Friday, 3 July 2020

Latest From Napo 216

Here we have the latest bulletin from Napo sent yesterday and interestingly someone seems to have discovered the Napo News Twitter button because that's suddenly burst back into life "after awhile". A lot of it is to do with that utter waste of time called OASys that could have been invented specially for those command and control freaks at HMPPS:-  

Bulletin 27 – 2 July 2020

OASys changes

Over the past few weeks we have repeatedly raised with the NPS concerns about changes being made to OASys to incorporate ARMS assessments and the 4 Pillars approach to risk.

The main concerns are as follows:


  • Lack of training – especially in current context with members working remotely. Emailing out a powerpoint slide pack is no substitute for proper training and we are very concerned this will lead to members not properly understanding what is being asked of them and ending up being criticised for poor practice further on down the line.
  • Issues relating to prison OASys completion. Remembering that OASys will be done by prison staff POMs for some clients, will those prison POMs have had the relevant training for ARMS and the four pillars approach? Some NPS prison POMs did not have the initial ARMS training as they didn’t need it. There is also a concern about the relevance of doing an assessment to support dynamic management of risk in the community while the client is still in custody.
  • The integration into OASys means ARMS now needs to be done within the 15-day window for OASys rather than the longer timescale previously allowed for ARMS separately, this will place increased pressure on staff at a time when they are already struggling with excessive workloads.
  • It isn’t clear how the additional WMT timing for ARMS will now be allocated to the tool which potentially leaves staff with a shorter timescale to do ARMS and no recognition of it in the WMT.
  • The changes do solve some of the issues of duplication between the ARMS template and the OASys template but they also create different duplication between OASys and other reports (MAPPA and Parole) so it doesn’t result in any net gain in term of efficiency
Napo was not consulted on these changes but as soon as we knew about them we began making representations about all of the above and asked HMPPS to pause the roll out to fix the issues and allow for more consultation and crucially proper training. Until today we had received no proper response however we have been promised a formal response by early next week. In the meantime members with concerns relating to any of these issues should raise them formally with their line manager in supervision to ensure that there is a record in case of future practice concerns being highlighted.

Probation Change Programme – a chance to influence the team 

This week Katie Lomas was invited to speak alongside one of the CRC Directors at an event being held for the HMPPS Probation Change Programme team. This team is made up of staff from across the MoJ, some from a Probation background but many from other technical specialisms. The invite was specifically to give examples of the thoughts and feelings members have about the change to come. This was an excellent opportunity to give an unfiltered view of what it’s really like for those facing these changes on the frontline, in CRCs and in the NPS. It was a chance to make sure the team know that TR has been harmful to staff and this may at times affect the ability of members to respond or engage positively. This was also a chance to explain the mixed feelings many have about the future and the fears about moving to the NPS and how this isn’t “going back” as the NPS was only created in 2014.

Drugs, Alcohol and Justice – All Party Parliamentary Group

This group, co-chaired by Mary Glindon MP and Lord Ramsbotham met this week to consider services for those moving from custody to the community. Katie Lomas was invited to speak about the changes to Probation and the opportunities for partnership working with specialist services. It is vital that the next iteration of the Probation system returns genuine partnership working, at local level, with specialist services, especially for drug and alcohol treatment and support. Getting this right will result in reductions in reoffending and the prison population but it can’t be done on the cheap and services need to be properly resourced. Katie also called for better and faster sharing of information and services that are flexible to meet the needs of all clients, not just those best motivated to engage.

Napo HQ

16 comments:

  1. Repost - why aren't Napo utilising the free ammunition provided by HMI Probation?


    Anonymous 30 June 2020 at 11:23

    Page 43:

    "The over-reliance on OASys as the key source of information undermined the assessment practice in JMc’s case.

    OASys is primarily a structured assessment tool designed to guide risk assessment and sentence planning. Information from a range of sources should be analysed and summarised, using professional skills, judgement and curiosity. Done well, OASys can be a valuable resource to manage a case and prioritise the key risk factors.

    Too often, however, completing OASys has become a process-driven task. Offender managers refer to “doing an OASys” as though this is an end in itself, instead of a document that supports and records professional judgement, the outcome of skilled, investigative interviewing, professional curiosity and analysis."


    page 44:

    "Reading 'the file' can take over five hours. Staff simply do not have the time to read all the information... it is very difficult with complex cases. Information is in different parts of the system: OASys, paper files, nDelius, and ViSOR. It is difficult to be certain you have read all the relevant information as information can be saved in different places on the system. We are very dependent on OASys analysis – information flow is reliant on the quality of analysis."


    page 44:

    "the operational reliance on OASys as a source of information is a cause of serious concern."

    * someone had already flagged ARMS:

    Anonymous 1 July 2020 at 02:13
    Now it has ARMS embedded so it’s “fixed” !!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Napo are not respected because they are not able. To tell members to raise the issue with management is the failing. Napo should issue a clear statement not to comply with any changes until these are properly consulted and negotiated. Perhaps Napo could and should be asked do they have collective bargaining recognition they gave away. In which case the employers do not need to agree anything. Speaking alongside CRC has only one self interest the crcs are over.

      Delete
    2. I hope 09:19 above doesn't mind, but this element of their post needs to be shouted loudly:

      NAPO SHOULD STATE CLEARLY THAT THEIR MEMBERS WILL NOT COMPLY WITH THE CHANGES UNTIL THERE HAS BEEN CONSULTATION & NEGOTIATIONS

      What's the point of muttering to yourself in the janitor's cupboard? Because without JNCC & collective bargaining that's all NAPO have been relegated to, a disgruntled disenfranchised janitor addressing a sorry collection of tired mopheads in a cupboard down the corridor.

      Delete
    3. And before anyone starts citing Napo forcing a government U-turn, there has been NO 'victory' because there is no such thing as renationalisation of probation.

      TR2 has more lives than the Die Hard franchise:

      TR2.0 was the first draft;
      TR2.1 was last year's Liddington/Stewart revamp; TR2.2 is Buckland's re-launch
      TR2.3 will be far worse

      MoJ owns the franchise, HMPPS/NPS hold the reins for them. Everyone else is expected to trot & gallop at their command.

      £Billions are available for the private sector - which means not everyone in CRCs can be transferred across because there aint the resources.

      There won't be even be a janitor before long.

      Delete
  2. "The invite was specifically to give examples of the thoughts and feelings members have about the change to come. This was an excellent opportunity to give an unfiltered view of what it’s really like for those facing these changes on the frontline, in CRCs and in the NPS."

    Wonder what the invitees said at this cosy closed door event?

    How many gave the 'unfiltered view' "its all a load of ideological bollocks which has robbed the public purse of £millions, dismembered the probation profession and ruined or taken many lives." ???

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lomas only serves her own self promotion.

      Delete
  3. From Twitter:-

    "Passing mention of CRCs in this comms, little coming out about how staff in the CRCs will be supported through the next 12 months, manage potential lack of investment, 2 tier pay, high caseloads and potential sifting of staff (again)......"

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wonder whether those who had their pensions stolen by Cap'n Bob Maxwell will be able to access the £millions held in bank accounts by alleged child trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell?

    FBI suggest she had some 12 or so bank accounts in different names with sums ranging from "$tens-of-thousands to $20Million"

    It would be a nice gesture. She won't need it in prison.

    Apparently the FBI have already seized & transferred $millions of Dead Jeffrey's assets into a Victim's Fund to compensate thos he abused.

    No doubt Andrew Windsor & family will have a very good accountant to protect their assets ***just in case***

    ReplyDelete
  5. Two-Tier Society? Shurely shome mishtake? So, why don't you go to the pub from 6am tomorrow, drown your bleeding' sorrows & leave us in Peace?

    "Boris Johnson has refused to condemn his father for flying to Greece in apparent breach of Foreign Office guidance to avoid non-essential travel.

    Stanley Johnson was widely criticised after reportedly travelling via Bulgaria – in order to avoid the ban on direct flights from the UK – to visit his Greek villa.

    However during an LBC radio phone-in, the Prime Minister repeatedly refused to say whether he was "disappointed" with his father's actions.

    "I think you really ought to raise that with him. I am not going to get into details of family conversations," he said."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Daily Mail: "The Prime Minister's father Stanley Johnson was spotted at a tavern in Greece last night after he flew to his villa in brazen defiance of pandemic travel warnings.

      Stanley Johnson, 79, jetted to his four-bed mountain-view home in Pelion – ignoring Foreign Office guidance which says no one should travel unless it is essential.

      The former Tory Euro-MP dodged Greece's ban on direct flights from the UK by flying from Luton to Athens via Bulgaria, sharing videos and images of his journey online."

      Delete
    2. ekatherimini.com

      "Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s father, who traveled to Greece likely via Bulgaria despite current advice for British nationals to avoid all but essential international travel, was within his rights to do so, Britain’s transport minister said on Friday.

      “It’s advice so everyone can decide what to do with the advice,” Grant Shapps told Sky News.

      Asked whether Stanley Johnson was within his rights to travel to Greece, Shapps said: “Yes, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office make it clear. They issue travel advice.” [Reuters}

      Delete
    3. https://greece.greekreporter.com/2020/07/02/inside-the-villa-of-pm-boris-johnsons-father-in-greece/

      "Stanley Johnson, the father of British PM Boris Johnson, recently bent travel restrictions by flying to Greece from Bulgaria in order to visit his villa at Pelion, central Greece.

      “I’m in Pelion on essential business trying to Covid-proof my property in view of the upcoming letting season. I need to set up distancing measures at the property because they’re taking it very seriously here,” Johnson said.

      The “Irene Villa” in Horto, Pelion is a beautiful location that is frequented by the Johnson Family. As Greece continues to gradually opens up its borders, many are trying to visit the country in order to enjoy its beaches and amenities."
      _________________________________________

      If you're over there, why not pop in & see if Stanley's okay?

      Delete
    4. "Speaking from the balcony of his villa last night, specialist epidemiologist Professor Dr Stanley Johnson urged his son to sort out air bridges and said Brits pose ‘no danger’ to Greece"

      {almost} Tom Payne on Twitter

      Delete
  6. Sleazy spivs, liars, cheats - and that's just the Johnson family.

    Whilst impersonating dodgy antiques dealer Lovejoy, Jenrick was sponsored by one of Putin's mates to become MP in Newark after he & his lawyer missus did some work in Moscow, presumably did some favours for Team Putin & got rewarded with a big cash donation.

    Transport supremo Shapps is well known for his capacity to tell lies; not so much a talent as a compulsion.

    Gove is, well, he's just Gove. The dictionary definition gives us: "noun. a grotesque chameleon with a poisonous tongue"

    Patel - a lover of the high life, friend to the rich & famous, struggles to read & write, wouldn't recognise the truth if it sat next to her at a fund-raising dinner

    ReplyDelete
  7. uk gov data 3 july 2020

    daily reported cases 544 (3,539 this week so far)
    daily reported deaths 137 (593 this week so far)


    Portugal is not in the UK air bridges/quarantine scheme because of a "massive rise in recent cases". The Portugese data for last weekend was "457 new infections logged from Saturday to Sunday" in one area of Lisbon. In the UK the numbers of new infections for the same period was almost 2,000.

    The numbers in Leicester alone (population 340,000) were double that of Portugal (population 10.3million).

    Went to local supermarket today (north of England) - spotted just one other face mask besides my own while I was in there. Not one member of staff was wearing a mask. Hardly anyone following the one-way system or the social distancing guidelines. It won't end well :(

    ReplyDelete
  8. Whack-a-Mole?

    I thought he said Whack-a-Prole...

    ReplyDelete