Thanks 'Getafix for reminding us to look at the latest update from HMPPS HQ and contrary to popular belief, it's all bloody wonderful:-
Probation Service Change Bulletin 21
Welcome to the bi-monthly Probation Service Change Bulletin – keeping you updated on what is happening across the Probation Service. I am Amy Rees, Director General CEO HMPPS.
As we approach the end of 2023, I am delighted to see a real boost in recruitment into probation. There is a lot of great work going on in this area and to see numbers of senior probation officers increase by 13 per cent and also the recruitment of 1,514 trainee probation officers in the 2022/2023 financial year is a really positive way to end the year. We want to keep building on this positive trend and continue to recruit staff and, of course, retain them and their invaluable experience. We are also launching a Probation Alumni Network and you can read more about it below.
It is an exciting time for us as we recently launched our new recruitment campaign, which runs again in the New Year. The campaign’s strapline is ‘An extraordinary job. Done by someone like you.’ You may have heard the ads on radio or perhaps seen them at sports events, on television or online. The Probation TV advert and the Prison TV advert were created with valuable insight from people working for HMPPS, ensuring they reflect the reality of our work. We hope they will encourage people to join the service, helping to make an impact on reducing reoffending and protecting the public.
You can watch both adverts on the HMPPS Youtube channel.
The Probation Exhibition continues its tour across England and Wales and is currently in Wrexham before moving to Cardiff in the New Year. Please do go along to one of the venues if you can and let us know what you think.
We are also reaching the end of our 50th anniversary celebrations for Community Payback and I am delighted to see prisons and probation working so well together to improve the environment at Medway Secure School in Kent. I have enjoyed hearing about the great work being done and thank our staff for their tremendous efforts which make a difference to communities and lives across England and Wales every day.
I’m pleased we have all our Area Executive Directors (AEDs) now in place and you can read on for more information about One HMPPS, Courts and Electronic Monitoring.
Finally, I wish you a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year for 2024!
2. One HMPPS update
Work continues to progress well with the HQ redesign and the area model has now been live since early October. HQ restructuring will commence in early 2024 following consultation with our recognised Trade Unions.
David Hood commenced his new role as Area Executive Director (AED) for the Southeast and East Area in November. He joins the 6 AEDs who formally started their posts in early October, who are:
Helen Judge, Northeast
Sarah Chand, Midlands
Sarah Coccia, London
Alan Scott, Northwest
Chris Jennings, Southwest and South Central
Ian Barrow, Wales
David Hood, Southeast and East
David joins us from the Ardagh group, having previously held commercially focussed roles within the MOJ and recently holding the role as Vice President and Managing director of MTC, which was the parent organisation for the Community Rehabilitation Companies for both London and Thames Valley.
David’s arrival cements another significant step in the development of our area model, which sees Regional Probation Directors (RPDs) and Prison Group Directors (PGDs) (outside long-term high security) come together under the line management of the new Area Executive Directors for England and Wales.
We have launched the OneHMPPS to make sure our Probation and Prison frontline staff have the right support to be able to deliver the very best services.
The new Area Model will bring the probation regions and prison groups together under 6 new geographical areas in England, and Wales. This will provide increased ‘join up’ between prisons and probation by bringing responsibility for both together at the area level, with more devolved authority to the areas to facilitate innovation and faster decision-making, closer to the point of operational delivery. It will also deliver a strengthened operational voice in both central decision-making and national services, and smarter organisation of area and regional resources to strengthen and better support the frontline.
3. New learning and development for Probation Court staff
We are really pleased to have launched a new learning and development package designed specifically for court staff in the South Central region on November 6. The learning and development modules focus on court skills and pre-sentence report practice and have been developed as part of the ‘Pathfinder to Improved Pre-Sentence Advice’ pilot that is being tested in the South Central region.
The Pathfinder pilot, being delivered by the Probation Court Strategy and Change Team, is testing a new delivery model for pre-sentence advice in 16 courts in the South Central region. The focus is on improving the quality and timeliness of pre-sentence advice, both in informing sentencing and providing the right start to the defendant for their journey through the criminal justice system.
This comprehensive learning and development package has been developed as part of this project to ensure probation court staff have the right court craft skills to deliver the high-quality pre-sentence advice required by the judiciary. The learning and development package will be reviewed based on feedback from South Central probation staff to help inform the final design and content prior to wider national rollout.Probation exhibition touring England and Wales
‘Root and Branch – How five shillings, faith and belief inspired the beginning of the Probation Service’ continues its tour of venues across England and Wales.
Following its opening in Cheshire in August the exhibition moved onto Keighley in Yorkshire and Nottingham.
Throughout December you can visit us at our first venue in Wales – Wrexham Catholic Cathedral. We then move to St John the Baptist in Cardiff from January 3 to 14.
The journey of the Service is told through a timeline and includes the initial donation, the links with Primitive Methodism, the hostels set up to help residents and teach them skills such as farming and gardening.
The work of the modern Probation Service, including Approved Premises and the work of Community Payback, currently celebrating its 50th anniversary, also feature.
The exhibition is run in partnership with Englesea Brook Chapel and Museum, in Cheshire.
We’ll share more details and information around forthcoming venues and dates in the exhibition blog.
4. Electronic Monitoring update
The contracts to deliver the Electronic Monitoring service from May 2024 have now been awarded. Serco Ltd has been awarded the Field and Monitoring Service (FMS) contract, and G4S Monitoring Technologies Ltd has been awarded the Monitoring Devices and Systems Service (MDSS) contract.
Through delivery of the MDSS contract, G4S will be responsible for providing, configuring and repairing the equipment, as well as the systems used to interpret data from them.
Through delivery of the FMS contract, Serco will be responsible for installing and removing tags from those required to wear them, as well as monitoring the data generated by them.
The new contracts will last for six years and will allow us to continue delivering our innovative tagging scheme to better protect the public and help divert offenders away from a life of crime, whilst ensuring best value for the taxpayer.
The Ministry of Justice will be working with Serco and G4S over the next year to implement the new contracts, which will be fully operational by the end of 2024.
5. Recruitment Rise and launch of Probation Alumni Network
We’re pleased to report the focus on recruitment and retention is delivering positive results and an upturn in numbers across the Probation Service.
The recent HM Prison and Probation Service workforce quarterly: September 2023 report demonstrates that the approach is working with the workforce growing by over 4,856 across HMPPS since September 2022.
In the past year, 2,138 probation services officers were appointed, some of whom will be training to become qualified probation officers. As of September 2023, we saw an increase of:
6. Community Payback celebrations
Community Payback teams have been helping to maintain a zoo in Hampshire and planting trees at a secure school in Kent as part of this year’s 50th anniversary celebrations.
Throughout 2023 we’ve toured the regions - beginning in London in January and reaching South Central in November and Kent, Surrey and Sussex this month -looking at our projects and people.
We’ve focused on a variety of work from beach and river cleans to maintaining a tourist railway and historic ship and cooking lunches and looked at how our projects benefit communities and allow people on probation to pay back their communities while learning new skills.
A thousand trees have been planted by people on probation to improve the wellbeing and outlook at a secure school in Kent.
Community Payback teams have planted a variety of species, including large cherry trees, at Medway Secure School near Rochester.
The project was part of the Queen’s Green Canopy initiative (to plant trees as part of Her Late Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee) and also celebrated this year’s 50th anniversary of Community Payback.
Throughout the project – which started in March this year - Probation worked in partnership with the Prison Service.
Teams have been carrying out maintenance work, such as strimming, mowing, mulching, replacing unsuccessful trees and replanting any that required attention.
Teams in Hampshire are working at Marwell Zoo, a not-for-profit organisation set in parkland near Winchester with tigers, rhinos and giraffes among other animals.
Community Payback teams help to maintain the 140-acre site, clearing animal enclosures, repairing fencing and constructing drainage ditches.
The teams work in the meerkat and giraffe enclosures, as well as completing maintenance work on the site where there are tigers, sloths, hippos, white rhinos, snow leopards and lemurs among others.
7. Would you like to nominate a community project?
Would your local community benefit from help with a project such as clearing wasteland, planting trees or removing graffiti?
If so, we’d like to hear from you.
Our Community Payback teams are seeking nominations for projects in your local area. The newly revamped Unpaid Work Nominations Website is now live and we want you to have a say in the work we carry out.
Unpaid Work is carried out under supervision as part of the punishment of offenders, but also enables people on probation to give something back to their community while learning new skills and enhancing their employment opportunities.
We want to increase the number of nominations to give our communities a greater opportunity to improve their local area through Unpaid Work activity.
The work we carry out must benefit the local community, not take paid work away from others, and not make a profit for anyone.
We take on multiple tasks and projects, which include removing graffiti, clearing wasteland, improving and decorating public places and buildings (such as a community centre), repainting communal areas, pathways made accessible, alley clearing, grounds maintenance and gardening, tree-planting, and litter picking.
Projects are assessed following nomination and we will then contact you to let you know if and when we can commence work.
Visit the website to make a nomination or to read more.
Sarah Chand, Midlands
Sarah Coccia, London
Alan Scott, Northwest
Chris Jennings, Southwest and South Central
Ian Barrow, Wales
David Hood, Southeast and East
David joins us from the Ardagh group, having previously held commercially focussed roles within the MOJ and recently holding the role as Vice President and Managing director of MTC, which was the parent organisation for the Community Rehabilitation Companies for both London and Thames Valley.
David’s arrival cements another significant step in the development of our area model, which sees Regional Probation Directors (RPDs) and Prison Group Directors (PGDs) (outside long-term high security) come together under the line management of the new Area Executive Directors for England and Wales.
We have launched the OneHMPPS to make sure our Probation and Prison frontline staff have the right support to be able to deliver the very best services.
The new Area Model will bring the probation regions and prison groups together under 6 new geographical areas in England, and Wales. This will provide increased ‘join up’ between prisons and probation by bringing responsibility for both together at the area level, with more devolved authority to the areas to facilitate innovation and faster decision-making, closer to the point of operational delivery. It will also deliver a strengthened operational voice in both central decision-making and national services, and smarter organisation of area and regional resources to strengthen and better support the frontline.
3. New learning and development for Probation Court staff
We are really pleased to have launched a new learning and development package designed specifically for court staff in the South Central region on November 6. The learning and development modules focus on court skills and pre-sentence report practice and have been developed as part of the ‘Pathfinder to Improved Pre-Sentence Advice’ pilot that is being tested in the South Central region.
The Pathfinder pilot, being delivered by the Probation Court Strategy and Change Team, is testing a new delivery model for pre-sentence advice in 16 courts in the South Central region. The focus is on improving the quality and timeliness of pre-sentence advice, both in informing sentencing and providing the right start to the defendant for their journey through the criminal justice system.
This comprehensive learning and development package has been developed as part of this project to ensure probation court staff have the right court craft skills to deliver the high-quality pre-sentence advice required by the judiciary. The learning and development package will be reviewed based on feedback from South Central probation staff to help inform the final design and content prior to wider national rollout.Probation exhibition touring England and Wales
‘Root and Branch – How five shillings, faith and belief inspired the beginning of the Probation Service’ continues its tour of venues across England and Wales.
Following its opening in Cheshire in August the exhibition moved onto Keighley in Yorkshire and Nottingham.
Throughout December you can visit us at our first venue in Wales – Wrexham Catholic Cathedral. We then move to St John the Baptist in Cardiff from January 3 to 14.
The journey of the Service is told through a timeline and includes the initial donation, the links with Primitive Methodism, the hostels set up to help residents and teach them skills such as farming and gardening.
The work of the modern Probation Service, including Approved Premises and the work of Community Payback, currently celebrating its 50th anniversary, also feature.
The exhibition is run in partnership with Englesea Brook Chapel and Museum, in Cheshire.
We’ll share more details and information around forthcoming venues and dates in the exhibition blog.
4. Electronic Monitoring update
The contracts to deliver the Electronic Monitoring service from May 2024 have now been awarded. Serco Ltd has been awarded the Field and Monitoring Service (FMS) contract, and G4S Monitoring Technologies Ltd has been awarded the Monitoring Devices and Systems Service (MDSS) contract.
Through delivery of the MDSS contract, G4S will be responsible for providing, configuring and repairing the equipment, as well as the systems used to interpret data from them.
Through delivery of the FMS contract, Serco will be responsible for installing and removing tags from those required to wear them, as well as monitoring the data generated by them.
The new contracts will last for six years and will allow us to continue delivering our innovative tagging scheme to better protect the public and help divert offenders away from a life of crime, whilst ensuring best value for the taxpayer.
The Ministry of Justice will be working with Serco and G4S over the next year to implement the new contracts, which will be fully operational by the end of 2024.
5. Recruitment Rise and launch of Probation Alumni Network
We’re pleased to report the focus on recruitment and retention is delivering positive results and an upturn in numbers across the Probation Service.
The recent HM Prison and Probation Service workforce quarterly: September 2023 report demonstrates that the approach is working with the workforce growing by over 4,856 across HMPPS since September 2022.
In the past year, 2,138 probation services officers were appointed, some of whom will be training to become qualified probation officers. As of September 2023, we saw an increase of:
174 Senior Probation Officer (13.0%)
304 Probation Officers (6.9%)
267 Probation Services Officers (4.2%)
The Probation Service will also launch a new Alumni Network by January 2024. This initiative follows the successful launch of a similar program in prisons in 2023, which resulted in a significant increase in the number of staff returning to the service.
The Probation Service Alumni Network will foster a community of former employees by keeping them informed of what is happening in the service.
It will also facilitate the building of business and personal connections and provide a vehicle for promoting career opportunities to alumni staff who may be interested in re-joining the service, as well as acting as advocates and promoting available roles to their own networks.
304 Probation Officers (6.9%)
267 Probation Services Officers (4.2%)
The Probation Service will also launch a new Alumni Network by January 2024. This initiative follows the successful launch of a similar program in prisons in 2023, which resulted in a significant increase in the number of staff returning to the service.
The Probation Service Alumni Network will foster a community of former employees by keeping them informed of what is happening in the service.
It will also facilitate the building of business and personal connections and provide a vehicle for promoting career opportunities to alumni staff who may be interested in re-joining the service, as well as acting as advocates and promoting available roles to their own networks.
6. Community Payback celebrations
Community Payback teams have been helping to maintain a zoo in Hampshire and planting trees at a secure school in Kent as part of this year’s 50th anniversary celebrations.
Throughout 2023 we’ve toured the regions - beginning in London in January and reaching South Central in November and Kent, Surrey and Sussex this month -looking at our projects and people.
We’ve focused on a variety of work from beach and river cleans to maintaining a tourist railway and historic ship and cooking lunches and looked at how our projects benefit communities and allow people on probation to pay back their communities while learning new skills.
A thousand trees have been planted by people on probation to improve the wellbeing and outlook at a secure school in Kent.
Community Payback teams have planted a variety of species, including large cherry trees, at Medway Secure School near Rochester.
The project was part of the Queen’s Green Canopy initiative (to plant trees as part of Her Late Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee) and also celebrated this year’s 50th anniversary of Community Payback.
Throughout the project – which started in March this year - Probation worked in partnership with the Prison Service.
Teams have been carrying out maintenance work, such as strimming, mowing, mulching, replacing unsuccessful trees and replanting any that required attention.
Teams in Hampshire are working at Marwell Zoo, a not-for-profit organisation set in parkland near Winchester with tigers, rhinos and giraffes among other animals.
Community Payback teams help to maintain the 140-acre site, clearing animal enclosures, repairing fencing and constructing drainage ditches.
The teams work in the meerkat and giraffe enclosures, as well as completing maintenance work on the site where there are tigers, sloths, hippos, white rhinos, snow leopards and lemurs among others.
7. Would you like to nominate a community project?
Would your local community benefit from help with a project such as clearing wasteland, planting trees or removing graffiti?
If so, we’d like to hear from you.
Our Community Payback teams are seeking nominations for projects in your local area. The newly revamped Unpaid Work Nominations Website is now live and we want you to have a say in the work we carry out.
Unpaid Work is carried out under supervision as part of the punishment of offenders, but also enables people on probation to give something back to their community while learning new skills and enhancing their employment opportunities.
We want to increase the number of nominations to give our communities a greater opportunity to improve their local area through Unpaid Work activity.
The work we carry out must benefit the local community, not take paid work away from others, and not make a profit for anyone.
We take on multiple tasks and projects, which include removing graffiti, clearing wasteland, improving and decorating public places and buildings (such as a community centre), repainting communal areas, pathways made accessible, alley clearing, grounds maintenance and gardening, tree-planting, and litter picking.
Projects are assessed following nomination and we will then contact you to let you know if and when we can commence work.
Visit the website to make a nomination or to read more.
Posted on earlier thread:-
ReplyDeleteArea Executive Directors:-
* sarah coccia - prisons
* alan scott - prisons
* sarah chand - probation
* helen judge - civil servant
* chris jennings - career administrator
* david hood - prisons "I am David Hood. I am the vice-president of international business for MTC. I was the MD for MTC in the UK. We run London and Thames Valley CRCs."
* ian barrow - probation
“The firm’s managing director when they were monitoring McSweeney was David Hood, 51, who lives in a £1million home in Kent.
DeleteOn parent company MTC’s website, Mr Hood, now promoted to vice-president of MTC, bragged the “legacy” of their rehabilitation work with offenders in London had been “successful”.
But we can reveal that often their firm’s handling of the contract was anything but.”
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/21276461/probation-zara-aleenas-violent-killer-medium-risk/amp/
More like “I am responsible for the rolling shitshows in London and Thames Valley CRCs“ !!
DeleteI’ve stopped reading these when they land in my inbox. The disconnect between the top and frontline is evident and the info shared meaningless. The “recruitment” numbers are not being felt and workload keeps going up and up. The PQIPs are having the stuffing knocked out of them fairly quickly and those that get to the end of training have feelings of impending dread when they see workload issues. Staff with 20+ years are off- retiring or getting other jobs. I can’t remember the last time we were encouraged to do some proper work with the people coming through the door? Not that we have capacity anyway with the ridiculous administration we are dumped with. I am not sleeping - OH offer up an opinion that cannot be delivered and it’s only a matter of time before I leave or go sick! Leaving my colleagues with the worse case scenario of trying to cover more work. So I will keep turning up for now, but my hearts not in it.
ReplyDeleteAnon 10:55 Thanks for sharing, but take care and look after yourself.
DeletePROPAGANDA (OED).
DeleteQUICK REFERENCE
[Latin ‘propagation’]
Persuasive mass communication that filters and frames the issues of the day in a way that strongly favours particular interests; usually those of a government or corporation (compare agenda setting). Also, the intentional manipulation of public opinion through lies, half-truths, and the selective re-telling of history. See also disinformation; manufacture of consent; public relations.
If all this recruitment is going well why is there still red sites down south and green up north?
ReplyDelete"The Probation Service Alumni Network will foster a community of former employees by keeping them informed of what is happening in the service. "
ReplyDeleteWhy? Who, after they've managed to escape the shitshow, wants some deluded fuckwit to keep contacting them, telling them lies about how well its all going since they left?!?
Red areas on Merseyside. I am sure we are north…high sickness rates and staff leaving a live issue…
ReplyDeleteCertainly red areas here
DeleteNE PO
From Twitter:-
ReplyDelete"The amount of training, which they deem mandatory that is being put on during December is crazy-hinders a month where many will want leave and have to cram 40+ ppl into 2/3 wks, find leave cover and complete tasks so no one else has to pick them up. Crazy."
I'm really pleased everything is going so swimmingly for everyone, may as well close this blog as nobody has anything to complain about now.
ReplyDeletesox
I suspect this is what life in North Korea feels like. Despite experience telling you it’s all crap the state denies this and tells you, that in fact, it’s all bloody brilliant. What a curiously dishonest approach…
ReplyDeleteSickness through the roof sscl doing very nicely staff abuses clocking the records they think retention will hold. Deluded narcissists and the worst players just promoted for being real nasty to shit shuffle jobs . Irony is they think the unions are inside since the so called notice to dispute because they don't take that crap of shite seriously they know Lawrence will roll over on his back saying tickle my tummy and say the magic words an agreement framework for staged consultations to implement . No dispute nothing to see the employers have caved into our demands and will still shaft us but a little more carefully. Money grabbing turds .
ReplyDelete17:57 You cannot lodge a dispute without strong unions. The service is now full of millennials who have no interest in joining unions. They grab the training and then they are off. What you can do is be subversive. Do the minimum and look for a better job. All the money is wasted on civil service rubbish putting in more layers of managers who in turn just form a separate group just like prison officers and governors. Too much red tape and sitting in front of computers. People on probation are an afterthought these days. They should rename it prison in the community service. Probation Officers > prison community officers and managers community governors. At least that would be an honest reflection of what is happening.
DeleteFrom the senior authority management.
ReplyDeleteDear staff we appreciate the level dissonance amongst our colleagues of all gradings including those on the generous admin bands. We know you enjoy high levels of pay and reward for contributing to the public interest. We have satisfied ourselves of good roles pay opportunity and generous managerial support and encouragement. We are satisfied that recruitment retention sickness are all in the right colour green and that any issues of mis quoting is wrong. We have checked and it is simply not correct that the management team are colour blind or myopic. Nor are we shortsighted blinkered or mushrooms. There is no truth that we have no foresight or understand 20 20. Also we have always kept our pledge never to look back or utilise something called hindsight. We simply don't expect to make changes based on lessons from past because we are visionaries dealing with the future. Now while we accept this will attract some criticisms we remain steadfast in our non blinkered non judgemental capacity to go forwards either with you or without. It is true that we have modelled our approach to the lines drawn in 1916 and it does not matter to us in our ivory gold towers how many staff fall in this process to change because change is what we are going to deliver. This is our vision our sole duty is to deliver no matter what. So for all you truth hunting militants upsetting our portfolio of distributing info to the rest of the plebs we are going to find you . All you liberal agendad Jim brown reading hopeful we are going to crack down on free speech. Liberalism freedom's and anything else that you try and distribute your distorted account. We own the truth because we say so. Any further accounts contrary to our we shall start a war and destroy you and your blog. It is tim desist move away from your keyboard warrior Jim brown and return to do as your told because we said so and our pay will increase while your declines and bet grateful this is what Napo negotiated for you. On this final point sleep well one and all Christmas is coming and vi hav plinti ovvays to give ze more vork in ze stockings of joy. Yours the management east Berlin branch. Because looking back doesn't teach us anything.
There was a time when internationalism and brother/sisterhood meant something, and probation used to be at the forefront! What are we now? Gaza is a crisis, not just for the obvious slaughter of innocents but new abuses of human rights- mother and daughter shot by snipers in a a convent, refugees crushed in tents under IDF tanks. But we, as a once voice for internationalism, are a shadow of what we were. I know of a former Teesside colleague who spent many years on detached duties in the Middle East who carried out missions for the UN , EC and human rights groups.He was a giant who epitomised what the UK probation service used to stand for. I often wonder where he is now and how he would reflect on the current so called “service”
ReplyDeleteIn days gone by your wilder almost hysterical pat Waterman would have holding Napo business up with a tirade of pro Israel issues. Real downer on conference mood and AGM to scared to speak up. If she wandered in now with her brand of justification for these mass killings 8 think she would see a big articulated boot in her rear end . We need peace and diplomacy not murder in the name avenging. We need to ensure life sanctity. No less
Delete8:18 You do sound a little bit hysterical and perhaps even have some unresolved issues in relation to strong outspoken women. Let’s set the record straight. Pat certainly had her foibles and faults and was certainly Marmite. Your portrayal of her as a petty time waster only interested in her own personal agenda and/or as someone who would defend the indefensible is both inaccurate and offensive to those who have known her. She is a well read smart woman and was quite capable of understanding complex political issues in a balanced nuanced way. As far as I know she believed in social democracy. Having attended more Napo AGMs than I care to mention since the days when Napo had real leaders with a sense of conviction my observation is that there are rarely any motions these days that provoke debate. This indicates how far Napo has drifted of late as a force to be reckoned with. Uber drivers are probably more radical. . Some are nostalgic about the way Pat tried to challenge the increasingly stage managed sycophantic monotony of proceedings by expressing actual views that challenged the status quo. She socked it to them. In retrospect she was up against apathy and inaction from lethargic officials. All motions are voted on. Pat could be opinionated and abrasive in her style and delivery but I do not think she was wrong in her analysis of where the probation service was headed. Pretty much spot on in retrospect . From memory several men on Napo’s top table would appear visibly nervous in her presence. She was essentially a down to earth straight talking trade unionist who worked hard as a branch chair to support members and regularly took the errant GS to task if she thought he was wrong and had no time for their extracurricular shenanigans - which did indeed do a lot of damage and wasted time and resources. She was left wing but I wouldn’t say extreme or naive. As far as I remember of her views on Israel and Palestine she believed in peoples coming together in the Middle East as workers with much in common through trade unionism. Much like the present TUC position. Hardly an unreasonable position. Everyone is entitled to their views and she was to hers at the time and relished an informed debate. Often the intellectual and political will was lacking in some other quarters to face matters head on and discuss things. I expect her views have moved with the times and it is a shame that she seems to have apparently retired from commenting publicly on probation matters as she would no doubt have some choice words. I can say that as far as I am able to recall I never once heard her voice support of any government or policy that would oppress anyone else particularly women. She knew her history and her politics.
DeleteHahah not a chance and if you were there it was like a scene from carry on matron every time .. just awful and distracted from the real issues.
Delete17:53 ‘… distracted from the real issues’ What is debated at conference first are those motions the members have voted for ie the real issues. What members think are the real issues get time. With adequate chairing everyone gets to vote on the real issues. That’s democracy for you. I cannot recall any formal complaints being lodged about Pat but plenty about the GS etc grandstanding etc. people remembered conferences past as lively. The last few have been flat as pancakes. I saw several people snoozing or knitting.
DeleteShe really was a powerful advocate for London NAPO, I believe she always acted honestly and in her members best interests. As a Northern Rep at the time she often irritated me as I felt London dominated much of the business but was on committee with her, she knew her stuff, she really should be respected not derided here. She often challenged the top table in ways many who post here say should be done at present.
DeleteConference in Judys day brilliant professional respectful. Slipped on ledger ego crashed on the fat controller. I know a rep who was as marmite as it gets but effective. Did not worry about being popular just gamed to win. Many of us always thought she pantomime and looked forward to her antics not her politic and the ensuing drama shouting lost the message . It is what is to the observer and this perception meant she was in a vacuum of opinion. To win you need more than bluster and some die hard fans who really tagged along for a moment in the glare. The drama that publicly followed the London off topic battle cries had no following bar London and they were not representative of probation just London disarray. Problem is .London issues set a direction for UK probation and most of the time they shafted us. Privatisation was a London failing. Suggesting others are offended at an alternate view of that time.is without any evidence. Subjective noise. Relishing in the confusion and time absorbed to get her off the platform is all the Napo top table were concerned about. Don't flatter it was anything else. The applause on occasion was duty and relief . This over stated positioning for a fable just illustrates the weakness of the her approach creating fear anxiety brash . Napo had it's say in the end they did not select her for a national representatives job and that says a lot anyone. I think she would have been suited to the work mind and toned it down but Napo don't like ability or self determined women. The current GS is known for saying who what me nah I was in the north that was an NEC decesion. Snide as Napo is Pat Waterman would and should chosen some better allies that would have been the last chance members had to bleach the stain at the top.
Delete07:23 There are only a handful of persons that would have known that Napo HQ ganged up against Pat and decided not to select her as a National rep. It was a travesty. You lower yourself by disclosing confidential information you were privileged to know. Most of those who knew can write very eloquently and are not anti-London in the least. I think that narrows persons down a bit. Their fawning adoration for the GS and poorly self penned inflated success claims as a national vice chair and branch chair and then sudden exit with a very generous piss off and shut up package from a CRC and abrupt radio silence (presumably in return for signing a NDA) thereafter would perhaps make interesting reading. But I am not going to out you or mention some of the sleaze and smears you have worked hard to propagate against those you should have been supporting.
DeleteJust reflects the scandal Napo is and what's speculation and what is is the truth and who's truth . Napo often leaked stories to undermine candidates the facts are always locked away.
DeletePat represented me when I was a London PO. She was outstanding and full of fire. She never took the easy route for the people she represented. She fought extremely hard for them. She fought twice as hard as the managers that tried to ruin other peoples careers to save their own arses for their failures, and she wasn’t afraid to expose them. She didn’t do fear. She went head on into battle with a loud war cry and all her weapons out. She was one of the best reps I ever had, and she wouldn’t let me resign, even when I had no fight left in me. She fought tooth and nail for me on my behalf and we won. She was determined, hard working, outspoken, and a real force to be reckoned with. She understood the real mental harm that the people who needed her support were going through, and she was incredibly kind. Yes she was marmite. She was also strong and unyielding in her quest for justice for those she represented. She was also very much against any kind of oppression and genocide. How do I know this? We had a discussion on the politics of the world at the time. She was firmly against oppression of people who could not defend themselves. Pat was all about defending peoples rights. I will be forever grateful to her, and I hope she is doing really well. She deserves respect. There aren’t many people that would be brave enough or willing to go up against such a corrupt system the way she did, speak her mind without fear, and challenge higher ups to their face. I find people who criticise the strength of others are the same people would never have the balls to be that strong themselves. Pat had balls of steel. She knew her stuff down to the last dot, and she would have been a brilliant national rep.
DeleteI knew Pat well 06:29 and I’ll second that. I saw her softer side too but she never suffered anyone who opposed her lightly. She deserved more recognition than Napo HQ for fearlessly leading the campaign against TR in London working harder and more passionately than those paid to do so. 7 days a week not 5 days a week 10-04. The current GS deserves little or no credit for bringing about Transition as he did not fight sufficiently against TR or the privatisation of CP that Pat alerted Napo AGM was the gateway to further privatisation. Transition just made us all civil servants a led to the crisis we are in now. She was right. I remember at one point there was even talk of London Napo breaking away from Napo HQ because they lacked fire in their bellies for the fight. Had Pat been in charge in HQ she would have fought Grayling until her last breath and swept out all the naff people in HQ who are still there but ineffectual .
DeleteFrom Twitter:-
ReplyDelete"Sounds so familiar front line staff being sacrificed. Me, working for a charity, caseload of 20, spend time working with people rather than filling in useless forms. The have a positive culture rather than the jackboot approach of the NPS."
There is no truth whatsoever that comparisons can be made between the totalitarian regime of North Korea and North West probation at this time, it would be far more accurate to align ourselves with the Ceausescu regime of the 1980s…..
ReplyDeleteNorth west probation is an abusive hell hole.
DeleteMeanwhile the job evaluations continue to down grade and deprofessionalise anything they think can get away with. And they are getting away with it. Today I find out if my team (and job) will exist in 2024. Merry Christmas MOJ, you insensitive bastards.
ReplyDeleteIt can categorically be laid at the door that Ian Lawrence the Napo GS had not understood the jes scheme allowed it to be renegotiated despite it being our protection and has duplicitousl helped squash all vlo pay. In turn
Deleteit will hit everyone else now they will use it hold po grades down well done Lawrence . !#@<[t
I liken it to being in an abusive relationship
ReplyDeleteThe UK, as ever, is led by the moral compass of our most senior political leaders including the Prime Minister.
ReplyDeletePrime - of first importance; main
From Thatcher onwards the UK has been dragged down the righthand fork of a rabbit-hole.
This weekend sunak used taxpayer money to fly to Italy & deliver a keynote speech to the ultra rightwing rally of Fratelli d'Italia (Brothers of Italy) while publicly flirting with meloni.
"The Prime Minister travelled to a political event in Teesside by train yesterday - meanwhile a taxpayer-funded RAF jet was flown up to wait overnight for him, before flying him to a far-right political conference in Rome, in breach of the ministerial code"
Its a free-for-all now.
Mone, a tory peer subject to ongoing criminal investigations, can commission a documentary & leverage an interview with Kuenssberg to defend herself (not sure it was a good plan, but it should never have been allowed).
tory mps are all over the rightwing tv broadcasters as 'presenters', again in contravention of ministerial & HoC codes of practice... but who gives a shit & who's enforcing any of the rules anymore?
Rules? It seems Putin & Netanyahu can simply wander into another country, annexe what they want then slaughter civilians with impunity when the locals get restless.
According to the Geneva Academy there are currently over 100 current wars raging: Middle East and North Africa: More than 45 Armed Conflicts... Africa: More than 35 Armed Conflicts... Asia: 21 Armed Conflicts... Europe: Seven Armed Conflicts... Latin America: Six Armed Conflicts
In the meantime probation has had the shit kicked out of it & is now an obedient lapdog on a short leash, doing the bidding of our right wing govt via the choke-chain directives of the right-leaning hmpps servants aka incompetent bullies who enjoy throwing shit from the windows of their ivory towers & lying through their teeth to keep themselves in power.
What's a bigger worry is a money grabbing aside that over done Goldie locks is suggesting it is ok to lie to protect her family
DeleteThat's another lie she has adopted only this lie might sound ok to idiots. So mone gets more money lies to the world about it asks what have I done then . Move on a minute she might benefit from some old fashioned probation work even consequential.thinking. that said she in the law making house so lying is a requisite. She won't know what the truth is. Moron
Its getting quite interesting now that Lady Moan is starting to name names - gove, sunak, bethell.
Deletebethell's played a blinder this afternoon by challenging moan & publishing a whatsapp from her on twitterx... something he's variously said he'd lost/deleted/given away, including under oath to the covid inquiry.
rats eating rats, lies unravelling lies, shit turning to more shit.
11:31 exactly how it feels from my perspective. Feels like I am financially trapped in this abusive relationship.
ReplyDeleteand what advice would you give to someone on your caseload in that situation?
DeleteWhat do people even mean anymore when they talk about rehabilitation?
ReplyDeleteHas it just become a criminal justice buzz word for some abstract concept that few understand anymore?
https://insidetime.org/napo-criticises-plan-to-jail-rapists-for-longer/
'Getafix
New contracts for old friends, G4s and Serco, whilst just today the MoJ have taken control of HMP Lowdem Grange from another old friend Sodexo!
DeleteAre the MoJ beyond rehabilitation?
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ministry-of-justice-takes-over-running-of-hmp-lowdham-grange
'Getafix
"The move comes after an unannounced inspection by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) this summer which showed the prison was unsafe and failing to rehabilitate offenders."
DeleteSo, who you gonna call?
"The immediate steps to stabilise the prison include:
Deploying a new Governor to take command of the establishment
Bringing in experienced HMPPS staff, including prison officers to bolster staffing levels and additional managers to strengthen leadership at the prison
Launching an immediate review of conditions and compliance at the prison so remedial action can be taken to improve stability, security and safety."
No mention of 'probation' then?
Prisons Minister Edward Argar said "Given the very specific issues at HMP Lowdham Grange..."
Local press report:
"Since February 2023, the prison had been run by private firm Sodexo and an inspection in May 2023 found that inmates were not being kept safe. The report said that staff were not treating prisoners well enough, they had little time out of their cells, and the teaching and learning available were poor... The inspection highlighted a number of problems since the previous inspection in 2018, including 14 prisoner deaths, rising levels of self-harm, violence and disruptive behaviour. Gang-related violence, drugs, associated debt and bullying were also identified as issues contributing to violence."
Read "Full letter from HMP Lowdham Grange prisoner" here:
https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/local-news/hmp-lowdham-prisoner-describes-deplorable-8975009
"About 5 weeks ago on the same day the 3rd Sodexo director Lowdham took up the position here, the fourth person since February took his own life."
00:04 I know exactly who you are talking about, he has retired. I followed him and undertook work in Jordan (where he was referred to as Mr Alan a son of Jordan) he was could be termed an Arabist. I vividly recall an outrage at the centre when he brought a high level middle east delegation to the NE or the NW and basically pissed off the centre who wanted to hijack’the visit to take place in London .He called the Jordanian ambassador ( like what?) who pulled rank with the FCI and the delegation visit took place in the north, with many nose joints being put out of place by a principled Probation Officer. The morale of my discourse is that we were once respected in our field, drawn upon to share our experience with others. What are we now????
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/dec/18/boy-kept-in-solitary-confinement-wins-31500-pound-payout
ReplyDeleteI was seconded to The Home Office when the story of a Jordanian delegation coming to the UK caused quite a stir from the London centric crew. The “northerner PO” who was asked by the Jordanian Govt to facilitate this had a track record with them and he basically told the centre to bugger off. I never met but vividly recall how this ruffled feathers.I also recall Probation Officers being used to deliver training in many of the former Easter bloc states- certainly Estonia, Latvia and other emerging states. Clearly the EC thought that our (then) Probation Service was a model of best practise which others could learn from. Oh those halcyon days when we were valued and respected . I had a short stint in Prague, which I thoroughly enjoyed, before returning to Devon&Cornwall. I didn’t really miss my secondment to the Home Office and I took early retirement in 2015. I follow this blog and I am still in contact with former colleagues ( several who have left in recent years) and it is with a genuine sense of sadness, coupled with a sense of anger at those who facilitated the demise of a once respected service. But also a sense of guilt that I left early because I was fortunate that my personal circumstances allowed me to.I now wish I had the balls of “the northerner” and fought the changes with a daily shout of BUGGER OFF!!
ReplyDeleteIs sex offender programmes being delivered by untrained and unqualified staff? Is the public aware?
ReplyDeleteWhat’s untrained and unqualified? Band 3 programme tutors receive the same programmes training as band 4 programmes tutors.
DeleteI saw this article but I don’t agree programme tutors are “highly skilled” just because they’re band 4.
One probation grade always wants to step up by trodding on the other. It’s tedious.
https://amp.theguardian.com/law/2023/may/29/plan-scrap-specialist-sex-offender-teams-danger-to-public-safety-says-probation-union
Anyone can deliver a programme any programme. Why because the name is the clue it's a scripted programme a set number of outcomes from set input . Any grade it's not complicated. Only difference rates of pay.
Delete@11.11 tell me you don't know anything about running programmes without telling me you don't anything about running programmes. I expect you think strength based approaches don't assess or manage risk too. I know plenty of Probation staff who would fall to pieces in a group room. Have you seen what Probation officers do these days? Tick boxes and refer to interventions. Guess it won't be long before we are all downgraded. Here's something to consider, how about considering that most roles in the service have specific skills and knowledge that make what we do as a service important and try to support each other to be treated fairly and do better at supporting our cases. Stop parroting messages designed to divide an exhausted workforce and try working towards getting ALL grades the recognition they deserve.
DeleteGuess it won't be long before we are all downgraded
DeleteI do not disagree with much of what's been said. This prediction is exactly what employers are engaged to bring about. Division and territorial arguments are fuelling this. While it might and it just be fair to say the job distinctions are weakening bar risk levels and some determination of static risk moving it would be half expected the management explore a single pay spine. No qualifying staff would see the benefit of education if anyone just climbed the sale without the additional indents. However what people cannot appreciate is that choosing an area like programmes to mount po difference will not work. Pso have in the main developed in this area been the main stable of many of the programmes and have well established activities in programme delivery long before targeted and re developed as court sentencing options. The bottom line is get the base rates up for all staff as the work is not job specific but skill based . Concentrate and re establishing core po work as a mandatory activity and don't hold onto to the bolt ons as it helps dissolve being a po. It is what they use to weaken the job distinctions. Sorry to say there is no obvious employees strategy than clutching onto activities. Sorry to say.
@8.50 what's tedious is colleagues who think it's OK to denigrate and show contempt for people who are trying to fight the constant deprofessionalism of roles because they think they somehow know better. The fact is that the training is not the same, because a Probation Officer starts out with different training which feeds into the programme specific role. The fact that you seem to deliberately ignore this because it suits your agenda tells me you don't have the analytical skills (or the people skills) to be effective in that role. The Job evaluation is nothing but a way to run programmes on the cheap. Fir what it's worth I work with PSOs who absolutely can run these programmes but this is after much training and many years experience and I fully support them holding band 4 posts. I think BBR should be band 4 as well. Because I prefer to think that people should be rewarded for hard work and experience and not dragged down by people who clearly have a chip on their shoulder. Yours, a very pissed off DSOU officer who just lost the job they loved doing and am bloody good at.
ReplyDeleteNo being a po has no bearing on delivering any programme it's not special a po qualification has nothing to suggest it has a developmental analytical or analysis based outcome. The delivery is only delivery monitoring assessment comparison frequency measurement of change monitoring has nothing to do with being a po. Anyone can deliver a set piece and be skilled to answer all relatable factors measurements of.cjange are just pre and post experience. These debates illustrate why it's too expensive to use a po time when pso produces same result ..
DeleteNo it’s not because a Probation Officer starts out with different training. They start as band 3 PSOs. Band 3 PSOs can be trained to deliver more complex accredited programmes. It is nonsense to say they cannot.
DeleteWell I see your punctuation skills place you in the upper echelons of academic achievement so I'll leave you to bask in your superiority complex. With brown nosing like that you'll be upper management in one hmpps in no time. And may it bring you all the happiness that merits.
ReplyDeleteArh yes sorry tapping on my phone. Well yes possibly as you resorted to insulting me I am thinking because as usual not one element of the training will make a po any more capable of delivering a simple programme no matter what it is . The point is you cannot identify what that might be. Which is exactly the problem with your omniscience po status .
Delete