we were all a team together....without a huge wedge dividing...
Pasta sandwiches luxury lol...
I am looking forward to see what the new Probation will look like and decide if I'm gonna stay or go.. ....again.
Absolutely. I'm writing a thought piece on the impact of TR this afternoon for uni and will def be focusing on the impact. Like you said there is some brilliant collaborative work going on in the CRCs whereas working in the NPS with a case load that is solely high risk sounds utterly relentless and there must be a lot of people that reach burnout.
Back to joined up thinking and operating. Hurrah!
I’m really pleased both services are amalgamating. I hope that some of the excellent work can be harvested from both services and we will have an even greater NPS in the future.
For those of us going through the split it was very painful experience to lose our colleagues and I can’t wait to welcome them back.
For those of us going through the split it was very painful experience to lose our colleagues and I can’t wait to welcome them back.
If only there had been an effective National Service that did all this in the first place....oh wait....there was?
So....reinventing the wheel then.
Shame TR cost so much in so many ways.
It's not like any of us predicted it was a monumental error and Grayling did not have a clue what he was doing.
Glad it's back though,
Oh we so knew this was going to happen.
All those lost jobs with people who had great skills because of one man on a power trip.
The government got it wrong. TR - what a massive waste of money.
So back to us. What monumental waste of money and time this privatisation has been, eh?
Would it be rude at this time to tell the government "we told you so"?
No not rude at all! Was always going to happen.
Here we go again........
We met him at NAPO conference when he first took over. Plank comes to mind. He has a lot to answer for.
--oo00oo--
Whilst posting today, I was struck by this comment from a day or two ago:-
That's why this blog remains a lively environment. It has harnessed the power of posting anonymously and allows the opportunity to express dissent about the imbalance of power & privilege. That is evidenced by the trolls who occasionally come here to disrupt & upset the blog. They know the value of constructive dissent & whistleblower evidence. In a bid to discredit the truth they try to poison the well. As the sham of "probation renationalisation" becomes ever more apparent they will no doubt be sending more blog assassins to try & silence Dmitrii Korichnevyy."
"renationalisation" is a sham, a smokescreen, a deception.
ReplyDeleteNothing will change significantly. The two-tier NPS/private provider structure is alive & well.
*Some* (favoured) CRC staff will transfer over but there isn't the resource or will to transfer everyone.
*Many* CRC staff will find they don't pass the Civil Service screening requirements or the security clearances.
*Many* CRC staff will find themselves working within the Dynamic Framework for a Provider, not NPS
Please do not get your hopes up even if you find yourself transferring to NPS.
The Tories own the Civil Service ergo they own HMPPS & they've had Probation in a chokehold for ten years. They hate you, they despise you and they ain't gonna let go until you bow to *their* wishes.
"After years of wandering they hear a statement in the House and discover vast promises built of gingerbread, cakes, candy and with window panes of clear sugar. Hungry and tired, the staff begin to gratefully swallow the promises. The door is open. A "canny old trickster" emerges and lures the staff inside, with even more promises of reunification with manageable workloads and professional standards."
The witch intends to fatten the children before eventually eating them, but the girl outwits the villain and kills her. The two children then escape with their lives and return home with hordes of treasure.
So, seeing as the children are happily walking into a trap, who will be Gretel?
So what happened to the NPS staff who didn't pass the getting?
DeleteAnd what will happen to CRC staff????
Vetting*
DeleteLooks like no-one wants to say what happened...
Deletehttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-566878/Probation-officer-responsible-setting-sex-offender-database-jailed-possessing-3-800-obscene-images-children.html
DeleteAs a high ranking probation official working for the government, Vincent Barron was once in charge of setting up a national database of violent sex offenders in a bid to protect society. But in a spectacular fall from grace, the man who once reported to the then Home Secretary David Blunkett today had his name was added to it.
DeleteBarron, 50, was told it would remain there forever as he was jailed for two years and nine months for possessing 3,800 indecent images of children, some aged just eight years old. The twice-married psychology graduate, whose wife Lisa, 41, is standing by him, also admitted trading the vile images within an internet peadophile ring while working for the Home Office.
He downloaded the pictures and sent them to up to 15 others in 2005 whilst managing the Government's Violent and Sex Offenders Register (ViSOR). The national computer database includes details of the activities of some of the country's most dangerous paedophiles.
Barron, a former probation officer who earned £80,000 a year, owned designer watches, enjoyed a string of exotic holidays with his wife every year and drove a Jaguar. He was in charge of its planning and implementation and in turn had access to senior Government figures as a respected civil servant.
But away from his public role Barron was indulging in the very activity he was employed to stop, spending hours on internet chatrooms discussing his vile and depraved fantasies with other perverts.
Logged onto his computer as dogginigcp - what police believe refers to "dogging couple" - he spoke in graphic detail about his desire to rape and kill an Asian woman and her child.
Jailing him at Durham Crown Court Judge Richard Lowden, told him: "These offences of distributing child pornography are of the utmost seriousness as you well know because each image represents a child actually being, often horribly, sexually abused. Anything that feeds on that or encourages it in any way is abhorrent. You held a position entrusted by society to stamp out this type of behaviour and not to indulge in it. The evidence against you, at the end of the day, is overwhelming. You have lost your good character and your fall from grace has been profound."
Barron was first arrested by detectives from Fife in December 2005 after they investigated an allegation of child abuse made against another man. An analysis of that individual's computer revealed emails from Barron containing images of children. Barron's home was then searched and his personal computer seized. He was taken from his home in Bishop Auckland, County Durham and, in interviews, admitted distributing 10 indecent images of children to the man, who logged on as "biggordy".
At Kirkcaldy Sherriff's Court in January last year he pleaded guilty and was given a 14 month prison sentence but on appeal it was later reduced to a 36 month community service order. Barron was free to return to his home. In June of the same year detectives from Durham Constabulary, investigating historic allegations of sex abuse made against Barron by two young children, were given a copy of his computer's hard-drive. A forensic analysis revealed the 3,800 images. A vast majority featured children with no sexual activity. But almost 1,000 were placed in the second worst category, level four. Two images were classified as the very worst end of the scale. Barron's home was searched again by detectives who found a suitcase under the bed in a spare bedroom. Inside they found a large number of sex toys, a schoolgirl's uniform and unopened packs of girls knickers, for ages 13-14. They found more pants for children in Barron's bedside cabinet.
He was finally charged in November last year with 21 counts of distributing child pornography and a further charge for possessing the images. He was also charged with indecently assaulting a 13 year old girl between 1983 and 1985 and another girl aged eight between 1995 and 1997. At yesterday's hearing those charges were ordered to lie on file.
Simon Reevell QC, prosecuting, said he had examination of his computer revealed he had distributed the images in an "organised manner".
Delete"He also engaged in conversations on an internet chatroom of an extremely violent and racist nature," said Mr Reevell.
After revealing his fantasy to the unidentified man Barron then asked the person in the chatroom if he wanted to take part in the fantasy "for real". On that occasion the man declined. "Other conversations dealt with grooming and sexual assault of children," added Mr Reevell.
Robin Patton QC, in mitigation, said Barron had lost everything. Barron, who owns a £350,000 home, had brought shame on his family, was isolated and shunned by his friends, Mr Patton said, adding: "He has expressed his deep shame for what he has been doing. He has fallen from grace spectacularly. He has fallen about as far as anybody could fall from a very high position."
Barron, whose probation officer wife was arrested in connection with the case but released without charge, was told his name would be added to the sex offenders register for life. Police fear he might have used the ViSOR system to contact other paedophiles.
Last night, Harry Fletcher, assistant general secretary of the probation officers union NAPO, said: "This conviction underlines the absolute importance of vetting anyone who has access to sensitive ViSOR material. This must never happen again."
ViSOR, a £10 million database was unveiled in August 2005 after the Bichard inquiry into Soham double child killer Ian Huntley called for a national IT register of offenders which could be shared by all police forces.
Speaking of traps & lies & deceptions:
ReplyDelete"The UK's coronavirus alert level has been downgraded from four to three, the country's chief medical officers said.
Under level three, the virus is considered to be "in general circulation" and there could be a "gradual relaxation of restrictions".
Previously transmission was considered to be "high or rising exponentially".
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the change was "a big moment for the country" and showed that the government's plan was working."
The numbers of new cases is still holding well above 1,000 daily. I'd say that was 'high', i.e. around 8,000 new cases every week.
This week & next week should see the impact of (a) the Bank Holiday madness & (b) the #BLM protests, followed by the consequences of this week's rush to go shopping showing up at the end of the month:
Mon 18 May - 2684
Mon 25 May - 1625 (Bank Holiday weekend)
Mon 1 June - 1570
Mon 8 June - 1205
Mon 15 June - 1056
Tues 16 June - 1279
Weds 17 June - 1115
Thurs 18 June - 1218
Yes, the country - & the world - has to move on and find a way to rebuild but we should not be building on the lies & shallow PR soundbites of this shower of shite, e.g. it "showed that the government's plan was working."
There's been no plan - and everything they've done (other than the furlough) has been delayed (lockdown), too little too late (PPE), or utterly useless (track-and-trace). They've handed out £millions of public cash & plum jobs to their chums without parliamentary scrutiny and they're bowing to powerful background voices saying the country needs to re-open NOW!!
Even the claimed "miraclous discovery" of the anti-inflammatory steroid dexamethasone has been used regularly in Portugal- a country that locked down hard and fast & used track-and-trace since the start of the pandemic.
The Guardian, 19 April - "The Portuguese government has attributed the country’s low coronavirus caseload to a swift, flexible “worst-case scenario” response and to the early closure of schools and universities on 16 March.
António Sales, the secretary of state for health in Portugal’s socialist minority government, said the administration had “taken the right measures at the right time” after monitoring the spread of the virus from the end of January."
What does the UK do?
OpenDemocracy, 28 May - "Outsourcing giant Serco have been awarded a multimillion-pound contract by the Department for Work and Pensions to provide emergency contact centre services for vulnerable people who are self-isolating during the coronavirus outbreak, an investigation by openDemocracy can reveal.
Serco has been promised an initial fee of £45.8 million but this could rise to as much as £90 million. The government published details of the contract only on 30 April – more than a month after it had awarded the contract and after work had already begun.
The contact tracing system - which Serco is leading - launched this week but is not expected to be fully operational until the end of the June. Last week, Labour called for an investigation after it emerged that Serco had accidentally shared the email addresses of hundreds of contract tracers."
As at 18 June 2020:
DeletePortugal - 39,000 cases & 1,524 deaths
UK (Govt figs) - 300,000 cases & 42,300 deaths
Update - Numbers of new cases reported:
DeleteMon 1 June - 1,570
Mon 8 June - 1,205
Mon 15 June - 1,056
Tues 16 June - 1,279
Weds 17 June - 1,115
Thurs 18 June - 1,218
Fri 19 June - 1,346
But the worst of it is, they haven't a clue who, where, why, when or how many because there's no track-&-trace.
HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE BEING TESTED IN THE UK? The DHSC has failed to publish ANY data relating to the numbers of people tested daily. For example, they say 169,600 tests were completed on 18 June 2020 but in the column for "Number of People tested" the answer given is "Unavailable".
Why does the UK have such a high infection rate, and such a high death rate? Because they don't know what they're doing, they don't have the intelligence (in every sense!) with which to tackle the pandemic.
Its only by the grace of whatever divine intervention you might happen to believe in - or simple good fortune - that the situation isn't many times worse.
Yet they congratulate themselves, preen themselves, paint their aircraft, make sarcastic comments to journalists, slap each other on the back (literally, Matt Hancock)...
Pasta sandwiches, really?? Is this how low the level of discussion has sunk?
ReplyDeleteThe Coronavirus Bill the Government introduced earlier this year in reality gives the executive, pretty much, the ability to do whatever they want to do as long as they can relate their decision somehow to Covid19.
ReplyDeleteRobert Bucklands statement on reunifying probation said he was taking that decision largely because of the virus.
However, is it possible that framing the unification of probation in terms of responding to Coronavirus be a cleaver way of sidestepping any financial obligations or liabilities that might be claimed from the private sector steming from their abrupt exit?
It all seemed to happen very quickly and come from nowher.
With the Coronavirus Bill there must be some scrutiny on the decisions the Government take, but at the same time as they have carte blanche with their decisions, they are refusing to allow the Intelligence Committee to function. They've tried to slip Chris Grayling into the position of Chair of that Committee. He has the basic qualifications needed by Johnson and Cummings, being obedient and lacking any sense of morality, but MPs of all colours have objected. How can a man with such low intelligence head the Intelligence Committee? An oxymoran.
Today, Teresa Villiers has been removed from the Committee because she broke a three line whip imposed for the Agricultur Bill that allows for a reduction of food standards post Brexit.
I find it very sinister when a Committee as important as the Intelligence Committee with a remit of scrutinising Government decisions is actively being prevented from functioning, and at the same time try to fill it with ony those that are obedient to their masters.
https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2020-06-17/the-bureau-presses-number-10-to-release-the-delayed-russia-report
'Getafix
Its simply what the truly ***posh*** boys and girls are used to, i.e. doing whatever they want, when they want, how they want, for their own ends. Its how they are raised, schooled & groomed. Its why they have no sense of shame; guilt is for the weak.
DeleteJohnson wanted the premiership to (1) dab off another status symbol on his Elite Bingo card, and (2) further the ambitions (read 'wealth') of his own 'kind' - and yes, they are a breed apart.
They are used to having everything they want. They cannot countenance rejection or disapprobation. And they WILL dismember parliament to achieve what they want. There isn't a compassionate cell in any of their vile bodies.
In the real world they're known as spoilt selfish brats.
In *their* world such total self-interest is regarded as symptomatic of 'success', 'reward', 'achievement'.
'They' (i.e. those with the power) want the 2m rule removed altogether, but would accept a 1m rule. A brief campaign and hey presto!
Delete"A review into the 2m social distancing rule in England will conclude "within the coming days", Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden has told the BBC.
It comes amid warnings many businesses will not survive under the current guidance as the government prepares to ease more restrictions on 4 July."
My guess is an announcement on Monday because not only do they want everything their own way, they also can't bear having to wait for anything - just ask the shagger in Number 10 Downing Street who operates on the "see it; want it; have it" principle.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jun/20/jeremy-corbyns-brother-charged-with-breaching-covid-lockdown-rules
ReplyDeleteSo here is an example - maybe not the best, but an example nevertheless - of power differential in our society. And that's without adding the complexities of being a woman, being Black or having any other non-White heritage...
DeleteGuardian story - Piers Corbyn, the brother of the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, has been charged with two counts of breaching coronavirus regulations after attending protests in central London, the Metropolitan police said.
Corbyn, 73, of Southwark, south London, was pictured at a protest over 5G in Hyde Park on 16 May, and he has also been charged in relation to a protest on 30 May.
And a different story (in many papers at the time, 8 May):
- The Prime Minister’s father, who is currently living in Exmoor, admitted to breaking the rules by going to buy a copy of the Mail on Sunday to read about the birth of his grandson Wilfred. Explaining how he was not told of his name before it was announced to the public, Mr Johnson said: ‘I’m so very glad they didn’t tell me. I actually broke the lockdown rule... ‘I went down the back way and said “I know I’m not really meant to be out here, it’s not an essential journey but I think there’s something in the paper today about my 14th grandchild.‘
(Of course there's also Jenrick, Cummings etc etc)
For some - do what you like when you like & happily tell the world. Untouchable.
Piers Corbyn's breach of the law is quite obvious as public gatherings of more than two, and later six, have been prohibited, without a reasonable excuse, for some time.
DeleteStanley Johnson's law-breaking isn't obvious compared to the legislation. He went to buy a newspaper. Newsagents have been open throughout the lockdown and were not on the list of non-essential shops, so presumably it was ok to use them. Wasn't it just a case of BoJo's father storytelling and exaggerating his behaviour for effect.
What is the advice for the over-70s?
DeleteThe government's rules for the lockdown identified groups of "clinically vulnerable" people who should take particular care to minimise contact with anyone outside their household.
They included those aged 70 or over, "regardless of medical conditions".
Stanley Johnson is 79 years old.
Accepted, but that is not in the Health Protection legislation, so far as I am aware. It was advice.
DeleteHow many prosecutions have come out of the BLM marches as a result of breaches of the same legislation? Another example - maybe not the best, but an example nevertheless - of power differential in our society? No. Things have become very complicated, but perhaps we still shouldn't cite individual cases as representative of sinister forces at work..
DeleteThey're not 'sinister forces' - its normal day-to-day as-you-were nothing-to-see-here. And there's the rub.
DeleteIts one just aspect that Black Lives Matter is challenging - inherent privilege: "a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group."
Depending upon your viewpoint that privilege might be with the '1%' of obscenely wealthy individuals; those born into 'powerful' families with wealth & influence; or those who are not harassed, not excluded, not assaulted every day of their lives because of the colour of their skin, their country of origin, their accent, their "funny-sounding unpronounceable" name, their physical appearance, their gender, etc etc etc.
But its privilege. It certainly isn't a shared experience or a fair experience for most. Bonnie Greer OBE recently described how, aged 71 years, she is still extremely mindful of her behaviour when she goes shopping. Why? Because of her lifetime traumatic experiences as a Black Woman. I doubt Andrea Leadsom or Lizzie Truss or Theresa May experience similar mindfulness when shopping.
The power differential is privilege. Do not dilute it with overblown hyperbole, "sinister" or "conspiracy".
It is 'privilege' and nothing else.
And it needs to be removed. It feeds inequality. It enabled workhouses, the slave trade, eugenics, the holocaust. It allows Boris Johnson to use the term "picaninny" with impunity; it allows Rees-Mogg to lounge on the front benches sneering, while he trades blood money in Eire, with impunity; it allowed Jenrick & Cummings to roam the country in lockdown, with impunity.
"Its just one aspect that #BLM is challenging..."
DeleteThe problem with hyperbole is, it is capable of diluting an argument from either side.
Deleteman down't'pub thinks the superbole is much better
DeleteThe Power of Social Media is in the hands of those who
ReplyDeletemanipulate Social Media - or the media in general:
At week ending 5 June 2020 the UK Gov said there were 40,261 UK-wide covid-19 deaths
The Office for National Statistics said: "A total of 47,387 deaths involving COVID-19 were registered in England and Wales between 28 December 2019 and 5 June 2020 (year to date)."
Add to the ONS figure the 2,409 in Scotland & 774 in Northern Ireland & the total is: 50,570
That's more than 10,000 deaths 'missing'
10,300 deaths are absent in the gov media account - and they still aren't updating their figures to reflect the reality. And no-one seems terribly interested in pointing it out very loudly, if at all.
Yep, today the message is the same:
Delete.gov.uk website states: "Total number of COVID-19 associated UK deaths 42,589"
Number of new daily cases is still high at 1,295 today - so that's 7,309 this week with Sunday's data yet to come to give us in excess of 8,000 new cases for the week.
In case anyone thought the Tories had started to go soft, here's evidence that their true character is bursting into life again:
ReplyDeletehttps://news.sky.com/story/primodos-victims-face-disappointment-as-government-u-turns-on-disability-support-report-12011193
"After five decades of campaigning, people who were allegedly damaged by a pregnancy drug called Primodos had looked like they were about to get recognition of their condition... Between 1958 & 1978 Primodos was marketed as more convenient than other available pregnancy tests and contained hormones including high doses of oestrogen ethinylestradiol and the progestogen norethisterone. Experts say the quantities amounted to 40 times the levels found in today's oral contraceptives.
The manufacturer, which was taken over by Bayer AG in 2016, has always denied an association between the drug and malformations.
The DWP's Condition Insight Report, similar to one produced for thalidomide victims, was originally due to be published, for internal use by assessors, on 3 June and stated: "HPT (hormone pregnancy test) associated damage is seen as a recognised condition. Evidence has since been found to link the use of the drug to congenital malformations." But now...
A DWP spokesperson told Sky News: "The government respects the findings of the 2017 review by the Independent Expert Working Group (EWG) of the Commission on Human Medicines, which concluded the available scientific evidence does not support a causal association between hormone pregnancy tests and adverse outcomes of pregnancy."
From the Guardian
ReplyDeleteOn the Reading attack suspect, who has been confirmed by multiple sources to be 25-year-old Khairi Saadallah, a Libyan refugee.
It is understood Saadallah had previously been imprisoned for offences not related to terrorism.
Tania Bassett, spokesperson for the National Association of Probation Officers (Napo), confirmed Saadallah was being supervised by the National Probation Service (NPS), meaning he was considered to be a high-risk offender.
Bassett said it is understood he was well-managed and the Covid-19 restrictions had not affected his supervision. She said he is understood to have had severe mental health issues.
So Napo are giving reports on behalf of NPS containing private client information that should have been confidential from Napo - or am I misunderstanding?
DeletePower of the internet -
ReplyDeletehttps://www.globalgovernmentforum.com/uk-to-reverse-outsourcing-of-probation-service/
"In a statement to the House of Commons on Thursday, justice secretary Robert Buckland said the government would “end the competitive process for probation delivery partners”. Buckland cited “the significant operational impact” caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which he said meant it was right that the government should now “reassess” their plans. “Looking ahead, it is vital for public and judicial confidence that we have the flexibility to deliver a national response to any future challenges that covid-19 presents,” he said"
So "Robert Buckland said the government would “end the competitive process for probation delivery partners”, yet within hours published a competitive tender notice for £4Bn of probation service delivery contracts via the Dynamic Framework.
Buckland. Lied. To. Parliament.
Power of the internet 2 -
ReplyDeletehttps://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/entire-probation-service-finally-returns-22175855
"The entire probation service in England and Wales will finally return to state control in a thumping Tory U-turn. Unpaid work and behavioural programmes - such as for sex offenders or domestic abusers - will be taken away from private firms from June 2021."
1. The MoJ always held ultimate responsibility for the work of the CRCs, not least via the Golden Shareholder scheme whereby they had very specific oversight.
2. Which CRCs delivered behavioural programmes for sex offenders?
Unison, March 2020: "Probation unions in England and Wales have demanded talks with the National Probation Service (NPS) today, after it confirmed that it will not be able to pay its staff their expected 2020 increment in April."
ReplyDeleteUnison May 2020: "UNISON is calling on the National Probation Service and Community Rehabilitation Companies to proactively reduce risk for Black probation staff.
NHS England confirmed on 7 May 2020 that members of Black communities are at a disproportionate risk of fatal COVID-19."