Transition News

As the probation service prepares for yet another major upheaval, morale is undoubtedly low with the prospect of another 'shafting' and omnishambles as everything is thrown in the air with no one at all sure how or where they will land. Of course the order of the day is to put a brave face on things and assure staff everything will be fine. This from London gives a flavour of things:-  

Welcome

A few words from Kilvinder Vigurs and Kirsty Blair

Welcome to this first edition of Transition News, bringing you all the latest updates on the transition to the new unified model for probation, in one handy monthly publication. 

We’re delighted to come together as the respective directors of London National Probation Service (NPS) and MTC, to bring you this joint update, and are committed to continuing to work together to ensure a smooth transition to the new service. With less than 12 months until the new unified model commences, we’re committed to telling you what we know about the transition plans as they develop – and we learn more. And to give you an opportunity to ask questions or raise any concerns you may have along the way. 

Stronger together 

The transition to the new unified model will signal the start of a new era for the probation service. And with that comes an opportunity to deliver even better quality probation services by building on the strengths of colleagues from the NPS and those from MTC and London Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) who will transfer to the new unified service – whether that be to the NPS or Dynamic Framework provider. We both continue to work closely with the HMPPS Transition Programme Team to help shape and influence their plans, with a firm focus on ensuring our services, employees and service users can safely transition to the new arrangements. 

We aim, through each edition of this newsletter, to:

• Share significant transition milestones with you, and provide updates against them.
• Give you a better understanding of what the transition will mean for you and your role, once this detail is known.
• Answer some of your frequently asked questions. 

The reality is, the transition plans are very top-level at this stage, the details are still being developed, and we don’t have all the answers as yet. But we’ve taken the opportunity in this edition to outline and provide what we hope you will find to be a useful reminder of what we know so far.

A continued focus on quality 

With Exceptional Delivery Model (EDM) recovery planning underway across probation nationally, between now and June next year the focus for colleagues in London CRC, MTC and London NPS must be firmly on continuing to deliver quality probation services. This will ensure we have solid foundations to build on when we come together as colleagues in the new unified NPS. We know we can rely on your support as we start to safely increase our service delivery in line with local recovery plans. In the meantime, we hope you find the contents of this newsletter interesting and helpful, and would love to hear from you if you have any questions. Simply email your organisation’s inbox – TransitionNews@mtcgroup.org.uk or londonnps.bsc@justice.gov.uk – and we’ll do all we can to answer them in the next edition. A big thank you for all your hard work and commitment during these unprecedented times.

Kilvinder Vigurs Regional Probation Director, NPS

Kirsty Blair Interim Managing Director, MTC 

What we know so far 

Coinciding with all Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) contracts coming to an end, probation service delivery in England will transition to the new unified model from 25 June next year. The new model will see colleagues from CRCs and the National Probation Service (NPS) coming together to deliver probation services across 11 unified regions across England. This will mirror the approach taken in Wales where probation service delivery has already been unified. 

End-to-end service delivery 

As announced in June this year, delivery of Unpaid Work, Accredited Programmes and structured interventions will now be managed by the new unified NPS alongside case management. While this means the Probation Delivery Partner (PDP) framework is no longer a component of the unified model, the Dynamic Framework (DF) is, and the competition to select providers is under way – starting with ETE and moving on to Accommodation, Personal Wellbeing, and Women’s Services. Under this framework, practitioners in the unified NPS will be able to access a range of rehabilitative services which meet regional requirements, and are provided by pre-qualified voluntary and private sector organisations. With experience of developing and delivering structured interventions, MTC which runs London CRC, is tendering for this piece of work. 

On 25 June, depending on the work they do, individuals who currently work for London CRC or in MTC corporate roles which support case management and are identified as in scope to do so, will transfer to the NPS or the regional DF provider. A standard, nationwide process, which looks at the tasks performed by individual roles, will determine which roles are in scope to transfer to the unified service. All private sector probation providers have been asked to contribute to this process by providing information to the Transition Programme Team by the end of September. 

Coming together to deliver quality services 

Recognising the complexity of bringing two organisations together, and with a firm focus on ensuring services can continue to be delivered safely, a phased approach will be taken to integrating operational delivery under the unified model. This means, wherever appropriate, CRC, MTC and NPS colleagues will continue to do their existing jobs and be based at their existing locations initially when the unified model for probation launches on 25 June. Everyone who transfers from London CRC and MTC will have an induction on any new systems (including OASys and nDelius) and processes before this date. 

A key principle for the new model for probation is to create a new, unified service which combines the skills, experience and best practice approaches of both NPS and CRC colleagues to deliver consistent, quality end-to-end probation services to reduce reoffending and protect the public. Once the new model has launched, the focus for Kilvinder and her senior leadership team will therefore be to build on this and work with you to shape London probation’s new service and organisational culture. 

Enabling you to be your best 

HMPPS have recently published their Probation Workforce Strategy which outlines their three year vision to make probation a rewarding place to work. Developed by the Probation Workforce Programme – working closely with NPS Regional Directors, CRC CEOs, probation employees, trade unions, and other key stakeholders – the strategy covers five objectives of the HMPPS People Plan: 

• Investing in and promoting wellbeing for all employees. 
• Attracting and retaining talented people. Ã Supporting and developing employees. 
• Creating a more diverse workforce where everyone feels included. 
• Fostering confident leaders who inspire and empower others. 

The strategy also confirms an increase in recruitment of probation employees this year, with a target of a minimum of 1,000 new Probation Officers in training by January 2021. You can read the Probation Workforce Strategy here.