MoJ sets up new probation and reoffending directorate
Up to £100,000 on offer for director to lead work on probation policy and community and reoffending policy
The Ministry of Justice is setting up a new probation and reoffending directorate to bring policy work on the two areas closer together and respond to growing demand for the two services.
The directorate will provide “significant policy input” to deliver justice secretary Shabana Mahmood’s priority of using technology solutions to manage offenders in the community, according to a job advert for a director to lead the team.
The MoJ is offering a salary of up to £100,000 for the director, who will lead the MoJ’s work on probation policy and on community and reoffending policy.
Its early objectives will include working with HM Prison and Probation Service to develop and deliver the MoJ’s probation policy response to the independent sentencing review, led by former justice secretary David Gauke.
The final report of the review, published last month, called for greater investment in the Probation Service to boost its “capacity and resilience” in the face of proposed reforms to shorten sentences for some categories of offender and reduce the number of people behind bars. The review noted that locking up fewer criminals will “place a greater burden on a probation system that is already under great strain”.
The director will be responsible for ensuring the directorate is staffed with “high-quality colleagues”. They will report to the director general of policy – prisons, offenders and analysis and will manage three deputy directors working on probation policy, community and reoffending policy and the reducing reoffending analysis division.
Writing in the candidate pack, director general Ross Gribbin said the job on offer is an “extraordinarily varied and interesting” one.
“You will represent the lord chancellor and secretary of state for justice and resolve the most urgent policy issues within and beyond the department. You will provide strong, strategic, and inspiring leadership for your team, and secure the confidence of ministers and officials across the department and wider government,” he wrote.
“You will be joining a great team and working on some of the most complex and important issues that make lives better for the citizens we serve.”
The directorate will sit within the MoJ’s Policy Group, which is responsible for setting and advising on policy ranging from criminal, civil, family and administrative justice to the UK’s domestic human rights framework and international obligations. The group also supports the justice secretary in their constitutional relationship with the judiciary and oversees the constitutional relationship between the UK and the crown dependencies.
The successful candidate director will “play an active role” in the Policy Group’s leadership and champion diversity and inclusion and wellbeing, according to the job ad.
Applications for the director job close on 15 June.
So glad they've found the money and space for a new deck chair on the doomed ship HMPPS Titanic...
ReplyDeleteBut seriously, the phrase 'managing offenders in the community' really is true, it's all we can do and usually with limited support. No new policy or review or change in the law will really help reduce crime or violence, it's having basic needs met at an early age, decent housing, food, education, child care, access to health providers, inclusion in sports, clubs, music etc at an early age that will make longterm lasting changes
oh look! A one hundred & thirty thousand pound squirrel!
Delete"Alongside your salary of £100,000, Ministry of Justice contributes £28,970 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme."
That's some B.I.G fucking squirrel. What are they trying to deflect our attention away from? And there are some very odd phrases in that job description:
“significant policy input”
"develop and deliver the MoJ’s probation policy response”
"Leading the Department's work on probation policy and delivering Ministerial priorities in this area."
"Leading the Department's work on Community and Reoffending policy"
"ensuring the directorate is staffed with high-quality colleagues”
"“You will represent the lord chancellor and secretary of state for justice and resolve the most urgent policy issues within and beyond the department."
Presumably the following are now surplus to requirement?
* Kim Thornden-Edwards, Chief Probation Officer
* Dominic Herrington, Executive Director; Transforming Delivery Directorate
* Hannah Meyer, Executive Director; Strategy, Performance and Corporate Delivery
* Jim Barton, Executive Director; HMPPS Change
* Matt Grey, Executive Director; Rehabilitation
(roles per Apr 2025 hmpps organogram; or was that a dodecahedron? or a tetrapolyphenol? or...)
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/680a3e617a11df940be1aaa6/HMPPS_Org_Chart_April_2025.pdf
Deletehttps://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/a90a9f70-e28c-4a95-a7a7-f79d12fbe219/organogram-ministry-of-justice
Publicly available data on the well paid moj/hmpps crew as at Oct 2024. There are two lists, one for "junior" & one for "senior". The only declarations of salaries are for those earning in excess of £100k. The senior list has 320 posts, including:
Ross Gribbin - Other.Director General - Performance and Business Support - £135-140k
Ed Lidington - Policy Delivery.Director - Criminal and Family Justice Policy Admin - £105-110k
Michelle Jarman-Howe - Operation Delivery.Director -Deputy Director Prisons - £120-125k
Philip Copple - Operation Delivery.Director General - Prison Operations Director's Office - £165-170k
Kim Thornden-Edwards - Other.Director - Probations Operations Director's Office - £130-135k
Amy-Clare Mason (Rees?) - Other.Director General - Probation and Women - £165-170k
James Barton - Other.Executive Director for Change -Probation Programme: Central Funds - £110-115k
Helen Judge - Policy Delivery.Head of Section - Public Sector Prisons - £135-140k
The regional directors are listed as:
Operation Delivery.Director - Public Sector Prisons - mostly at £120-125k
Matt Grey - Other.Director - Rehabilitation Director's Office - £100-105k
Antonia Romeo - Operation Delivery.Permanent Secretary - £195-200k
Just that small handful of twenty or so "senior" staff pocket well over a £million in salaries of our taxes (excluding generous bonuses) while both prisons & probation are in such a parlous state that hmpps are regarded as totally shyte by the respective inspectorates.
DeleteGod only knows what the remaining 300 or so on that "senior" list get paid, but rest assured it won't be far behind the £100k disclosure limit.
Even if we assumed it averaged out at £50k a head, that's at least another £15million in salaries.
For what?
Where's the outrage?
a fan-tastic tweet from Monmouth MP, Dec 2024:
Delete"It’s absolutely fantastic to see so many fantastic Monmouthshire residents recognised in this year’s New Year Honours List.
Honourees include:
🏅 Amy-Claire Elisabeth Mason (CB) – Chief Executive Officer and Director General, HM Prison and Probation Service. (Monmouth)"
Is this the nom de famille of Rees, we wonder?
Meanwhile, back on planet scorched earth, I think just one probation PDU achieved more than 30% in inspectorate reports, with most rated inadequate; plus many prisons rated somewhere between dire & despicable, and yet...
... the person heading up this departmental exemplar of failure & despair bags an honour, a CB - "The Companion of the Order of the Bath is second only to a damehood or knighthood" - following rapidly in the footsteps of her equally abysmal predecessor, antonia romeo, aka the senior responsible officer for the Transforming Rehabilitation clusterfuck that wasted £half-a-billion of taxpayers' money.
Any amount of puff pieces about romeo can be found if you search Civil Service World. But wait... if one dares to criticise her or expose her failings:
"'Misogyny' behind criticism of DIT perm sec Antonia Romeo, union chief says... Media has targeted "female candidate with a profile", FDA's Dave Penman says"
https://www.civilserviceworld.com/professions/article/misogyny-behind-romeo-criticism-union-chief-says
Penman somehow seems to have set aside the fact that romeo was the SRO overseeing massive damage imposed upon the Probation profession, or the outrageous & unnecessary loss of public funds to advance right-wing ideology.
.. and they’ll hand the job to somebody who has no idea what real rehabilitation strategies for probation and reoffending should be.
ReplyDeleteI didnt know Ian Lawrence the erstwhile Napo secretary is applying.
DeleteIan said he’s not taking a pay cut at this stage in his career.
Delete"This is a critical role which is responsible for several key policy areas within The Ministry of Justice, including Probation, Community and Reoffending policy including accommodation, employment, the reducing reoffending strategy, resettlement policy and BOLD (Better Outcomes through Linked Data programme).
ReplyDeleteThe role is extraordinarily varied and interesting. You will represent the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice and resolve the most urgent policy issues within and beyond the Department. You will provide strong, strategic, and inspiring leadership for your team, and secure the confidence of Ministers and officials across the Department and wider Government.
Reporting to the Director General of Policy, you will be accountable for:
• Leading the Department's work on probation policy and delivering Ministerial priorities in this area. This will include working closely with HMPPS colleagues to develop and deliver the Department's probation policy response to the ongoing Independent Sentencing Review.
• Leading the Department's work on Community and Reoffending policy (including accommodation, employment, the reducing reoffending strategy, resettlement policy and BOLD).
Biography - Ross Gribbin
Ross has been a Director General in the Ministry of Justice’s Policy Group since December 2022, and was permanently appointed to this role in April 2023. Ross first joined the MoJ in 2019 as Director of Strategy. Prior to joining the Ministry of Justice, Ross worked as the Executive Director for Imperial College Health Partners, having undertaken previous roles in the Civil Service and NHS. Ross is also the current ExCo Carer’s Champion.
The Director General for Policy, Prisons, Offenders and Analysis is responsible for the department’s policy work alongside the Director General for Courts & Access to Justice. Together they support the Permanent Secretary in their role as principal policy advisor and work closely with the MOJ’s agencies and other justice partners to deliver our outcomes.
* A carer champion is an employee who acts as a key contact to support and help carers access information within organisation they work in, as well as externally.
All adverts for jobs are an exercise they already know who's been selected chosen told to seek appointment. They always state inspiring then import a piece of cardboard. The controllers are just crooks in white collar . It's all insider shit. Been doing the same old massage work over for years.
DeleteWhy keep trying to invent and create 'new policies to fix a completely broken system?
ReplyDeleteFar better, IMHO, just to look back to when everything worked.
From Hansard 2011....
"In 2011, the probation service met or exceeded all the Ministry of Justice targets. In October 2011, the service won the British Quality Foundation gold medal for excellence, which is given to an organisation in recognition of its
“continued commitment to sustained excellence over a number of years.”
'Getafix
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jun/03/how-to-make-early-prison-release-work
ReplyDeleteeven the guardian is now trumpified - accept intrusive advertising cookies or pay up... the world is run by mobsters & monsters.
Deleteall of hmpps is fucked, but they continue to pretend it isnt that bad:
ReplyDeletehttps://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/684041674d433cd95b9fe7ed/HMP_Guys_Marsh_action_plan__May_2025_.pdf
* Weakness in the quality of leadership in some key areas was a major obstacle
response: Since the inspection, we have implemented a rolling programme of training afternoons, delivered every two weeks
And so it goes on ... just as with the probation inspections, the very minimum, the basics of what should be done are simply not being done. Violence, drugs, lack of this & that.
Same here:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66f14df07aeb85342827abce/HMP_ERLESTOKE_ACTION_PLAN_.pdf
And once again the pro forma hmpps letter is wheeled out:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68403ee239a53c0dca9fe7d4/IRP_response_letter_HMP_Erlestoke_May_2025.pdf
"Whilst I acknowledge that there is still much work to be carried out at the prison, I amencouraged by the progress made thus far..."
But romeo gets elevated, copple gets elevated, rees gets elevated, gribbin gets to build a new empire within an empire, mahmood blathers on & timpson waxes lyrical about tags.
THE EMPEROR IS STILL BOLLOCK NAKED. Its a wonder he hasn't died of pneumonia or joined a naturist society.
https://news.sky.com/story/prisoners-to-be-transferred-to-lower-security-jails-to-ease-overcrowding-13379713
ReplyDeleteWhy even send them to prison in the first place !
DeleteI suspect the job is close in nature to the role of a clown at a rodeo. Run around, get a laugh and then move on. It’s kind of missing the point really…the structure post TR is the problem and that’s clearly not going to be changing. The justice secretary is yet another idiot promoted beyond her abilities. Evidenced by the recent shit show around sentencing. Still with that kind of CV she’s a good fit for MoJ.
ReplyDeleteI think I’ll apply. Get AI to do the application and lie throughout the selection process. When I get the job I will spend my time reminding HMPPS that they do what MoJ wants and their activities as pseudo civil servants are only tolerated as long as they bend the knee. I will hold meetings with the Chief Probation Officer to remind her that she is chief in name only.
DeleteThose chiefs are less in number and control massive regions some of them are pretty good .
DeleteSome of the good news stories from our prisons estate, courtesy InsideTime:
ReplyDeletehttps://insidetime.org/newsround/115741/
https://insidetime.org/newsround/imb-slams-practice-plus-group-healthcare-at-hmp-gartree/
https://insidetime.org/newsround/drug-filled-and-dirty-hmp-ranby-slammed-by-inspectors/
https://insidetime.org/newsround/governor-charged-with-assaulting-prisoner/
Snippet from the Spectator (paywall).
ReplyDeleteThe headline suggests that Fairhurst opposes the government's prison building program and instead favours a 50% reduction to the prison population.
I can't help but think this is an argument that probation should have adopted a long time ago.
There's no room at the Inn, and why exactly does everyone leaving custody need to be funneled through a probation service that just dosent have the capacity?
Nearly a quarter of a million people on probation already. As of March this year 13,000 of the prison population were recalls. The Government calculate the prison population to grow by 3,000 a year over the next 5years.
Therefore 13,000 recalls represent the equivalent of over 4 years population growth in our prisons.
Early release, more tagging, more community sentences and even greater use of the prison open estate does absolutely diddly squat to reduce the capacity on probation services. Infact all these plans only serve to increase capacity on probation numbers.
In my opinion, one of the greatest problems our CJS has is the vast numbers being funneled into the probation service.
For what purpose? Who wins?
Probation needs to operate on a model of consent. Leave enforcement to the police, G4s and the bouncers on night club doors.
If there's nothing to be gained by subjecting someone to probation, then it's just pointless sending them there in the first place. It becomes nothing more then a con trick to fool the public, and a very expensive folly.
"The Prison Officers’ Association (POA) and its national chair Mark Fairhurst have a reputation for always wanting prisons to be more secure and more punitive. So it was a surprise when Fairhurst told me he opposes the government’s new prison building programme, and went on to describe his ideal justice system in terms which the most soft-hearted prison reform charities would struggle to disagree with.
I met with Fairhurst a few days after the POA’s annual conference in Eastbourne, a busy time for him because ‘everybody wants a piece of me’. I attended the annual gathering for the union which represents frontline prison staff. Sadly it was marred by news of multiple assaults on prison officers, at HMP Woodhill and HMP Gartree. As word spread on Wednesday morning I was struck by how unsurprised the delegates were."
'Getafix
Regrettable Losses - a measure of success?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.civilserviceworld.com/professions/article/regrettable-losses-in-senior-civil-service-jump-to-83
Some 83% of exits from the senior civil service (SCS) were “regrettable losses” in 2023-24, meaning the departing officials were rated highly in talent grid markings, according to the Senior Salaries Review Body.
“high levels of churn remain a feature” of the SCS, and that “excessive churn means that too many posts are occupied by individuals still building their expertise and key networks”... “It also means that the leadership of some departments and agencies lacks stability – and frequent turnover makes it difficult to hold leaders accountable,” the report adds. “This has a negative impact on the effectiveness and productivity of the SCS”.
The key phrases translated from Sir Humphrey-speak into everyday language:
* too many posts are occupied by individuals still building their expertise - i.e. too many staff do not have the necessary knowledge, skills or experience
* leadership of some departments and agencies lacks stability - i.e. they are incompetent & out of their depth
* frequent turnover makes it difficult to hold leaders accountable - i.e. they fuck up then fuck off with impunity
“Accountability needs to be accompanied by the power to implement,” the report says. “We therefore also ask the government to ensure that the Cabinet Office is afforded the necessary levers to enable delivery of the changes required at pace.” ... the report comments on specific issues with permanent-secretary pay.
It says the SCS 4 maximum (£200,000) has not been increased since 2010 and is currently lower than the SCS 3 maximum (£208,100).... “We understand that this may have a marked impact on the ability to attract and retain high-quality candidates for these demanding roles"...
The solution?
Give them loads more money, of course!
£200k a year is simply not enough for the precious creatures to oversee abject failure & spread utter dismay amongst the plebs before they disappear into the warmth & depth of ermine-lined luxury.
Oh don't stress your little minds! Human Factors will fix everything. How did you arrive today and do you need a wellbeing check? Now get on with it and stop moaning before you are all replaced by AI robots.
ReplyDeleteSome interesting reading from not too long ago.
ReplyDeletehttps://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmjust/519/519vw30.htm
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmselect/cmjust/94/94we62.htm
'Getafix
Anyone else had a random wage increase on SOP? Checked mine this morning and my salary seems to have went up but only by about 50% of the expected increment I am owed via CBF.
ReplyDeleteNo, unfortunately 😔 I suggest you query that!
Deletehttps://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/local-news/high-rate-violence-significant-drug-10249907
ReplyDeleteHigh rates of violence and "significant" drug use have been uncovered at a new Leicestershire prison. Inmates at HMP Fosse Way told His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons during a visit that they “felt unsafe”.
Delete_____________________
Serco website: "In line with the Government's commitment to rehabilitation and modern practices, our Justice & Immigration business has been selected as the first operator of HMP and YOI Fosse Way, a state-of-the-art resettlement prison in Leicester that opened in mid-2023. With a focus on providing a secure, safe, and conducive environment for around 1,700 prisoners, our aim is to reduce re-offending rates through innovative programs and initiatives."
"Wyn Jones, the Prison Director, said: “I am confident that HMP Fosse Way will be a safe, secure prison that will reduce re-offending and prepare prisoners for release and transition back into the community... Everyone here is looking forward to running a prison that everyone can be proud of.”
https://news.sky.com/story/three-charged-with-murder-after-death-of-man-in-fosse-way-prison-in-leicester-13201335
DeleteThe world is moving towards authoritarian control faster than in living memory, e.g. trump's insanity in the usa, netanyahu's ongoing actions & putin's war on Ukraine.
ReplyDeleteHere in the UK we have behaviours that are less violent but just as sinister:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy8nzx1475ro
"More than 300 Foreign Office staff raised concerns about potential UK "complicity" in Israel's conduct in Gaza ... officials questioned the UK's continued arms sales and what they called a "stark… disregard for international law" by Israel... The officials' letter signed on 16 May was at least the fourth such document sent by concerned civil servants to ministers and Foreign Office managers since late 2023.
The BBC understands the signatories represent a wide range of expertise across Foreign Office departments, embassies and missions including in London and overseas.
The reply to the staff letter was sent from Sir Oliver Robbins and Nick Dyer, the two most senior civil servants in the Foreign Office.
They told the signatories: "[I]f your disagreement with any aspect of government policy or action is profound your ultimate recourse is to resign from the Civil Service."... They wrote that officials were entitled to their personal views, but added it "might be helpful" to "remind" them of mechanisms available to those uncomfortable with policy. "
At least Foreign Office staff have some backbone:
"The response was met with "outrage" according to one official who signed the letter."
Finally, some outrage.
Come on, Probation staff. You've been divided, corralled, starved of fair pay, had your professional identity destroyed & bullied into submission.
Meanwhile the architects, enablers & incompetents responsible forthis travesty have been filling their pockets & erasing the probation ethos from history.
Where's your outrage?
From torygraph:
ReplyDelete"A police officer who worked from home weighed down his laptop keys to make it look as though he was working.
Pc Liam Reakes’s deception cost his force more than 100 hours of work time, a misconduct hearing was told. He has been barred from policing for life.
His actions came to light after Avon and Somerset Constabulary carried out an audit of keystrokes, which flagged his total as “significantly higher” than colleagues in similar roles.
At an accelerated misconduct hearing on Monday, he was added to the national barred list, which will prevent him from working in policing or other law enforcement agencies again."
This monitoring may catch a few bad apples but the fact that IT are now monitoring and it is enough to sack on speedy rails means the same in principle will no be applied to probation take the hint those in the loo for 2 hours a day. Chatting 2 hours calling in case work won't wash . Keyboard tied means 7.5 hours of the job . Let's not pretend the smokers on the 3rd floor to exit office takes 10 minutes in the lift logging off and then 10 minutes back. 3 fags a day more like 5 adds up and it won't be long before some of our ranks will see similar dismissals . The management know you will have to get on the job full time then and say goodbye to sloping off all day as many of you know the sort of people I hint at.
DeleteThere's a big difference between being lazy or a time waster and actively committing fraud like the Police Officer was.
DeleteWhat's the difference.
DeleteWondering ... did this from May'25 get an airing on the blog?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.civilserviceworld.com/professions/article/hmpps-bullying-harassment-discrimination-complaints-unit-jennifer-rademaker-review-professional-standards
timpson: “Too many staff feel unable to speak out, fearing they won’t be believed; that it will only make matters worse – because the hierarchy above them will close ranks – and that nothing will be done. This isn’t a culture that we should stand for”
" HM Prison and Probation Service is taking “immediate action” to set up an independent unit to deal with bullying, harassment, discrimination and violence as part of an effort to end a “toxic culture”... The new, central unit – set out in HMPPS’s response to a professional-standards review yesterday... will be a joint unit of “suitably qualified and experienced” HMPPS staff working with MoJ HR professionals. The team will sit outside the line-management chain... The service will also appoint an independent commissioner for HMPPS professional standards (yet another new role)... The unit will build on the work of HMPPS’s Tackling Unacceptable Behaviour Unit...HMPPS has also agreed to review the content and quality of performance conversations."
Presumably there'll be another new unit announced soon to monitor the independent unit's monitoring of the TUBU's monitoring work & ALL conversations.
While there's no money for pay increases to frontline staff, hmpps continues to create new higly-paid roles for their chums - the ideoogues & bullies who are responsible for the results of the 2023 Civil Service People Survey "in which 12% of HMPPS staff said they had experienced bullying or harassment at work in the past 12 months, with the same percentage saying they had experienced discrimination"... Of which "43% did not report the experience and 36% said they felt punished for reporting it"... the existing workplace adjustment passport model "does not appear to be a particularly effective mechanism for supporting employees in securing the adjustments they need". "
The abuse has been normalised in a system that defines itself by imposing 'borders' that require the bullies to grant 'passports' so the oppressed can flee.
Its a corrupt system born of nepotism that rewards highly paid bullies with generous bonuses, gongs & promotions regardless of the totality of their failure to achieve anything but to mark their own homework.
Nothing will change because the 'toxic culture' is now deeply embedded in the DNA of the civil service & the levels of toxicity can only increase.
"HMPPS has also agreed, working with MoJ's people and capability unit, to review the content and quality of performance conversations."
Young Mr Grace: "You've all done very well!"
Old position things have moved lurched even to an authoritarian leadership . Most certainly because it became too relaxed in staff management and the complaints about nothing ballooned
Deletehttps://www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk/news/lincoln-news/worrying-safety-problems-lincolnshires-probation-10257352
ReplyDeleteA damning report has found that people were put at risk from the lack of checks by Lincolnshire’s probation services. A watchdog has found the East and West Lincolnshire Probation Delivery Unit to be ‘Inadequate’ in five out of seven areas, saying that not enough attention was paid to keeping people safe.
DeleteThere were also oversights when assessing people whether people posed a risk of domestic violence. A report published by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation criticised the “worrying” lack of attention paid to keeping people safe in assessments.
The risk of harm posed by people on probation was only properly analysed in 13 out of 50 cases looked at. “Service delivery to keep people safe was also poor, with insufficient attention given to protecting actual and potential victims from the risk of potential harm posed by people on probation,” it said.
https://hmiprobation.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/document/an-inspection-of-probation-services-in-east-and-west-lincolnshire-2025/
DeleteEast and West Lincolnshire PDU
Fieldwork started March 2025 Score 2/21 - Inadequate
But isn't it a one-off? No.
2023: 9/27 - requires improvement
2024: 3/21 - inadequate
Probation is fuckd. But at least the chancellor is going to help.
* funding for Voluntary Exit Schemes to reduce the size of the Civil Service
* investment in technology for the Ministry of Justice to deliver probation services more effectively
* £billions more capital spend for prisons
* pay rises for police & prison staff
erm, that's it... nowt for probation ***staff***
reeves' tortuous spending review statement included a morsel about justice:
ReplyDelete"If people are to feel pride in their community, enjoy their public spaces, and spend time on their high street…
…they must feel safe when they do so.
Safe in the knowledge that when people break the law, they will feel the force of the law.
So with my RHF the Justice Secretary we have announced that, we are investing £7bn to fund 14,000 new prison places…
…and putting up to £700m per year into reform of the probation system too.
Today, I will do more.
I am increasing police spending power by an average 2.3% per year in real terms over the spending review period…
…to protect our people, our homes and our streets.
That is more than £2bn…
…supporting us to meet our Plan for Change commitment of putting 13,000 additional police officers, PCSOs and special constables into neighbourhood policing roles across England and Wales.
I have accepted Pay Review Body recommendations for pay in our armed forces, for nurses, our teachers and our, prison officers… "
Jobs for the girls, eh?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.civilserviceworld.com/professions/article/moj-picks-former-second-perm-sec-as-new-top-civil-servant
A former Ministry of Justice second permanent secretary has been appointed to the department’s top job.
Jo Farrar, who is currently chief executive at the public body NHS Blood and Transplant, has been picked as the new permanent secretary of the MoJ.
Farrar was second perm sec at the MoJ from 2021 to 2023, and had a remit covering HM Prison and Probation Service, the Office of the Public Guardian, the Legal Aid Agency, and the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority. She also held the role of chief exec of HMPPS from 2021 to 2022.
She will take on the post vacated by Dame Antonio Romeo, who became the new Home Office perm sec following Sir Matthew Rycroft’s departure at the end of March.
Cabinet secretary Sir Chris Wormald thanked Romeo for her “excellent leadership” of the MoJ over the last four years and Amy Rees for temporarily taking on the reins of the department since Romeo’s departure.
Rees will continue in her role as interim perm sec until Farrar takes up the position. Phil Copple and Michelle Jarman-Howe will continue as interim chief executive and interim director general of operations at HMPPS, respectively.
Justice secretary Shabana Mahmood said she is “extremely grateful to Amy Rees for her exceptional leadership as interim permanent secretary during such a significant spring and summer for the department, and that she has agreed to continue in that role until Jo is in post”.
Of course, they've all been SO successful, excellent & exceptional that MoJ/hmpps is in the best shape its ever been in...??? The empress ain't wearing a stitch.
Senior Civil Service motto: FUFO - fuck up then fuck off.
reeves' commitment: "allocate £190bn more to the day to day running of our public services"
That'll just about cover the salary & bonuses of romeo, farrar, rees, copple, et al.
Its better than FUFO... romeo & farrar have both fucked up, fucked off & then returned to create even more carnage. Meanwhile rees (or whatever her name is) will no doubt be handed a consolation promotion for her part in wrecking the prisons & probation service.
DeleteHow in the name of [insert your chosen deity here] can any of these so-called leaders be feted as 'excellent' or 'exceptional'?
Let's explore the views of hmi probation over the last 7 years & see how "excellent" &/or "exceptional" their so-called leadership has been:
2018: "The enforcement by private probation companies of community-based court sentences has been assessed as poor in a report by HM Inspectorate of Probation."
2019: "Significant improvements are needed to ensure sexual offenders are managed effectively in prison and in the community, according to a new report out today."
2020: "There is no national strategy to use findings from SFO reviews to inform policy and procedure... The current process is consistent in identifying ‘what’ has happened in a case, but there is very limited scope for investigating ‘why’ the same issues are recurring."
2021: "Currently, learning from drug-related deaths is not effectively shared. The NPS’s work to improve the reviewing system has not yet concluded and it is vital that this brings bold changes to the current systems, which are weak and process focused."
2021: "Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation found the probation service’s focus on racial equality has declined since Transforming Rehabilitation reforms were introduced in 2014."
2022: "A joint inspection led by HM Inspectorate of Probation, with HM Inspectorate of Prisons, has found Offender Management in Custody (OMiC) is falling well short of expected standards – calling for the model to be overhauled."
2022: "Probation Service needs to learn the lessons of Serious Further Offence reviews"
2023: "Race equality in probation remains ‘a work in progress’ ... there is still some way to go to achieve proper equality of provision and opportunity”.
2023: "In too many cases, sentence delivery is not focused sufficiently on the risks of domestic abuse... There are too many missed opportunities to protect victims and potential victims of domestic abuse."
2023: "Serious Further Offences (SFO) Annual report – assessments of risk of harm remain inaccurate and incomplete"
2023: "“A wake-up call”: Chief Inspector raises serious concerns about effectiveness of probation work with released prisoners"
2024: "Inspectorate flags concerns as number of SFO reviews meeting required standards continues to decline"
2024: "New report from HM Inspectorate of Probation calls for renewed action to support women in the criminal justice system.... Prisons and probation service regions need to be held to account to ensure they are delivering services that meet women’s needs."
2024: "The Probation Service lacks a comprehensive strategy for delivering effective management oversight."
2025: "The criminal justice system faces ongoing challenges and, unfortunately, our findings do not demonstrate that the Service is adequately prepared to respond effectively... we found worrying results in relation to services, where we saw several major shortfalls which were directly impacting upon delivery."
2025: "HMPPS have badged 2025 as the year of ‘People and Performance’... but we have not yet seen evidence that policy and strategy are being converted into meaningful operational delivery."
Exceptional? Excellence? Well worth the eye-watering salaries, bonuses, pension pots & gongs? What say you, Sir Chris Wormald?
Or is the reality that, in a single decade of wilful neglect & structural decline, probation has moved from a gold-medal performing public service to a shitstorm in a pot-of-piss?
I don't understand why Napo and the Probation as a whole keep banging on about the Enhanced Overtime scheme to help us and reward us when I literally know no one who has received any, despite most officers I know (Birmingham ) being over 100% on workloads...has anyone ever received this mythical beast!?
ReplyDeleteProcess is too complex to bother with on the claim. Noone gets it under the rules . Like requesting the extra period for essential work and managers approval to do the time having demonstrated why it can't achieved In normal hours. It invites aggressive scrutiny in what I do routinely. Nah fu** that hassle.
Delete13.04, I appreciate the point you are making, but, in my opinion, staff would be much better off working to contracted hours instead of looking for non existent overtime payments.
ReplyDeleteOh I do believe me, i used to put in the extra hours many years ago when I thought being a PO was more a calling than a job, but now I do my hours and go home targets either get hit or not, I no longer care. Just wish they'd stop dangling it like it's a bloody reward, just out of reach...
DeleteYour having a laugh none of our colleagues can deliver the workload in contracted hours grow up make an effort in your comment with reasoned discussion for against pros cons 100% overworked days it all
DeleteProbation in England & Wales - as a profession, as a calling, as a concept - is on the verge of extinction.
DeleteProbation staff are experiencing a mass drowning event while all around - napo included - are describing the water.
The Death of Probation - how the new right applied the modern political playbook for regime change:
* create an artifice for moral panic
* expedite an unprecedented response
* inflict irrepairable damage at pace
* claim credit for initiatives to address the situation
* blame critics/doubters as causal antagonists
* isolate & terminate those who threaten the project
* display no hint of shame, regret or remorse
See also: trump, farage, johnson, cameron, starmer, reeves, truss, putin, netanyahu, xi, etc etc ad nauseaum.
Useful listening:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002d8t4
hmpps excellence in action:
Deletehttps://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68482f6789d002b886e787e8/HMP_Thameside_action_plan__June_2025_.pdf
As a result of a long-standing probation
officer vacancy, the one remaining
probation-employed POM had a
caseload of over 90 high-risk prisoners,
which was too high.
Levels of violence were high. Low-level
poor behaviour went unchallenged, and
the adjudication system was mostly
ineffective.
The use of drugs was too high. In
random mandatory drug tests a quarter
of prisoners had tested positive in the
last year.
The previous requirements for
improvements imposed by the health
care regulator in 2024 had not been
addressed... so the needs of patients
were not being fully met.
Prisoners did not develop the relevant
knowledge and skills that would help
them on release.
Care for prisoners in crisis was not good
enough.
There was no up-to-date health needs
assessment.
Patients needing care in a mental
health hospital waited too long to be
transferred.
Too many sentenced prisoners were
released to accommodation that was
not sustainable or did not have an
address to go to
hmpps response?
"Bonuses are based on performance levels attained and are made as part of the appraisal process."
2019/20
copple £10-15k
rees £10-15k
blakeman £10-15k
2020/21
farrar £10-15k
copple £0-5k
rees £10-15k
blakeman £5-10k
2021/22
rees £10-15k
copple £10-15k
blakeman £10-15k
2022/23
rees - £15-20k
copple £15-20k
barton £10-15k
jarman-howe £10-15k
blakeman £5-10k
2023/24
rees - £15-20k
copple - £5-10k
So rees has pocketed between £60-85k in bonuses alone in the last 5 reported accounting years (2019-2024), and what's happened to prisons & probation services in that time?
I realise I'm at risk of sounding like some kind of trumpist doge fanatic but... when will this wholesale deception, corruption & abuse of taxpayer funds stop?
Yet these are just the tip of that iceberg, the payments that govt are obliged to publish. How much is being handed out just below that threshold?
£tens-of-millions of public monies are being gifted to incompetent &/or ineffective so-called 'excellent leaders' while frontline staff are denied cost of living pay rises or teased with 'overtime' payments they will never receive because some cynically applied technicality precludes or exempts payment.
Its gong time for friends of hmpps
ReplyDeletejim barton obe - Executive Director, HMPPS Change, HM Prison and Probation Service. "For Public Service"
Same old story. Jobs for the boys. Honours for the boys. All the boys are white.
DeleteMichael Mills OBE, Governor at HMP and YOl Hatfield
Sara Robinson OBE, Probation Director
James Barton CBE, HMPPS Executive Director
They just rearranged the deck chairs for the boys and appointed Jo Farrar appointed as new Ministry of Justice Permanent Secretary.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/jo-farrar-appointed-as-new-ministry-of-justice-permanent-secretary
00:14, feel free to work for nothing, that’s your choice.
ReplyDeleteYou have a contract of employment which spells out your terms and conditions including the number of hours per month for which you will be paid.if you do more than that, you are reducing your hourly rate of pay pro rata.
I would suggest that if you did less hours than you are being paid for, your employer would be quick to take issue.
If you can’t do the allocated work in the time given then it’s your employer who has a problem and which they expect you to solve for them with no recompense.
Some people either can’t say no or have never learned to protect themselves.
Insightful global and european perspectives. A call for rehabilitation?
ReplyDeleteGlobal Rehabilitation https://www.probation-institute.org/news/global-rehabilitation-insights-from-around-the-world
Shaping Probation’s Identity https://www.probation-institute.org/news/shaping-probations-identity
Insightful but “they” are not listening and are going in the opposite direction. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/landmark-sentencing-reforms-to-ensure-prisons-never-run-out-of-space-again
Deletemore wonks finding new ways to describe the water?
Deleteas for bonuses, well over £200k paid out to hmpps senior staff since 2019... napo, pi - any thoughts?
Not sure the well-remunerated napo GS dare speak out about financial reward relating to performance. Don't know how PI works; lots of words - including puff pieces from hmpps staffers - but I don't see many examples of anyone effecting positive change for the benefit of the probation role, probation staff or those subject to probation supervision.
Delete"... There are reasons for optimism. Encouragingly, modern forward-looking penal policies in which rehabilitation has a pivotal role in reducing recidivism are emerging from under the shadows of populism and historically authoritarian regimes... "
DeleteThat may be so in your safe academic world, messrs Priestley & Vanstone, but not in UK-world.
We currently have evangelical populists actively encouraging authoritarian command-&-control policies, e.g. chemical castration or extensive post-release surveillance via technology.
Our governments (regardless of political persuasion) & their agents of control (hmpps/moj) openly prefer to build more prisons & incarcerate increasing numbers of people, keeping them there for longer; some indefinitely.
https://www.shabanamahmood.org/2025/05/19/shabana-makes-statement-on-prison-capacity/
A Downing St joint briefing by rees & mahmood:
rees: "The total prison population is 88,087... Every year, on our current trajectory, the prison population rises by 3,000... it has accelerated rapidly to its current levels, and is forecast to be more than 100,000 by 2029... Sentence lengths have increased considerably. In 2005, the average custodial sentence was 13 months. By 2023, it was 21 months – a 66 percent increase... We now have a larger population of sentenced prisoners in our prisons – serving longer sentences than they used to... If capacity gets even tighter, as an exceptional measure we would activate ‘Operation Early Dawn’.
This means we convene a team at 05:30 am every day to track each individual potentially coming into custody, so that we can make sure there will be a space available for them.
Early Dawn was activated between 19 August to 9 September 2024, prior to the implementation of early releases.
It was also previously activated in October 2023, March 2024, and May 2024."
mahmood: "This Government will end the cycle of crisis. We will bring order and control back to our prisons. That starts by building more of them.
This is the largest expansion of the prison estate since the Victorians. And we are not wasting time. We have already committed £2.3 billion to prison expansion.
While the spending review is ongoing, I can announce today that the Treasury will fund our prison expansion plans, in full, across the spending review period.
This is a total capital investment of £4.7bn.
It allows us to start building three new prisons…
By Spring 2028, even with the funding I have announced today, we will be 9,500 places short.
We are entering a world where tech has the potential to impose a digital prison outside of prison, surveilling offenders even more closely than they can be watched in jail.
To make our streets safer, we must seize on these opportunities."
As for IPPs, this also from May 2025:
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/editorials/labour-prisons-overcrowding-justice-secretary-b2750995.html
"Ms Mahmood does have some questions to answer and will find over time that she cannot blame everything on her inheritance. It is baffling that ministers have not used this crisis to end the scandal of prisoners languishing on what are called imprisonment for public protection (IPP) prison terms, which set no date for their release.
These prisoners are explicitly excluded from the early release scheme, but the government has given no explanation for its decision. The result is that 2,600 people remain imprisoned under a law that was judged unjust and inhumane and which has been repealed."
Anonymous14 June 2025 at 21:50 So if I’m reading that second PI article correctly they’re sending POs to turkey and that’s who we’re now learning practice from?
DeleteI thought probation uk was a leader?
And fergus McNeill was there too !!!
DeleteShaping Probation’s Identity https://www.probation-institute.org/news/shaping-probations-identity
Idealistic but a very good read. Good to see the PI giving a platform to practitioners.
DeleteWho doesn’t love a bit of Fergus McNeill.
The political culture has morphed. Labour signing onto serco with a privatisation of mass hmo buildings. No money for probation homeless though. All providers have a chunk of it and have chased the money not looked after offender based homeless. Makes you realise what partners are about. Themselves and the funding . Bas aswell.
ReplyDeleteFound this article pretty interesting from the probation institute website.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a fundamental question that needs answering for (and by) probation before any more policy changes are even considered. It's about basic ethos.
Is probation an agency of social control, or an agency of social liberation?
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ec3ce97a1716758c54691b7/t/6849dae2b77adc25033676ed/1749670628170/Counselling+in+the+Probation+Service.pdf
'Getafix
My interest in the tension between social control and social liberation within the counselling community was first sparked by Mearns and Thorne (2013 p.205), warning of “the spectre of social policing”...
Delete... It feels important to share my lived experience of the probation service as a person who has previously been the subject of probation supervision... As a convicted person, I felt I was there to be punished, and little else..."
The author wanted to be a volunteer as aprt of a service offering counselling to people on probation:
"I have learnt that I was unsuccessfully vetted by the Ministry of Justice, meaning I am unable to support this counselling service as a trainee... Frustratingly, I’ve been forced to critique this counselling service as an outsider."
He then observes "Indeed, the vetting of trainee counsellors can be conceived as one tool among many that the State has to control the social relationships people with convictions have."
Take note, messrs Priestley & Vanstone; this quote nicely summarises (for me) UK probation policy viz-the comparison between probation practitioner & role of counsellor:
"We didn't have anything that we could offer where we could create an environment where a person on probation would have the opportunity to be heard, be seen, to respect their autonomy - to offer something [outside] the controlling, surveillance, punishing arena."
Control. Surveil. Punish.
You don't need to read pi for that answer. Probation has been masquerading for years on both fronts but in the culture of programmes shifted to control and that locked in throughout tr. We had many newly trained and old colleagues who enjoy the power trips. They now dominate. Looking back to enabling long gone.
DeleteA few interesting ones there actually https://www.probation-institute.org/news
Deletejust put 'uk probation service' into an internet search engine & asked for news articles. These were the first few (non-sponsored) headlines in order of appearance:
ReplyDelete* Probation Service problems in England and Wales leaving public at risk, watchdog finds
* Lincolnshire probation service rated inadequate by inspectors
* Spending Review: Chancellor Rachel Reeves announces modest rise in justice spending
* Probation Service is 'in meltdown', according to staff
* Damning report should lead to devolved probation service
* Emotional, organisational and identity-based factors drive probation service staff turnover
* 'Burned-out' probation officers fear ex-prisoners will reoffend
* Lord Chancellor sets out her vision for the probation service
* It’s time social work and probation reconnect in England and Wales
* Safe for all? How austerity wrecked the probation service
* Are prisons and probation working in Wales? MPs launch inquiry
* More community sentences in England and Wales could be ‘catastrophic’, warns watchdog
* Inspectorate rates Nottinghamshire probation services 'inadequate'
And for this the UK taxpayer forks out £5.3 billion each year for hmpps, of which around £2 billion is for the probation service.
Indeterminate Sentences for Public Protection: A Joint Inspection by HMI Probation and HMI Prisons Mar 2010
ReplyDeleteConclusion
11. The current situation is not sustainable. IPP prisoners now constitute around one in fifteen of the total prison population. As of December 2009, only 75 IPP prisoners had been released and stayed out, while there were around 70 newly sentenced IPP prisoners every month entering prison. Of the 5,788 IPP prisoners in custody, 2,393 had passed their tariff date, i.e. the period announced by the judge as the due punishment for the offence.
12. Even with the recent changes in legislation, these numbers far exceed the capacity of the probation service and the prison system (and the Parole Board for that matter) to deliver the necessary quality of service. The resources in both systems are finite and, in effect, decreasing. This requires a policy review at Ministerial level. Choices will need to be made about the costs and benefits of these sentences; and where and how resources can most usefully be deployed
________________________________________
A report was issued in 2008, which contained stark warnings:
https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20171215185332/https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprobation/inspections/criminal-justice-joint-inspection-the-indeterminate-sentence-for-public-protection/
"The scope of these sentences was very wide... The inevitable consequence of these provisions was an explosion in the number of those receiving the new sentence: reaching nearly 2,000 by the end of 2006... Contrary to some reports, this was both predictable and predicted...This large number of new, and resource-intensive, prisoners was fed into a system that was already under strain... By 2007, the Parole Board’s caseload had increased by nearly a third since 2005–6...This was a perfect storm. It led to IPP prisoners languishing in local prisons for months and years... One in five of the IPP prisoners interviewed was already over tariff..."
Lessons learned? - "Contrary to some reports, this was both predictable and predicted... This was a perfect storm."
More importantly I see Jess Phillips rowing back like wild on her previous sell out for local inquiries I hope a national sex scandal on these Pakistani men bring down all those officials that blind eyed the behaviours being myopic to skin colour as a protection. Equalities gone wrong right across social strata. Preference distortions on justice probation in the same mess .
ReplyDeleteProbation has always been a vehicle of social control. Stan Cohen highlighted as much in the 1980s. Further, he argued that rehabilitation work in a prison setting was always doomed to failure. Largely because the environmental demands faced by the offender are fundamentally different from his/her life in the community. He saw probation as an agent of the state which merely pretended to be something else. Whilst he didn’t deny that a large number of probation officers acted in the best interest of the offender, it was wrong to claim they could effect social change. Moving forward in time it is abundantly clear that the probation services is an agency designed to punish and control. The rest is just posturing…
ReplyDeleteBut does it have to be, an agent of punish and control, and could it be different, support and rehabilitation, if there was a real drive from within for it to be so?
DeleteInside Time......
ReplyDeletenot going to change.”
He also believes that the lack of mental health care creates problems in prisons, with many people who should be receiving treatment just being thrown into jail.
Mr Fairhurst added: “At the moment we’ve got this procedural justice and rehabilitation culture where you’re not allowed to be punitive, but it’s clearly not working.” He believes that this is driven by prison management who spend “nine months as a prison officer” and become “a deputy governor within three years”. He claims this lack of understanding contributes to tension between frontline staff and management, and drives a culture which is unwilling to be punitive when necessary.
What rehabilitation culture is that exactly?
DeleteThe Probation Officers Stan Cohen talked about mostly considered those they supervised as "clients" - ultimately the care and - maybe or - or as well - control issue is at the heart of probation and certainly underpinned my social work and PROBATION training at the University of Liverpool under Clare Morris between 1973 and 75 . The dichotomy seems to need to be held by individuals (probations officers and social workers) rather than institutions in the way that justice is the responsibility of invdiduals not corporations as existed for hundreds of years in the persons of Justice of the Peace - the individuals may(will be flawed) but over all good will and "the King's Peace" is what all aspire to encourage and enjoy.
ReplyDeleteProbation has veered far from that path. For a long time it’s had no identity. Even probation doesn’t know what probation is.
Deleteprivate eye this issue:
ReplyDeleteHome Secretary defends early release of prisoners: "We need the space to lock up all the reoffenders"
CSW "partner content" aka free column inches for the privateers who are robbing the public purse & failing miserably
ReplyDeletehttps://www.civilserviceworld.com/news/article/the-importance-of-skills-training-in-prisons-to-reduce-reoffending
Chris Clifford, Head of Education, Skills and Work for Serco, on why offering training in prisons through partnerships with industry can hold the key to the rehabilitation of prisoners while meeting skills shortages in the public sector
"At Serco, we focus on this relationship between training and rehabilitation both in the prisons we run and post-release, ensuring that prison leavers have the skills needed to obtain jobs while shortening the time between leaving prison and entering employment."
Serco is well placed to understand crime in all its complexity ““ (Serco)…engaged in a concerted effort to lie to the Ministry of Justice in order to profit unlawfully at the expense of UK taxpayers,” said Serious Fraud Office director Lisa Osofsky. “The SFO will pursue those who engage in this sort of criminal conduct so that they are held to account.”
DeleteTo date other than a deferred prosecution payment nobody has been held to account. Who said crime doesn’t pay…? probably those less fortunate than Serco, The Post Office, Companies various (Grenfell), London Financial Organisations, HSBC(money laundering and tax evasion etc etc etc…..Evidence, should it be needed, that even crime is riddled with social class in dear old Perfidious Albion….
While there's no money for frontline probation staff who are overworked, underpaid, stressed to fuck & on their knees...
ReplyDelete"Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced a £3.25bn “Transformation Fund” at March’s Spring Statement. While selected components were flagged at the time – such as match-funding for civil-service exit payments – a full breakdown of the total only emerged at Wednesday’s Spending Review."
Just re-read that phrase: "match-funding for civil-service exit payments". That involves "allocating £150m to voluntary exit schemes to reduce the size of the civil service."
Its the same sleight of hand, palming cash to chums, that happened with the TR debacle when an estimated £80million from the Cabinet Office's mysterious money tree - aka "Modernisation Fund" - suddenly appeared. It was used to reduce the size of the Probation Service by around a thousand posts, (generously) pay off the Probation Trust CEOs & grease the wheels of the doomed CRC juggernaut.
It should have been used to cover the nationally agreed EVR payments to mere mortals, but...
"15 June 2015 - Under the enhanced voluntary redundancy scheme opened in advance of the transition of the Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) to new providers, probation staff were able to apply for voluntary redundancy on the basis that they would leave the service by 31 March 2016. The total cost of these redundancies was £16.4m. All remaining Modernisation Fund monies were awarded to CRCs. Redundancy funding was allocated pro-rata to CRCs based on their size and estimated future staffing requirements.
We have no plans to reclaim any monies allocated to CRCs from the Modernisation Fund; and consequently there have been no discussions with CRCs about this. Contract Management Teams are embedded in each CRC, closely monitoring how all monies are used and robust processes are in place to ensure all expenditure is correctly spent."
As Mick Lynch (GS, RMT, retired) might say: "That is a lie."
There has NEVER been any accountability for the use of those funds, no audit records have ever been produced by the contract management teams to show how or if "all expenditure is correctly spent."
Unsurpsingly, with such generous sums up for grabs from the mysterious Whatever-Shall-We-Call-It-This-Time Fund, "The Cabinet Office has already accepted 500 voluntary exit scheme applications as part of its redundancy scheme, which was launched in December."
The TR money again could have been properly managed but for the union incompetence. Napo failed to agree a national redundancy agreement of any value as it went for the TR deal in haste and stupidity. The flood of variations offers from crcs attracted applications seeing staff take the money any money . One branch had absolute redundancy agreement locally that could not have been superseded by Tr agreement. Nonetheless staff took voluntarily lesser deals. Only those bright enough and confident stuck to their contracts and argued . Compulsory redundancies were where the enhanced rate could be negotiated in full. All those volunteers gave up their entitlements of protection because they were either greedy and stupid stop bleating the employers scheming was successful because too many agreed no one took a legal case . One real fool I was told about from a high up who volunteered then took up legal advice after the reduced payment impacting on pension having then pursued a legal challenge found there was no case.
DeleteAh, excellent. We're back to the "bright & courageous" throwing insults & abuse at those put in impossible situations by the moj, crc owners & the unions; those who were bullied & threatened & feared losing any payment of any kind by missing the boat & being managed out by the crc bullies. No union support meant many had nowhere to turn & with the clock ticking they were panicked into taking the voluntary severance once the crc bullies announced that numbers were close to being met (who knows if that were even true?).
DeleteI also heard about someone taking independent legal advice which, if I remember correctly, said they had a strong case but that the corporate legal eagles would delay & delay & protract matters for as long as possible... "could you cope with fighting the case over any number of years before being paid out; that's assuming you would win? And if you didn't win, how would you pay their costs?"
But hey, we're left with a handful of triumphalist bullies shouting "All hail those who were bright enough & confident... yah boo sucks to the bleating fools".
I guess that kinda sums up the world we now live in, the age of the aggressive foul-mouthed bully who disregards others, acts with impunity & is only concerned about their own wants & needs.
Similar happened in about 1988 when the national Occupational Pension laws changed and it was possible to replace what the Local Governement Pension scheme offered with a private arrangement - they were offering all sorts of inducements - I remained and fortunately I am still drawing my full occupational pension without fess etc. over 20 years after regrettably needing to apply for early retirement on medical grounds.
DeleteIt is about the only wise long term financial decision I have ever taken apart from buying a house with a mortgage from the bank I then worked at in 1970 within a gew months of becoming 21 - then I discovered I had already been tricked by a dodgy insurance salesman and greedy chief clerk when I had my first ever monthly pay in 1965 as the life policy I had bought on their advice was not as useful as I was told it would be in backing a mortgage loan - thereafter I made other wrong turns with mutual companies that then privatised and thus did not pay what I was led to expect - but as the song says -All my trials Lord will soon be over/ - the joan Baez version - "Verse 1]
Hush little baby, don't you cry
You know your mama was born to die
All my trials, Lord, soon be over"
I am alive today and so am grateful many do not survive infancy.
re the Thatcher pensions scam I saw this -(by 1988 probation was already centralising with SNOP - which was just the beginning and led to the over complicated national standards and offenderising clients in 1991 after which we were judged on breaching like never before.
https://digital.nls.uk/1980s/economics-employment/pensions/
From goodlawproject:
ReplyDelete"Wes Streeting has bagged another £58,000 from sources connected to the private health sector since taking over at the health department.
But what do his backers expect in return?"
Does anyone know who is backing mahmood? Or kia_starmer? Or any of the other tory-lite ministers?
Same old same old, power corrupts regardless of political persuasion.
Anyone know when we’ll get to read Anne’s essay?
ReplyDeletehttps://napomagazine.org.uk/announcement-of-winner-of-mike-guilfoyle-essay-prize/
don't get too excited if this is what the ccjs represents:
DeleteThe Independent Sentencing Review, published today, offers the potential for a fresh start, our Director, Richard Garside, has said.
"Fresh thinking is desperately needed, so I welcome the publication of David Gauke’s review. Nobody really believes that the government can build its way out of the prison capacity crisis, or that the current way of doing sentencing and prisons policy is desirable. The measures being recommended by the Gauke Review offer the potential for a fresh start."
gauke's review is a rehash of tired old political drivel, a rewrite of past gauke speeches, not fresh thinking; it simply inspired timpson & mahmood to throw money at tagging & further opportunities for incarceration in bigger shinier prisons.
Not exactly a "fresh start", is it?
It’s not worth reading tbh. Nothing to do with professionalism, more of a walk down rise tinted memory lane. If that was the winner I’d hate to see the others.
DeleteI struggled to find it, published in the comments section oddly with no references of bibliography so can’t really be called an essay..
https://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/reflections-meanings-professionalism-probation-practice
https://www.civilserviceworld.com/professions/article/spending-review-moj-prison-new-places-probation-funding
ReplyDelete"The Ministry of Justice has received £7bn in the Spending Review to build 14,000 new prison places.
HM Probation Service will meanwhile receive up to £700m in additional funding per year by 2028‑29
Through the Phase 2 settlement, MoJ will expand prison, probation and courts capacity to record levels alongside long-term reform to deliver a sustainable and effective justice system.
The government will make greater use of punishment outside of prison and encourage offenders to turn their backs on a life of crime
Earlier this month, the MoJ revealed it was setting up a new probation and reoffending directorate to bring policy work on the two areas closer together and respond to growing demand for the two services."
Link to 'red book' here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spending-review-2025-document/spending-review-2025-html
How to influence the direction of hmpps - or any govt dept or policy?
ReplyDeleteHave yourself a fancy dinner.
https://www.dgroup.co.uk/product/what-next-for-hm-prison-and-probation-service
https://www.dgroup.co.uk/events
https://www.mansionglobal.com/articles/london-s-grafton-street-ranked-most-expensive-in-the-u-k-120313
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cql0rd7npxno
ReplyDeleteA Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Lewis Bell.
"A review of what happened is under way and will be shared with his family."
The spokesperson claimed the commission of serious offences by those released was "incredibly rare", with "less than 0.5% of offenders under statutory supervision convicted of one".
"Each year there are usually around 500 individuals subject to probation supervision who are charged with serious further offences, however notably in 2023/2024 this number increased by 33 per cent to 770" - hmi probation data
Deletehttps://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/proven-reoffending-statistics-october-to-december-2022/serious-further-offences-annual
As at 30 September 2024, there were 287 offenders convicted of an SFO, resulting from 579 notifications received in 2022/23.
Total SFO notifications received in 2023/24 was 770.
In most years, between 50% to 60% of SFO notifications have resulted in a conviction of an SFO. For the remaining cases, charges are dropped, the offender is acquitted, or the offender is convicted of a less serious offence.
Between 2014/15 and 2016/17, annual SFO notifications and resulting convictions increased markedly... From 2016/17 the number of notifications decreased annually up to 2020/21. However, we have seen successive increases in notifications in the last three years, with the number of notifications in 2023/24 being the highest in the series.
As at 30 September 2024, there were 287 offenders convicted of an SFO, resulting from 579 notifications received in 2022/23 (compares with 288 convictions as at 30 September 2023 out of 528 notifications received in 2021/22)
"less than 0.5% of offenders under statutory supervision convicted of one"
Of the 579 notifications received in 2022/23, 287 had resulted in SFO convictions as at 30 September 2024. Of these convictions, 60 were for murder and 98 were for rape and other serious sexual offences. At the same time last year, there were 288 SFO convictions (59 for murder, 75 for rape and other serious sexual offences) from 528 notifications for 2021/22.
How moj & the media cherrypick facts:
Delete* The spokesperson claimed the commission of serious offences by those released was "incredibly rare", with "less than 0.5% of offenders under statutory supervision convicted of one".
Here's where that info came from:
https://hmiprobation.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/news/call-for-evidence-serious-further-offences-promoting-a-culture-of-learning-for-probation/
"SFOs are thankfully rare. In any year, less than 0.5 per cent of individuals under probation supervision are charged with a grave offence."
What the moj failed to add:
"However, the harm done by SFOs is of the highest order – SFOs encompass the most serious violent and sexual offences."
And most importantly [my capitalisation]:
"Learning from these cases SHOULD be a moral and strategic imperative for probation, but we have found that THERE ARE SIGNIFICANT BARRIERS to organisational and practitioner LEARNING and that there can be deficits in reviewing processes."
There is no learning in investigating overworked practitioners and throwing them under the bus. The outcome is always the same - blame the practitioners even if they’ve done nothing wrong, while senior managers are protected. Until probation rids itself of this “risk management and public protection” nonsense it’ll never change.
DeleteQ: are probation people too tired & exhausted to post here? Or maybe too frightened? Or maybe just have no interest anymore?
ReplyDeleteI appreciate JB is fighting health issues which are no doubt taking their toll, but he hasn't stopped publishing.
But what about you folks out in the field?
The world is a shitshow where death & greed abounds, but surely there must still be some half-decent souls hanging around?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002dlhx
There’s 90 comments above. Looks like peiole have been engaging to me. There’s many a blog post that could be created from much of the above.
Deletehttps://www.gov.uk/guidance/hmpps-accredited-programmes
ReplyDeleteProbation-based (11):
Becoming New Me + (BNM+)
Building Better Relationships (BBR)
Building Choices
Healthy Identity Intervention (HII)
Horizon
iHorizon
New Me Strengths (NMS)
Living as New Me (LNM)
Thinking Skills programme (TSP)
* Provider: HMPPS Interventions Services
Breaking Free: Health and Justice Package
* Provider: Breaking Free Online Ltd
Mentalization-based Treatment (MBT)
* Provider: HMPPS/NHS Offender Personality Disorder Team
Prison-based (18):
Alcohol Dependence Treatment programme (ADTP)
The Bridge programme
* Provider: The Forward Trust
Becoming New Me + (BNM+)
Healthy Identity Intervention (HII)
Building Better Relationships (BBR)
Building Choices
Healthy Sex programme (HSP)
Horizon
Identity Matters (IM)
Kaizen
Living as New Me
New Me Strengths
Thinking Skills programme (TSP)
* Provider: HMPPS Interventions Services
Breaking Free: Health and Justice Package (Custody)
* Provider: Breaking Free Online Ltd
Challenge to Change (C2C)
* Provider: Kainos Community
Control of Violence for Angry Impulsive Drinkers – Group Secure (COVAID-GS)
Control of Violence for Angry Impulsive Drinkers – Group Secure Women (COVAID-GSW)
* Provider: Delight Services
Democratic Therapeutic Community Model (DTC)
Therapeutic Communities Plus (TC+)
* Provider: HMPPS/NHS Offender Personality Disorder team
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66d1a106d107658faec7e3e5/Interventions_Guidance_2024_-_External_version_.pdf
ReplyDeleteParole Board guidance for members 2024
Laura Farris MP, Minister for Victims and Safeguarding
ReplyDeleteApril 2024
"Accredited programmes
Under the provisions set out by the Sentencing Act 2020, HMPPS currently offer 11 Accredited Programmes (see Annex A) that address offending behaviour and seek to improve decision-making, problem-solving skills, teach individuals how to self-manage and regulate emotions. The programmes vary in length, complexity, and mode of delivery to match the risk and need profile of distinct cohorts.
All of our work on Accredited Programmes is overseen by an independent panel of experts who attest to the fact that the work aligns to the best evidence of what works. Accredited Programmes should be offered to those who need them as part of the wider rehabilitative offer. However, Accredited Programmes are not the right answer for everyone. We offer a range of other rehabilitative activity, such as support for accommodation and employment, education and more. It is important to remember that programmes are not a “silver bullet” solution or “cure” to reoffending.
Beyond the programmes and services currently available, HMPPS are developing the Next Generation of Accredited Programmes (Next Gen) and Building Choices programme. The Next Generation of Accredited Programmes (Next Gen) is a change programme which aims to reform the current suite of Accredited Programmes to deliver a streamlined and more coherent service that realises important benefits across the system for all. Next Gen is informed by the latest international evidence and co-designed with delivery teams and those with lived experience. As part of the Next Gen change programme, a new rehabilitative programme provisionally called Building Choices is under development. Building Choices addresses both offence-specific and wider offending behaviour risks and needs to target the versatility of offending behaviour using a person-centred approach."
https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/44418/documents/220757/default/
https://prisonjobs.blog.gov.uk/2024/08/13/training-to-be-a-programme-facilitator/
ReplyDeletehttps://prisonjobs.blog.gov.uk/2024/08/27/programme-facilitator-core-skills-and-job-insights/
https://prisonjobs.blog.gov.uk/2025/06/02/from-the-frontline-to-probation-how-my-army-training-shaped-my-career-in-the-probation-service/