A Good Question

Can Probation be Rehabilitated?

The above provocative title is of this years Bill McWilliams Memorial lecture to be delivered online and in person by Prof Gwen Robinson, Professor of Criminal Justice, University of Sheffield on Thursday 9th June at 2pm. It's a topic very much uppermost in the thoughts of both demoralised probation staff, together with those who have been affected in some way by matters highlighted in the BBC Radio 4 programme last month and the subject of the most recent Napo press release:-   

Napo has renewed its calls for a public inquiry into the probation service following a documentary aired on BBC Radio 4 last night.

License to Kill? explored the impact of Transforming Rehabilitation, claiming over 500 serious further offences had been committed since 2014.

The programme featured two separate families whose loved ones had been murdered by people who were under probation supervision at the time. Sharing their anguish, they also spoke passionately about their respective campaigns for answers and accountability.

In the wake of the documentary, Napo GS Ian Lawrence said: “Napo welcomes this expose of the earlier disastrous political decision by the former Secretary of State for Justice which has cost the taxpayer unknown millions and has directly led to an underfunded and overworked Probation service which currently simply does not have the capacity to guarantee the required levels of public protection that our communities deserve. The thoughts of our members go out to the families of the two victims featured in the BBC programme and to all those families who have lost their loved ones as well as the victims of other serious further offences.”

Despite the service being reunified, Napo knows the problems are far from over. Ongoing staffing and workloads crisis continue to plague the service.

The private sector cut staffing levels to the bone during TR, while poor pay across both sectors has led to poor recruitment and retention rates, low morale and ultimately dangerously high workloads. On average staff are working to 130% of the workload management tool with many nearing 200%.

Ian Lawrence said: “It is simply not sustainable for probation staff to continue in this current crisis with dangerously high workloads without the public being at risk of serious further offending. It is inevitable that under this extreme work pressure, mistakes will be made and the public and our members will be the ones most affected.”

Napo is calling for urgent Ministerial intervention for probation, a detailed plan of how this crisis can be resolved, a full public enquiry into how the probation service has been allowed to fall into such disarray and what impact that has had on public safety.

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PO looking for a job elsewhere says:

On the front line is that we are in freefall. The appeals from our employer to our “goodwill” have finally dried up, presumably in the realisation that there is none left between us and our employer. Frontline staff still strive to serve their communities and their clients, but the situation is fast becoming untenable. Staff are stressed and struggling. Our communities are not being protected as they should be by our service. Something must give, and soon.

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Looking forward to retirement says:

Offender Management at the coal face is referral after referral to outsourced services that have little if any resources, form filling, spending day after day in front of a screen ticking boxes, firefighting crisis cases to no avail. The inevitable SFO investigations focus on the OM not the quagmire of bureaucracy in a service led by bureaucrats with no idea. 27 years in & can’t wait to retire. The training for pquips is laughable. The service has become a depressing joke.

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Fed up says:

I set up the Gov petition before privatisation took place and I went on strike, I also noted in the write up for the petition that more people would be put at risk and that privatising the Probation Service would not work, I am so sad that I was right… WHY DID NO ONE LISTEN TO US? It was heart breaking to hear these families talk about our failings… we too have been failed and we have nightmares as we are not being equipped with the necessary workforce to do an effective job. We have also been on a pay freeze for practically ten years, our pay is not at all in line with the true cost of living… is it really a surprise that people do not want to work/ remain working in the organisation, when they can get paid much more with a lot less stress elsewhere?

Pay your staff properly, in accordance with the work they undertake. Everything goes up, including case loads, but pay seems to stay at a standstill….When will our mileage rates reflect the true cost on our vehicles? When will sessional rates increase, they have remained the same for over 10 years! We need a huge overhaul of the Probation Service as we have been taken advantage of for far too long.

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Probation Officer says:

I’m on long term sick leave and will be reduced to half pay at 6 months. I’ll have to deal with the stress of shortfall in my pay due to Covids effect on NHS wait lists and only getting help with to 2 A&E admissions in recent 2 months. After nearly 20 years service I feel penalised by circumstances beyond my control. My good will has definitely run out.