I’m a student at Bangor University in Wales currently studying for a MA degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice, with the hope of going into probation following completing the course. I am writing to you as Jim has kindly agreed to allow me to publish a ‘guest blog’ in an attempt to recruit participants for a study I’m conducting.
My dissertation is based on the recently announced renationalisation of the probation service, and staff attitudes surrounding the early termination of CRC contracts and the prospect of further change. In order to answer my research questions, I have developed an online survey aimed at gathering the views and expectations of both NPS and CRC staff towards the forthcoming restructure.
The popularity of the blog meant that it was identified as a potential means of gathering respondents and I’m very grateful to Jim for allowing me to explore this avenue. The views and attitudes of probation staff are of course, essential to this study and I decided to focus on this following reading about the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms of 2014 and the unparalleled change and restructuring probation staff have endured in recent years.
The popularity of the blog meant that it was identified as a potential means of gathering respondents and I’m very grateful to Jim for allowing me to explore this avenue. The views and attitudes of probation staff are of course, essential to this study and I decided to focus on this following reading about the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms of 2014 and the unparalleled change and restructuring probation staff have endured in recent years.
Essentially, I would like to find out whether probation workers agree with the NAPO general secretary Ian Lawrence’s belief that there is now, finally, a sense of ‘’certainty’’ over the future of the service.
Perhaps unexpectedly I have found it incredibly difficult to find data on the attitudes of probation staff and wished to make a small contribution to this underrepresented field, and allow workers a chance to express their own views on the latest reforms. Therefore, the survey asks a mixture of open and closed questions and tries to allow sufficient space for respondents to elaborate on answers as much as they would like to. Responses are completely anonymous and no identifying questions are asked.
Wherever you stand on Transforming Rehabilitation and the plans for renationalisation, I would be incredibly grateful if you could find the time (around 15 minutes) to complete the survey.
If you would be interested in participating, please follow the link - https://bangor.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/renationalising-probation and feel free to contact me at soud7c@bangor.ac.uk should you have any questions regarding the research.
Finally, thank you for taking the time to read my post and I wish you all the best in your careers,
Michael Murphy
If you would be interested in participating, please follow the link - https://bangor.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/renationalising-probation and feel free to contact me at soud7c@bangor.ac.uk should you have any questions regarding the research.
Finally, thank you for taking the time to read my post and I wish you all the best in your careers,
Michael Murphy
It read initially to me as if the attitudes of staff in NPS CRC were to be looked at. I doubt anyone could agree there is much certainty and as usual Napo general secretary speaks without any understanding. He chunks off soundbites because he thinks he sounds clever. The affected staff are to some degree in two strands . New staff have the most to lose and as yet many will be facing real and large scale redundancies before transfers the Napo general secretary appears to be failing to deal with the issues.
ReplyDeleteHi there, thanks for the reply. Thankfully there were a couple of informative studies published around the time of TR (far more comprehensive than my own) which focussed on staff attitudes and compared them to attitudes prior to 2013 - so I will be using this as in a contextual sense. I'll also be attempting to include some results from the the Inspection reports and Civil Service People Survey and have designed some of the questions to allow for direct comparison. Thank you very much for the suggestion of the PAC reports - I'll have a look!
ReplyDeleteThanks Michael, that was therapeutic. Good luck with your career and thank you for taking an interest in us
ReplyDeleteEcho that and use this blog in a working sense the true history is only relevant and recorded here as to what happened and the big sell out of all staff by the union. Attitudes hardened and blame set in .
DeleteThe sell out wasn't by the Union, it was by the government and craven managers. Union was a bit shit, but FFS they didnt aim or work to privatise probation.
DeleteOh really tell that to those chiseled out of their redundancy pay. None of what the crcs did to many was challenged by Napo.
DeleteThe unions are in it and always have been. How many of you have been offered the enhanced redundancies you were promised by law?
DeleteI hope the term RE - nationalisation, is put into context in any survey.
ReplyDeleteWhat to me seems needed is a re LOCALISATION with firmer links established with what is left of the local judiciary.
Probation employing bodies and in England and Wales were once agents of their local magistrates courts' committees thereby entitling staff to be termed officers of the court.
Daily case data for England covid-19 is still missing
ReplyDeleteTory govt continue to blame everyone else but themselves by introducing further quarantine restrictions relating to other countries yet continuing to ease UK-wide restrictions - but without releasing the data to inform those decisions. Its as if they don't believe the UK plays any part in the spread of the virus - its all those other dirty countries.
After a month of Brits mindlessly swamping UK beauty spots, rushing to the pub, £10 off meal-deals, people refusing to wear facemasks & ignoring social distancing, the UK must brace itself for a home-made resurgence.
Tory govt continue their 'levelling up' agenda by slashing exam grades for many in the struggling state schools whilst RAISING grades for those from the already-priveleged independent private schooling sector. The Govt's answer: "its just what happens, it can't be helped."
Has anyone else wondered about the vacuous nature of the UK economy that now seems to be based solely upon the twin towers of hospitality and beauty treatments?
Brexit was supposedly about regaining sovereignty & control over our own destiny yet all the UK seems able to want to do is get waxed & tanned, put some slap on, scoff a pile of bargain pub-grub and get pissed.
Forgot to highlight this KEY advice regarding quarantine rules:
Delete"Private vehicles - You don’t need to self-isolate if you travel through a non-exempt country and you don’t stop in the country.
If you do make a stop, you don’t need to self-isolate if:
- no new people get into the vehicle
- no-one in the vehicle gets out, mixes with other people, and gets in again
There are a small number people who don’t have to complete the Passenger Locator Form because of their work."
No wonder the Tunnel is fully booked up as Brits claim from *inside* their cars that they were only **travelling through** France, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, Monaco, Malta; or that they were at work."
I think once the consequemces of the Brexit arrangements that will actually start to really "kick in" from January 2021 - with boatloads of contraband coming via Northern Ireland and tariffs on exports of actual things - rather than services and money moving deals that actually produce nothing one can eat or sit on etc - a truly horrible time will begin.
DeleteI just hope the local government pension scheme holds up long enough to enable me to buy the basics needed before my demise.
I am ashamed at the state of our nation that I am bequeathing to my descendants and admit a complete failure in passing on something anywhere near as good as was bequeathed to me. I despair at knowing what I can constructively do to bring about change - my campaigning was ineffective - this bleating is of the clanging of the empty vessel variety - (I am too lazy to look up the biblical quote).
I subscribe to the Morning Star and Byline Times and Tribune - so I just hope there is some record being made of these times that enables understanding and eventual navigation to something better.
Completely agree Andrew.
DeleteI think there's worrying times just around the corner, and from the 31st December, social distancing will be an economic entity, with the divide between those who have and those that don't being quickly extended.
https://bylinetimes.com/2020/08/13/paradox-of-victimhood-no-form-of-brexit-will-ever-satisfy-brexit-ultras/
'Getafix
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmjust/482/48202.htm
ReplyDeleteCheck out the published evidence submitted for this inquiry report
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmjust/482/48211.htm#_idTextAnchor135
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmjust/482/48215.htm#_idTextAnchor140
Hide the covid figures, blame jonny foreigner, open up the uk - recipe for a jolly nice summer break for Boris in Bonny Scotland.
ReplyDeleteAnd, as both Andrew & Getafix have highlighted, the best is yet to come...
4pm 14 aug - still no data for 13 august. uk gov messages remain "We have not received the latest data for cases and tests in England. We will update today's records as soon as they become available." No deaths data either.
ReplyDeleteSo we now have thousands of Brits panicking to beat the 4am quarantine deadline - rushing headlong onto packed ferries & trains, throwing caution to the wind & cash at the ticket sellers.
What are the chances that such behaviour is going to massively increase the risk of infection being trailed back here?
Prediction: Just as Aug turns into Sept there will be a massive spike of new cases as we pay the price for selfish summer madness in the midst of a pandemic. And many more deaths or long-term illness will follow, all of which could have been avoided.
As if by magic... Published today at 4pm:
Deletenew cases 13 aug = 1,129
new cases 14 aug = 1,441
Highest daily increase since 12 June 2020
New cases this week (Sun to Sat) = 6,605
"Here comes the fun, du do du do"
Deaths data remains outstanding...
Ie the PLANdemic.
Delete:)
Deletehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000lnmf
ReplyDelete14/08/2020 Feedback
The BBC’s head of statistics discusses the reliability of figures broadcast for coronavirus infections and deaths.
Presenter: Roger Bolton
Producer: Kate Dixon
Executive Producer: Samir Shah
There's an ongoing pandemic yet people cannot restrain themselves and still they whine & complain:
ReplyDelete"motorways in northern France on Friday were crammed with UK residents racing to get home, many of them unhappy. “Twenty-four hours, a lot of miles, a lot of stress and a lot of money down the drain,” said Michelle Lawfull. “Don’t get me started on this government. It’s not printable.”
Holidaymakers Stuart and Anna Buntine spent nearly £1,000 to make it home via Eurostar from Burgundy. Stuart Buntine, 58, said: “I went to bed last night thinking it was all OK, woke up at 7am to find we had to get back here pretty sharpish. We couldn’t get tickets, all the sites had crashed … we had to buy business class tickets back today so it’s cost nearly £1,000.”
Selfish? Myopic? Stupid? More money than sense?
Its not as if the pandemic has been a well-kept secret. Its not as if going to Spain/France/wherever for a holiday is an essential. If everyone just stayed put for this year... such self-sentred behaviour - admittedly with the blessing of a terrified, incompetent government - makes a mockery of the lockdowns in every country.
The virus, if it had a sense of humour, will be pissing itself laughing, particularly at Shapps:
"Adding to the confusion, some holidaymakers in France booked trips back to the UK for later on Saturday after watching Shapps apparently give out the wrong information during a TV interview on Thursday evening."
Seems Shapps told everyone the quarantine would start on Sunday... there is simply nothing this government can't fuck up beyond parody.
And now the UK is being 'flooded' with Brits returning under the quarantine radar and just as likely to be infected as if they returned within the quarantine, but free to increase the UK viral load with impunity.
I don't doubt some sharp-tongued troll will call me "miserable" or "killjoy". Yep.
Not at all I support your Frank and pragmatic style .
DeleteYes, miserable and killjoy are apt terms but as well as that, you're completely lacking perspective.
Delete"And now the UK is being 'flooded' with Brits returning under the quarantine radar and just as likely to be infected as if they returned within the quarantine, but free to increase the UK viral load with impunity."
You make it sound like some zombie horror film with half dead people clinging to the side of a boat..... the infection rate on France is 34 per 100,000! And that's concentrated in four areas, which includes French Guiana in South America. So at that rate, maybe 0.034% of returnees will be infected but even then, it's likely to be far lower than that. Hardly a good reason to make them all quarantine for 2 weeks and cause yet more damage to the economy!
Tory scummer are you ?? Putting economy before lives. Get a reality check this virus kills people and will grow. Being in France wont stop its spread but staying home might.
DeleteIn my experience, people usually resort to phrases like Tory scummer when they know they've lost the argument...
DeleteYes the economy is important because when we talk about the economy you do realise we're talking about the small business owners facing financial ruin? And those in the hospitality industry who have already lost their jobs? And the 3 million people expected to be out of work by the end of the year?
It's fine for us in Probation to bang on about extended lockdown - we've not suffered any financial hardship. Nor have the retired either.
So if your view is well I'm financially alright Jack and to hell with everyone else then fine. But try having some empathy with those who aren't so lucky.
@11:21 here: yes, there is an argument that the numbers are statistically small, but the virus isn't interested in statistics. Yes, some parts of the economy are suffering, but the virus isn't interested. It just needs hosts & opportunity.
DeleteIt is a tricky balance but... my point is that rather than play hokey-cokey with the global economy, punish with divisive/selective 'rules' or play russian roulette with peoples' lives. There ought to have been a unilateral arrangement whereby 2020 was effectively placed 'on hold'.
The virus would have been far more effectively 'contained' if *everyone* stayed 'at home' with no international travel & managed their behaviours within known safe parameters, e.g. masks, social distancing, good hygiene, no gatherings, no exemptions - that includes Cummings, Jenrick, Papa de Pfeffel, premiership footballers, test match cricketers, etc etc.
The nonsensiscal spending policies (e.g. £billions on fanciful or failed projects lining the pockets of global privateers) could have been better targetted at keeping individual nations financially afloat with a national income. Local & small businesses should have been prioritised for support over handing £billions to multinationals.
I am surviving post-probation. I was furloughed for 4 months. I'm back making overpriced coffees 2 days a week in a local business. I'll survive by being extremely careful - financially & healthwise.
I'd love to have spent this summer doing the usual round of sunny destinations in Italy, Spain & France, relaxing by the Med, meeting old friends, eating & drinking delicious things. I am fortunate to have invites to motorsport events by friends in the industry which means it costs me very little & is therefore possible. I could have been included in various exclusive bio-secure 'bubbles' but my answer to every offer this year has been "no thank you - catch you in 2021 if at all possible." Its not meant to be a sermon or braggadocio, just offering an example of one significant choice I have made in respect of the pandemic.
Yes, some of my posts have been intentionally provocative because of my anger at the lies, misleading data & manipulation this govt has exercised in trying to fabricate the illusion of being 'in control'. They are not the only ones but they're the govt my taxes fund so they're the govt I will target with my criticism.
The UK has experienced an horrendous death toll as a direct result of mismanagement, incompetence & irresponsible behaviour. Much of that can be laid at the door of this shambolic government. There's still plenty of responbility to be laid at the doors of those who can't cope without a week or two in the French/Spanish sun, a few months away from the pub or who *must* have that dinner party or birthday celebration. Those who think that "it won't matter if I just..."
The needs of the many & all that.
Frank Killjoy
And these guys are barely, if ever, mentioned in the government's propaganda output:
Deletehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-53778434/long-covid-life-might-never-be-normal-again
And this is the sort of disastrous outcome that results from trying to stem an arterial bleed with a couple of sheets of kleenex & a bandaid (other first aid products are available):
Deletehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-53769749
And here are examples of the virus not respecting statistics, economics or anything else because its been given opportunity (from BBC sites):
Delete"Spanish regions have begun implementing a slew of measures aimed at slowing down one of Europe’s highest rates of infection.
Some two months after the country eased out of one of Europe’s strictest lockdowns, cases have soared across the country. The 14-day rate of new cases now sits at 116 per 100,000, according to European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, compared to 41 in France and 19 in the UK."
"New Zealand on Sunday reported 13 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus for the last 24 hours, as the country’s first outbreak in months continues to grow.
All but one of the new cases were community transmissions and appeared to be linked to a cluster in Auckland where the most recent outbreak started, the director general of health, Ashley Bloomfield, told a media briefing in Wellington.
The 13th infected person was a traveller returning from abroad and in a managed quarantine."
Frank.K.
Today's ECDC update:
Deletehttps://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/cases-2019-ncov-eueea
United_Kingdom:
Sum of Cases: 316,367
Sum of Deaths 41,358
14-day cumulative COVID-19 cases per 100K = 18.6
"On 10 August 2020, the United Kingdom reported less cumulative deaths. This is due to revisions in historical data. On 15 August 2020, the United Kingdom did not report cumulative cases and deaths. Data will be updated as soon as it is made available."
F.K.
0850 No you have won nothing because you were asked if your a tory scummer supporter. LIVES FIRST its the duty of the government not the groin waxing local shop . get real
Deleteuk govt covid-19 stuff - still no deaths data
ReplyDeletesat 15/8/20 - 1,012 new reported cases
To correct the total above: 7,617 new cases have been reported this week Sun-Sat (too much sun, or maybe a lightning strike - sorry).