Once again, lets highlight what contributors are saying:-
Next there are our salaries which have been cynically eroded both by net negative ‘increases’ over time which mean we earn less now in real terms (I saw a figure of 15k below where we should be for a PO). Remember we are a graduate profession. Followed by our pensions, something we really never should have accepted is that we are not allowed the Civil Service Pension Fund, yet prison are ….. one HMPPS in name only. Most of us don’t even consider this until too late and retirement looms.
Finally, there is the disrespect shown to front line practitioners who after all deliver the day job, and in return the utter breakdown in trust with senior leaders (disguised compliance here me thinks, as most staff are afraid, yes afraid, to disclose their true thoughts). Do not join the Probation Service it is not what you are led to believe by HMPPS, who want to lay claim when it suits them to our former values at recruitment but have done everything to trash and negate them until we have the current sorry state of Probation. Shameful…….
Anon
Exactly, it’s no longer the vocation we signed up for. Hours sat at computers ticking meaningless boxes or satisfying a spreadsheet. Hours in team meetings talking about processes so that MOJ bean counters can say things are going well, when probation is falling apart.
ReplyDeleteIf I see another email about NSIs I think I willl scream.
My cases don’t care if an NSI is done, or whether I type my contacts in a particular way, and OASys- that’s a whole rant on its own.
Quality is a word flung about probation about the administration we do, it doesn’t relate at all to the service we give. I try to ensure that I do right by the people I work with but it’s a losing battle due to the pressures of satisfying a bloody dashboard.
I agree. The probation service is not a good place to work. Unless you’re happy to be subjected to corporate bullying, blame, racism, narcissism and bad pay. Being a probation officer is no longer the fantasy written in the theory books. If you want a true account of probation try the horror section.
ReplyDeleteRacism what does this mean today. People in this country being terrorised by other community groups. Many staff are bullied by ethnicity in probation this has been seen before .
DeleteI think the use of the word is banded around without much circumspection these days .
DeleteIt’s very clear. I don’t think anything is “banded around” at all!
DeleteProbation sector urged to tackle racial inequality
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/probation-sector-urged-tackle-racial-inequality
Also the Ranjit Singh article in the morning star oh a big yawn . Easy to make claims where are the cases Napo if you discover something where is the legal argument it is just a safe hackneyed croc these days. Sorry but all these issues are known where are the claims.
DeleteRace equality progress for probation workers and probationers over the past two years has been “disappointing,” a report reveals today — but unions have said privatisation is to blame.
DeleteHM Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP) has published its report re-inspecting the work undertaken and progress made by the service to promote race equality for people on probation and staff.
It last looked at the area in 2021, where it found that it must “reset and raise” the standard of work with ethnic minority service users and staff urgently.
Today’s report found that there is still no national strategy that sets out expectations and plans for service delivery to minority ethnic people on probation.
And there is little evidence that probation staff had spoken with people on probation about their ethnicity, culture, religion, and experiences of discrimination.
Planning and delivery of probation services were worse for minority ethnic people on probation than for white people, the report said.
Chief Inspector of Probation Justin Russell said: “It’s clear that race equality – for people on probation and probation staff – remains a work in progress.”
Probation workers’ union Napo assistant general secretary Ranjit Singh said the service needs to understand the specific needs and backgrounds of individuals.
He told the Star: “It is disappointing that HMIP has again identified significant gaps and a lack of specific tailored services.
“Before the disaster of Transforming Rehabilitation, probation worked with many local voluntary and community-based groups focused on engaging specifically with black, Asian and minority ethnic service users.
“These working relationships were lost as a result of privatisation.
“What this report shows is that [former justice secretary] Chris Grayling’s disastrous privatisation experiment by bringing probation into the Civil Service is not the answer.
“Probation must be released from the Civil Service and returned back to local democratic control so it can once again deliver locally responsive services.”
Mr Singh also hit out at the service’s “continued failure” to protect staff from racist and abusive behaviour, which has been highlighted by research from unions that found it to be institutionally racist.
“We call on the Probation Service to acknowledge the scale of the problem and to continue to work with the unions to eliminate discrimination from the service,” he added.
Phil Copple, Director General of HM Prisons and Probation Service Operations, said:“We are determined to stamp out discrimination and have made real progress including increasing diversity training for staff and launching an action plan to tackle racial discrimination and disproportionality across the organisation.“
It is clear that that there is still more to do and that is why we are developing further discrimination awareness training, reforming the risk-assessment process to eliminate any bias and continuing to expand the rehabilitation programmes available to ethnic minority offenders.”
19:18 referenced are recent HMIP reports into racism in probation. It’s a shame people like you ignore this. By people like you I mean racist people. Racist people usually belittle and minimise references to racism.
DeleteI'm due to start my PQiP in March, having worked for a CRS provider...any advice (apart from run, don't do it)?
ReplyDelete1) If you can, try and find a long served and experienced Probation Officer, for formal or informal mentoring (there is still a few about)
Delete2) Join a Union.
From Twitter:-
Delete"Make sure you take your Study Days, plan your assignments well, be smart with your reading and use the support provided by your tutors. We certainly provide lots at @probationDMU Good luck!"
Get your qualification and then leave.
DeleteTry and create boundaries. Don't be too quick to volunteer for things- in the end you'll be exploited by overworked managers and colleagues ; hope to god you don't a tyrannical, ego-maniac of a P.T.A. Read around the subject, not just the syllabus stuff and keep up-to-date on current trends. Maintain perspective. Manage your time well, as the last 6 months are relentless. Make sure the co-working agreement has been signed when you work on high risk cases- otherwise you risk further exploitation from colleagues or even a 'mentor'. Make sure you get the credit for work done on Delius via 'CMS- sentence delivery' (ask a PO colleague, managers won't tell you about it, as it increases your workload measurement tool incrementally). Find out what kind of cases interest you. Be sociable- show your face at the pub, etc and just be yourself. Don't be online after 5pm on Teams or email- opportunities to add 'another case on the grill' from a manager that can't allocate to anyone else. Don't work weekends and chose your mentor- not have them chosen for you- VERY WISELY. Ask questions in the office, don't get caught up in office politricks- most PDUs already have established cliques and you don't want to be singled out. Overall, I wish the very best of luck to you, sincerely.
DeleteFrom Twitter:-
Delete"Shadow as many PO / PSO appointments as you can, and really push for placement opportunities in courts and prisons. And enjoy having five people on your caseload - you’ll miss it later! Best of luck!"
As is well evidenced in this blog, the centralised civil service based Probation Service (soon to be subsumed into the prison service) is completely unfit for purpose. The outgoing Chief Inspector of Probation argued for a more local probation service
ReplyDeleteThis is further commentary
"While Police and Crime Commissioners were obviously a huge step towards devolution in the criminal justice system, more recent policy decisions – think of the new probation service structure with its huge regions and no local accountability – have moved in the opposite direction."
https://www.russellwebster.com/devolving-justice-in-practice/
A new (2 November 2023) report by Crest Advisory looks at justice devolution in practice via case studies in four areas which have had significant local autonomy for some time – Avon and Somerset, Greater Manchester, London and the West Midlands.
DeleteGreater London Authority
Victims and Witnesses – via a devolution of pre-trial and outreach support for witnesses in London
Reducing reoffending – via greater influence over probation services
Managing vulnerable cohorts – specifically female offenders and young offenders transitioning to the adult system
Financial devolution – via exploring the feasibility and practicality of the full devolution of specific custody budgets.
Greater Manchester Combined Authority
Youth Justice Transformation
Smarter Justice: problem solving and family centred
Reforming adult offender management
Improving the victim journey
West Midlands Combined Authority
Reducing serious violence
Diversion for women offenders
Avon & Somerset
Drugs education
Youth Alcohol & drug diversion
Rehabilitation of Domestic Abuse Offenders
Train to be a teacher or social worker instead better money more respect
ReplyDeleteNot only is the job no longer a vocation, but the protection that we used to be able to rely on no longer exists. NAPO’s union General Secretary Ian Lawrence is spineless. He is responsible in ensuring that the workplace is a healthy and safe place for staff to work, especially given the overwhelming stresses of the job. He is also accountable for enacting policies to makes changes when things are broken.
ReplyDeleteInstead he works solely from home, is coasting his way to retirement and waiting for his pay out. Whilst he’s doing this NAPO reps are not being supported in their endless swim against the tide to support drowning staff. People are losing their health, their homes and their livelihoods as staff are put on procedure after procedure for not being able to perform impossible tasks.
His inactivity is costing people their livelihoods as well as their health. More and more people are leaving the service in a state of absolute breakdown, unable to find employment elsewhere, not just from the lack available work, but also because they are just too damaged and traumatised to be able to look for work. Staff have bills to pay, and families to support. Not just financially but also emotionally and they are not able to do this, because he has continuously allowed the harm in the workplace to grow, mutate and spread.
Ian’s cavalier attitude towards standing up and being the strong leader staff so desperately need in a time of absolute crisis is directly contributing to the breakdown of individual lives. The impact is felt by their families and spreads like decay outwards from there. He is directly responsible and yet never held to account. He has nothing to say.
His X (twitter) account bio says it all. “The worker shall be worthy of their hire.”
We are more worthy of our hire than he has ever been of his. His bio is an insult to every single member of staff at any grade who has worked against the odds and proven relentlessly that we are worthy. What has he done to prove his worth in return?
Lawrence will take advantage because there is no control. Officer of the union all lay people fall into a Napo unionist expectation culture. It's a charade and Lawrence has been able to take the piss. He is not a capable man or
ReplyDeletea real negotiator. He lacks real world experience and has muddled by on the weakness of probation optimism. What is odd and striking is the so called professional offender managers cannot spot what his behaviour and his reputation stem from. No assesment of his underlying self interest. No one has been able to make an assesment of his overall failings in performance for the role. His after work drive to end the day drinking has clouded all those who booze with him. It has all been a lost 15 years to a guy who talks up everything delivers nothing yet has survived because Napo probation officers have failed. He is long served now and completely inept in the role . No one could have criticised Judy mcknight and yet the ledger gate affair let this guy in to make it all a lot worse. The poster above has said it all so well the losers are the poor souls paying monthly to be abused by this farce.
I’ve mentioned this before,but the TV programme “inside Maghaberry prison” just feels so old school .And bear in mind that the documentary maker only met these inmates a few times, imagine if he was a probation officer retaining those cases over several years! That is what probation used to be, a professional intervention based on theory, evidence and the enquiring mind.A post justice intervention (emphasis on post justice) that required probation to work with individuals who had very, very often experienced trauma. I can honestly say that I have lost count of how many ex clients I have met, pre and post my early retirement, who have approached me, sometimes introducing me to new family members, and often recounting some bruising encounters. I hope, i so very much hope, that the 2023 probation officers (or whatever they are reffered to) get to taste that sense of reward
ReplyDeleteAnyone else already getting anxious of the constant increase in prison managers attending probation meetings and popping up in probation offices. It’s bad enough we’re subject to the blame and bullying by probation managers. Now we’ve prison managers glaring down at us too. This OneHMPPS malarkey is not going to work. I didn’t sign up to work for the prison service.
ReplyDelete