Case For Change is Building

Whilst in England things seem to have gone very quiet on the subject of getting the Probation Service out of the iron grip and stifling bureaucracy of HMPPS, in Wales steady progress continues to be made in building the case for probation to become a standalone agency once again. In what is after all election year, it's to be hoped the Labour Party in England might yet be encouraged to take an active interest in the obviously failing and nationalised service and follow the advice of former HMI Justin Russell and others to re-establish an independent and locally based service. This from the University of South Wales:-  

Devolved probation powers and a ‘stronger evidence-based approach’ could improve community safety and social justice

A group of academics from Welsh universities, along with current and former probation officers, have published ideas on the future of the Probation Service in Wales. This comes after the Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales published its report in recent weeks recommending the devolution of probation to Wales.

The Probation Development Group, part of the Welsh Centre for Crime and Social Justice (WCCSJ) which includes academics from the University of South Wales, Bangor University and Swansea University, has set out evidence and ways of working for developing a devolved probation service in Wales.

The publication includes thinking on a new independent probation service centred on the supervisory relationship between the probation officer and the probationer, better use of evidenced-based interventions, local resources, and strong partnerships.

The group also highlights the important role of the community and community sentences, to promote effective rehabilitation and victim safety.

Probation delivered effectively, the group say, can lead to less costly imprisonment, reductions in offending, and safer communities with fewer victims of crime.

Swansea University Criminology lecturer and former senior probation officer, Ella Rabaiotti, who convenes the Probation Development Group, said: “Whilst we recognise that more disruption within probation is far from ideal, we do think there needs to be to a stronger evidenced-based approach to probation work to help address the real disparities in Welsh criminal justice outcomes.

“It will be for policymakers to decide on the shape of a Welsh Probation Service in proper consultation with the appropriate stakeholders, but there is significant learning offered in our publication to potentially improve community safety and social justice for all communities in Wales.”

In putting forward their proposals to the Welsh Government, the independent expert group has drawn from decades of research and experience in probation practice and governance. Their work aims to contribute to the Welsh Government's justice policy plans, following the conclusions of the Thomas Commission which found that the current criminal justice system is not serving the people of Wales. They say this has now been further reinforced by the new report from the Independent Commission.

The Welsh group’s views follow concerns by the outgoing Chief Inspector of Probation, Justin Russell who stated that probation standards have ‘worsened’ in the last two years. And the latest findings from the Wales Governance Centre state that the Welsh imprisonment rate continues to exceed any other part of the UK.

The Probation Development Group plan to use their publications to assist conversations on devolving probation in Wales, as well as promoting further opportunities for research and understanding into effective probation services.

More information about the work of the Probation Development Group and the Welsh Centre for Crime and Social Justice can be found at https://wccsj.ac.uk/en/probation.

A full copy of the report can be viewed here

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

Introduction 

People who work in probation in Wales are experts in change; they support change in people’s lives, whilst operating under constantly shifting organisational structures. In the last decade or so, four probation trusts across South Wales, Gwent, Dyfed and Powys and North Wales merged into Wales Probation Trust. The newly established but well performing organisation was subsequently ‘split’ into the Wales Community Rehabilitation Company and National Probation Service in 2014 and despite efforts by its Welsh leaders to implement this ‘irredeemably flawed’ policy, the two parts were reunified in 2020. Therefore, it is with some trepidation that this publication provides evidence for moving towards yet another version of a Wales probation service. 

However, the findings of the Thomas Commission emphasised that the current Welsh criminal justice system is not properly serving the people of Wales. Furthermore, renationalising is not sufficient alone to address the detrimental ‘legacies of change’ within probation (Tidmarsh, 2023)3 . To respond to this, the Welsh Government has begun planning for the devolution of justice and encouraged the Probation Development Group (PDG) to support discussions around the development of a devolved probation service for Wales. 

Whilst PDG members recognise that more uncertainty over the future of probation is far from ideal, we do think there needs to be further change in probation in Wales beyond the blueprints and partnerships between devolved and non-devolved services to fundamentally address the disparities in Welsh criminal justice outcomes. We support a devolved probation service that better serves the people of Wales and offer papers that might guide a renewal.

This publication consists of three papers prepared by the PDG which draw on a wide range of experience in research and practice in probation in Wales and beyond, including at practitioner and management levels. The papers share our thinking and draw on the evidence base for three crucial aspects for developing a devolved probation service in Wales, namely, Values and Principles, Effective Practice, and Governance and Partnerships. Common threads throughout the papers relate to the provision of an independent probation service centred on the relationship between the worker and the probationer, which takes a rights-based approach, using evidenced-based interventions, local resources and strong partnerships. Diversion of individuals from custody is central, recognising the important role of community and victim safety, as well as public protection. The papers, the issues and potential solutions raised within them have been subject to much discussion within the Probation Development Group and wider, which has helped to shape these published versions. However, we expect these conversations to evolve and for further publications to follow. We would also like to involve more probation leaders and practitioners in our thinking and reaching some conclusions, but understand, to date, this has been difficult.

The PDG has identified a fourth area which needs particular attention and research – the high imprisonment rate in Wales. This is not addressed in detail in this publication, but we would like to highlight the latest Prisons in Wales factfile (Jones, 2023). Of note, the Welsh imprisonment rate continues to exceed any part of the UK, and worrying disparities exist around homelessness for ex-prisoners, higher recall rates than England and an overrepresentation of ethnically diverse groups on probation and in prison in Wales. It is these concerns that help drive us forward – towards a devolved probation service for Wales.

Concluding remarks 

The latest model and structure of probation does not appear to be working. Drawing on over thirty inspections between June 2021 and July 2023, the outgoing Chief Inspector of Probation, Justin Russell concluded that ‘the Probation Service is struggling’ and supervision of people on probation is ‘not at the level it should be’. He suggests an independent review is necessary to consider moving Probation back to local control. Indeed, these evidence-based papers provided by the Probation Development Group may contribute to reconsidering probation work in Wales but will also have relevance for England. Whilst these papers do not provide a blueprint for a Welsh Probation service, they offer evidence as to what has been shown to work in probation governance and practice, as well as highlighting advantages and disadvantages of certain delivery decisions. It is a task for policymakers to decide on the shape of a Welsh Probation Service in proper consultation with the various stakeholders of such as service but there is significant learning offered in our papers from research and experience on over a century of probation practice and governance developments. This set of papers merely offers support to enable the development of a Welsh Probation Service by making informed value and evidence-based choices to improve community safety and social justice for all communities in Wales.

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This from Napo News:-

Independent commission recommends devolution of Probation in Wales

The report of the Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales is now published. Napo Cymru gave evidence to the commission, and we welcome its findings which endorse our campaign.

You can read the full report here The Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales | GOV.WALES

Napo Cymru Vice-Chair Su McConnel says: “The Independent Commission joins the rapidly growing calls for the devolution of Probation in Wales. We are nearing if not at the point where all but the architects of the current sorry state of Probation in England and Wales are calling for this.”

Su then went on to pull key highlights from the report.

Like policing, the probation service works closely with devolved services and could be transferred to the Welsh Government with minimal disruption. Following agreement in principle between the two governments, work could begin on designing a governance and accountability structure for a Welsh probation service, building on work underway by the Welsh Centre for Crime and Social Justice.

In his foreword to the 2022-23 Annual Report of HM Inspectorate of Probation, the Chief Inspector makes a number of observations of relevance to devolution. He notes the challenges facing the service after the upheaval of four major structural reorganisation in 20 years, and expresses concern about the impact of the new, merged ‘One HMPPS’ structure for prisons and probation.

The Chief Inspector noted that: “Past experience with the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) is that the day-to-day operational and political demands of the prison service can all too easily distract from the Probation Service and its particular (and very different) needs.”

He went on to add: “While I recognise that another reorganisation of the service, and any shift in this direction would have to be with the explicit agreement of local managers and staff, I think the time has come for an independent review of whether probation should move back to a more local form of governance and control, building on the highly successful lessons of youth justice services – 70 per cent of which we rated as ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ last year.”

Devolution would be relatively straightforward in practice for the following reasons:

• A Welsh probation structure and budget already exists within the HMPPS and could readily be transferred to the Welsh Government.
• The preventative ethos of the probation service is closely aligned with the policies of the Welsh Government and the wider Welsh public service.
• There would be an opportunity to create a structure for a Welsh probation service, in collaboration with staff, to achieve the strong partnerships and operational flexibility advocated by the Chief Inspector, as discussed above.