Monday saw the Howard League hold an online discussion in their Spotlight series devoted to the government's Sentencing Bill. The event was hosted by Director of Campaigns, Andrew Neilson and the panel included:
- Martin Jones, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Probation.
- Helen Schofield, Chief Executive of the Probation Institute.
- Tania Bassett, Napo National Official.
- Gaie Delap, a retired teacher who was jailed for her part in a Just Stop Oil protest and later recalled to prison because none of the electronic tracking devices available to the Ministry of Justice were small enough to fit her wrist.
The government has high expectations for its Sentencing Bill, now being scrutinised in Parliament, claiming that its measures will ensure prisons in England and Wales never run out of space again.
But what will this legislation mean for the probation service, which has faced many turbulent challenges over the course of the last decade and must now brace itself for more change?
With proposals that could see people being released from prison earlier in their sentences, combined with more electronic monitoring, changes to unpaid work, the imposition of restriction zones, and curbs on driving and attending public events, the Bill puts an even greater burden on a vital public service already grappling with huge caseloads. Will the promise of £700 million in additional funding be enough?
But what will this legislation mean for the probation service, which has faced many turbulent challenges over the course of the last decade and must now brace itself for more change?
With proposals that could see people being released from prison earlier in their sentences, combined with more electronic monitoring, changes to unpaid work, the imposition of restriction zones, and curbs on driving and attending public events, the Bill puts an even greater burden on a vital public service already grappling with huge caseloads. Will the promise of £700 million in additional funding be enough?
£700 million?
ReplyDeleteIf you're driving in the wrong direction, it doesn't really matter how much petrol you put in the tank.
You still end up in the wrong place.
'Getafix
And £700million for what exactly? Devil is in the detail and they won't say. Tagging is now Probation, the CRS referrals are Probation (whoever wrote there contracts should be fired by the way!), buildings & maintenance of Probation offices, Pay increase for Probation, if any. Hell, im pretty sure they could divert half of it to pay for more Prison Officers and they frame it as helping Probation.
DeletePointless rhetoric, preaching to the converted and consoling the disillusioned.
ReplyDeleteWhere are the voices of the “dedicated” probation officers and managers we desperately need to hear? Where is the blunt, unflinching condemnation addressed directly to the Justice Minister and Lord Chancellor?
It would be more than welcome if Martin Jones, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Probation, used his next Guardian piece to read, reference and respond to
“Monday, 22 September 2025 — Dear Mr Jones”
https://probationmatters.blogspot.com/2025/09/dear-mr-jones.html?m=1
He's the key speaker at Napo AGM of course later this month.
ReplyDeleteYes part of a very unimpressive line up which will be full of rhetoric, preaching to the converted and consoling the disillusioned. All are part of the problem not the solution, Napo included.
Deletehttps://napomagazine.org.uk/agm-2025-a-programme-full-of-voices-debate-and-inspiration/
“key speaker”? He openly derides probation officers as not up to the job, then shamelessly flatters the very managers who’ve run the service into the ground. And Napo? An utter farce. The AGM is nothing but a paid circus with members funding a dysfunctional union that long since squandered every ounce of credibility.
DeleteJB rightly says he is clearing up poor entries and I confess to writing a Napo critique in annoyance of sheep to the market. Napo compliance and some soundbite of sheep. It didn't get published and I cannot complain it was irrelevant.
DeleteI should have said what you say and wholly agree long since squandered and I think we could all put our finger on when. The problem is Napo have presided over so many failings yet the GS & his company of supporters have no idea how to manage his failing. That the officers and chairs for not understand they are out representatives as his boss. He needs to be managed tasked and completed to deliver. Yet I see no accounting record for a union that operates virtually these days. There will not be a report on the successful implementation of last year's motions accountability is brushed out.
A circus with a magic show... apparently the invisible woman will be there... Kim Thornden-Edwards, Chief Probation Officer, HMPPS (or will she?)
DeleteOoh, lookie here:
Deletehttps://www.tickettailor.com/events/hmppsinsights25/1819355
Coffee and chat with Kim Thornden-Edwards, Chief Probation Officer for England and Wales
Tue 25 Nov 2025 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM GMT
Online, *Online MS Teams
Enter the Draw
This is an opportunity for a small group of individuals to meet Kim for an informal discussion to discuss her leadership journey and current role
Kim Thornden-Edwards is the Chief Probation Officer for England and Wales and a senior leader at Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS). The Probation Service employs around 21,000 staff working, in 11 regions and Wales, and includes the National Security Division which manages the highest risk offenders including those with terrorist offences.
Kim joined the Civil Service in June 2021 to work within the Probation Workforce Programme, taking on the role of Programme Director in November of the same year. The programme was part of a major change initiative, aimed at improving the capacity and capability of the probation workforce.
Before this, Kim was the Managing Director of Interserve Justice, a private sector provider delivering a range of government contracts for Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRC) and Prison Industries. Kim was the Senior Responsible Officer for Interserve on Probation Unification – a complex and large-scale transfer of 1,600 staff from the private sector to the civil service.
Kim qualified as a Probation Officer in Kent in 1996 and has spent her career in and around probation and criminal justice. She has held senior operational positions, including Head of Operations at Greater Manchester CRC and Chief Executive of Hampshire CRC.
Enter the draw by 24 October for a chance to attend this event. The lucky winner(s) will be notified by 31 October.
This event is open to staff who work in the Criminal Justice System only. Please register with your work email address. You will be asked to confirm your role and organisation at checkout. We may need to ask you to provide additional verification.
https://rm.coe.int/thornden-edwards-kim-capacity-management-for-prison-and-probation-in-e/488028b205
DeletePresentation to Council of Europe earlier this year
Also, another exciting moment presents itself:
Shadow Kim Thornden-Edwards, Chief Probation Officer, and her team
Tue 25 Nov 2025 10:30 AM - 4:00 PM
102 Petty France, London, SW1H 9AJ
Enter the Draw
Overview
This is an opportunity for 1 person to shadow Kim Thornden-Edwards, Chief Probation Officer, for the day at 102 Petty France, London.
The day will begin with an opportunity to attend a Recruitment Taskforce Meeting with Kim. You will then join Kim at a separate Insights event where she will meet online with a small group of staff to talk about her leadership journey. You will then have the opportunity to shadow one of Kim's Deputy Directors in the afternoon. Subject to change and availability.
I’d enter a draw NOT to be picked!
DeleteI’m being serious here, what exactly is “exciting” about spending a day with a career civil servant? Thornden-Edwards doesn’t have much rep from within, no real media presence, and probation performance has deteriorated under her leadership. I don’t see why this is being shared here, especially when many in this space are openly anti-establishment. It comes across as propaganda more than anything else. Then again, the Napo AGM has her as a speaker, proof that probation still gladly suffers fools.
DeleteAnon 15:16 "I don’t see why this is being shared here, especially when many in this space are openly anti-establishment." Irony?
DeleteIrony? Jim Brown, surely not on your watch? How dare you! Maybe its a serious attempt to distract from the anti-genocide protests in London (which out PM doesn't want in case campaigning against genocide upsets the Jewish community... uh?) Or a smokescreen for other things which might be happening around the globe? Or maybe its kte herself secretly posting, trying to rustle up some interest? Or maybe - just maybe, mind, please don't quote me or let napo know my membership number - its utter despair at the total bollocks we have to put up with day after day, hour after hour.
DeleteJust a wild random thought.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-taser-approved-for-uk-police-forces-to-protect-public
ReplyDeleteAxon’s Taser 10 model is more effective than previous devices, being able to fire at greater distances, with better handling and improved safety mechanisms to reduce the risk of injury to both members of the public and police officers. The device can fire up to 10 single probes and the officer can determine where each individual probe is fired, unlike previous devices.
The device also provides an auditory warning, ***IF*** activated by the officer before firing, alerting the public and serving as a deterrent to offenders.
The device is now available for purchase by forces
Axon say "Taser 10 – supported by immersive VR (virtual reality) training – is a vital part of the technology toolkit alongside body-worn video and real-time digital evidence management"
Huzzah!
It's all very sad. TR no doubt was intended to annihilate the original ethos and purpose of probation, not least by the shedding of experienced staff allocated to CRCs. All this destruction to make way for shiny new enforcement policies/ethos designed to pander to a certain type of voter and create new markets. I've followed this blog for many years - it is documenting the dying breath of a profession searching for individuals with influence to use it in the right way, but it's a lost battle?
ReplyDeleteThis blog has been documenting not the dying but the serial as in twists turns. This record archive is unique. JB runs a truly independent record of what we say. A collective of subjective first hand dismay. Accounts of misery and glimmers of victories. Insights shared. Detection on the truths and snooping over the Napo lies scandals and hideaways . Blog OP provides a genuine direction of moods confidence morale that we have not seen from Napo or employers. No records only distortions to an audience Napo needs money from employers seeking to exploit. This blog has enabled the fighting built up confidence redirected energies and gave us morale back. It has guided the fools in the union only to see them make a mess of great strategies. The information on here is sourced by academics and used by the home office on how to plan for and against us. I know this blog has been a restraint on employers conducts for fear of the views their treatment would receive should it be discussed here. It has protected us more than the incompetence of Napo. This blog is the independent record long may it continue.
DeleteFor over 12 months it is likely that the move to Correctional Service UK has been in the planning. A correctional agency is not concerned with reducing re-offending by working with offenders in order to identify their specific needs but simply exists to enforce…….remove all PO reasons to stop enforcing and then become a community arm of Police uk. This is the end state that TR has really been about………why else would the MoJ go on a jolly to Texas to ‘learn’ from them?
ReplyDelete
Deletehttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/10/03/violent-criminals-freed-early-without-parole-board-checks/
https://www.napo.org.uk/probation-unions-warn-prisoner-early-release-scheme-short-term-solution
Probation Unions warn that Prisoner Early Release scheme is a short-term solution
DeleteNapo, the largest union representing staff working in the probation Service, was part of a delegation who met with the Lord Chancellor Shabana Mahmood and James Timpson OBE, Minister for Prisons, Parole and Probation yesterday.
The meeting was convened in response to an urgent request from the probation trade unions who claim that their members are under intolerable pressure due to the combination of inadequate pay and unsustainable workloads which have been exacerbated by the Early Release (ECSL) scheme enacted by the last Government.
The Secretary of State provided a preview of her Government’s intentions to reduce the time that Prisoners serve on Standard Determinate Sentences (SDS) to 40% from the current 50%, and to suspend the current ECSL early release scheme which has attracted substantial criticism from prison and probation staff.
It seems likely that the new scheme will come into effect in September on a phased basis, and is intended to increase the time for the necessary administration by Prison Staff and risk assessment by Probation Staff to take place within a 6 week period before an individual’s release.
Unions gave a cautious welcome to the policy, but took the opportunity to express the immediate impact of this change on already hard pressed staff across the whole of the Probation Service. In addition, it was forcefully pointed out that what is really needed is a comprehensive investment package to restore the Probation Service to the standards that existed prior to its wilful neglect by the previous Government.
After welcoming the new Ministerial team to their appointments, Napo General Secretary said: “whilst appreciating the warm words from the Secretary of State about the work undertaken by probation staff, and the commitment to an improved service, these alone will not cut it for our members, who expect a new Government to show them the respect they deserve by agreeing to reopen pay negotiations now.”
It was also pointed out by Napo and UNISON representatives that they have a mandate to move towards potential industrial action, but that both unions are prioritising the need for positive engagement to produce meaningful outcomes for their members.
The Secretary of State agreed to consider the points that had been raised by the trade unions during the meeting and indicated a willingness to engage further on the other key issues that had been the subject of previous correspondence.
Says nothing . There is no mandate for action it's Napo crap. Members see you Napo . Distortion and emphasis shifting when you have nothing but the word potential. Absolute nonsense. The biggest union of probation workers what's the proportions then.
DeleteThe Secretary of State agreed to consider the points that had been raised
DeleteThen promptly ignored the m. What a crap thing to say of course the agree by attendance to hear listen. It amounts to nothing.
why do napo never bother to date their articles?
DeleteAnon 09:14 You have no idea how many times I've asked myself the very same question!
DeleteLammy in 2017:
ReplyDeleteLammy said that while BAME people made up just 14% of the UK population, 25% of prisoners were from BAME backgrounds, a figure that rose to 40% for young offenders in custody. According to the review – conducted with the support of the Ministry of Justice – just 6% of prison officers are from BAME backgrounds, a situation Lammy said “only serves to accentuate the divide between those who enforce the rules and those who must comply with them”.
https://www.civilserviceworld.com/professions/article/hm-prison-probation-service-urged-to-hike-bame-senior-staff-levels
Lammy's full report here:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a82009040f0b62305b91f49/lammy-review-final-report.pdf
On page 59: Chief Inspectors of Prison and Probation - "If through the Gate services were removed tomorrow, in our view the impact on the resettlement of prisoners would be negligible"
Has anything changed?
Watched the U tube and can't say it's helpful. A waffle shop of the Pi and amazing round trip in fuel 250 miles to visit a stop oil tag protester. This added 10 gallons unnecessarily to fuel oil so had she not protested would have saved a tonne of carbon. Ridiculous and hardly representative of the sort of offenders we manage. Napo oh dear god groan groan. Martin Jones read his script and if you can read the play he will do what he says he is going to. He sounding out but won't be dissuaded. Waste of time not recommended.
ReplyDelete“Humiliation”. That guest blog nailed it. The HMIP, Probation Institute and Napo line-up didn’t even scratch the surface. This empty commentary is all probation gets now. Probation isn’t “under pressure”. Those in charge act with impunity, and the past decade proves it.
Deletehttps://probationmatters.blogspot.com/2025/09/guest-blog-104.html?m=1
Skipped through in 2 minutes. Over an hour of rubbish. Usual all-white panel with weak words. Don’t waste your time viewing.
ReplyDeleteI did the hour plus it was awful. Napo quoted what her boss has said as if everyone would appreciate something but it just slumped . No way did I get any message of coherence to an agenda action or agreements from anyone and why on earth was the oil protester there. I won't get the hour back.
Delete1239 you heard of labelling theory ? Not on the muvkeybmoyse pqip
ReplyDeleteIt was bullet points what's your point. What is labelling then. You mean a price tag.
DeleteWhat does this mean?
Delete