tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post2878105415045184408..comments2024-03-29T06:40:58.606+00:00Comments on On Probation Blog: Where Did It All Go Wrong?Jim Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00258147767051200157noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-65752019614249520332017-05-02T23:29:04.885+01:002017-05-02T23:29:04.885+01:00Totally off topic, but the article (and associated...Totally off topic, but the article (and associated links) makes fascinating reading. But it also makes the blood boil! <br /><br />https://www.thepileus.com/opinion/privatisation-russia-bbc-call-corruption/<br /><br />'Getafix Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-4698296840089727712017-05-02T19:45:44.575+01:002017-05-02T19:45:44.575+01:00So it was a doddle for everyone sifted to the crc....So it was a doddle for everyone sifted to the crc.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-75633662178682302412017-05-02T17:11:57.902+01:002017-05-02T17:11:57.902+01:00I see that one of things the Labour Party are prom...I see that one of things the Labour Party are promising in this Election is the return to sector based collective bargaining. This, of course, is as a result of pressure from trade unions. Except for NAPO top table who want to go the other way. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-35447233776225076122017-05-02T14:48:34.180+01:002017-05-02T14:48:34.180+01:00it all went wrong the day i became a civil serpent...it all went wrong the day i became a civil serpent :(Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-34632551344768889452017-05-02T12:49:29.031+01:002017-05-02T12:49:29.031+01:00FT.
The government has spent more than £11 milli...FT. <br /><br />The government has spent more than £11 million on utility bills for empty prisons over the past five years.<br /><br />The Ministry of Justice has paid £11,241,261 to provide heating, water and electricity to defunct prisons since 2012.<br /><br />The figures were revealed by Sam Gyimah, the prisons minister, in a written parliamentary answer.<br /><br />The government has closed a dozen jails since 2012 as ministers try to modernise the prison estate. Some, such as Shepton Mallet prison, which first opened as a jail in 1625, have been sold to developers but the rest remain owned by the government.<br /><br />Mr Gyimah said that the heating and electricity in defunct prisons was kept at a level necessary for the buildings’ upkeep: “Where the Ministry of Justice has closed prisons,…<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-1042418414627844942017-05-02T09:31:27.854+01:002017-05-02T09:31:27.854+01:00At some point a case of corporate manslaughter is ...At some point a case of corporate manslaughter is enevitable. Will this be the one? <br /><br />https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/may/02/call-for-inquiry-over-unbroken-patten-of-deaths-at-prison<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-32515569994496901862017-05-01T19:31:06.161+01:002017-05-01T19:31:06.161+01:00Where there's blame, there's a claim.
Sta...Where there's blame, there's a claim.<br /><br />Start checking your professional indemnity & public liability policies folks.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-51189100546775271532017-05-01T14:10:55.192+01:002017-05-01T14:10:55.192+01:00My balls burst along time ago but I have to fix th...My balls burst along time ago but I have to fix them and pump them up before I head off to work each day. However they tend to be deflated again by the end of the day. Puncturevrepair kits will only go so far. What we need in CRC are a brand new set of balls and less of the bollocks we have now.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-42716773719451661892017-05-01T13:58:42.470+01:002017-05-01T13:58:42.470+01:00The whole Criminal Justice System has been a polit...The whole Criminal Justice System has been a political football for so long and kicked about so much the ball is now burst. <br />Now no-one wants to play with a burst ball. <br />Given the crisis that exists, whether probation or prisons or courts I think it very telling that no party has even mentioned crime or punishment during this election campaign. <br />Match postponed? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-4867527546172268572017-05-01T13:30:41.875+01:002017-05-01T13:30:41.875+01:00In short, this new breach legislation means if you...In short, this new breach legislation means if you work for an underperforming CRC or NPS then anything that could lead to breach or recall is YOUR fault not the offender!! <br /><br />On the other hand we do accept this type of thinking when applied to underperforming schools and hospitals!! <br /><br />Taking it a bit further, should every released prison be able to blame their underperforming releasing prison every time they're arrested?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-975721218606707402017-05-01T13:23:44.221+01:002017-05-01T13:23:44.221+01:00Public recognition that probation is a failure, an...Public recognition that probation is a failure, and badly managed. And this means every solicitor in the land will advise to contest the breach and will win on the basis ...<br /><br />"My client is supervised by the underperforming and under resourced NPS / CRC and cannot be considered to be at fault. Please see latest inspection report and released media articles for information".<br /><br />As soon as the precedent is set for community orders, this will be applied to recall oral hearings too.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-48614847442218934942017-05-01T12:38:22.025+01:002017-05-01T12:38:22.025+01:00"and any shortfall in the quality of supervis..."and any shortfall in the quality of supervision by probation services which may have contributed to the likelihood of a breach...." <br /><br />Both acknowledgement and acceptance that probation services are in such dire straights. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-13851911304040045132017-05-01T12:17:54.325+01:002017-05-01T12:17:54.325+01:00Draft New sentencing guidelines include this
"...Draft New sentencing guidelines include this<br />"Breach of a Community Order<br />The guideline should remind sentencers to consider the offender’s individual circumstances, including the reasons for the breach taking place and any shortfall in the quality of supervision by probation services which may have contributed to the likelihood of a breach...." Just makes me want to weepanonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15359540301847252660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-27351745533820110602017-05-01T10:36:42.249+01:002017-05-01T10:36:42.249+01:00These two articles just seem to go together.
www...These two articles just seem to go together. <br /><br />www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2017/05/why-are-community-sentences-going-out-fashion<br /><br />http://metro.co.uk/2017/05/01/the-rise-in-prison-suicides-is-not-surprising-even-overcrowded-jails-can-be-lonely-places-6602084/<br /><br />'Getafix Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-39584642521920838282017-04-30T18:51:09.042+01:002017-04-30T18:51:09.042+01:00Now that would be a day to celebrate! Scotland has...Now that would be a day to celebrate! Scotland has the upper hand.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-48120584076210386632017-04-30T16:28:37.677+01:002017-04-30T16:28:37.677+01:00I think that's great. And the EU has just told...I think that's great. And the EU has just told the UK that in order to retain the same level of cooperation on security issues the UK will have to accept the jurisdiction of the European Court! And the Tories are engaged at the moment with a festering internal argument because 10 Tories have been hand picked to sit in safe seats that haven't been selected in the normal way! <br />And let's not forget that some Torie MPs could be about to be prosecuted for illegally funded campaigns! <br />Wouldn't it be great to see their faces if JC actually did win the election? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-72539042434732321982017-04-30T15:29:32.190+01:002017-04-30T15:29:32.190+01:00From The Canary April 28th:-
Weeks before the gen...From The Canary April 28th:-<br /><br />Weeks before the general election, Scotland sends an almighty f*ck you to the Tories<br /><br />The Scottish government has just essentially fired all the private companies involved in benefit assessments. And coming weeks before the general election, the timing couldn’t be worse for the UK government.<br /><br />Jog on<br /><br />Holyrood is banning companies like Atos, Capita and Maximus from carrying out Scotland’s benefit assessments. Instead, the Scottish government will carry out assessments through its new Social Security agency. The Scotland Act, drawn up following the country’s 2014 referendum, gives Holyrood a new raft of powers. And the Scottish government is setting up the Social Security agency as part of those reforms.<br /><br />Speaking about the ban on private companies, Social Security Minister Jeane Freeman said:<br /><br />One of our fundamental principles is that profit should never be a motive nor play any part in assessing or making decisions on people’s health and eligibility for benefits…<br /><br />We are building a system based on dignity and respect – this means an assessment process which isn’t demeaning or deliberately difficult.<br /><br />I am very clear that assessments should not be carried out by the private sector and I want to give people in Scotland this assurance as we take forward our new social security agency.<br />Pauline McNeill, social justice spokeswoman for Scottish Labour, applauded the plans. She said:<br /><br />People across Scotland have often suffered humiliating and damaging treatment at the hands of profit-driven companies – and it is absolutely right that will be brought to an end.<br />Good riddance<br /><br />Private companies’ involvement with the benefit assessment system and the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) is controversial. Initially administered by Atos, and later Maximus, the WCA decides the fate of benefit claimants. And private companies have raked in millions for carrying them out.<br /><br />In 2011, however, the Department of Work and Pensions’ (DWP) own figures showed that, during an 11-month period, 10,600 people died within or during a six-week period of undergoing the WCA. Studies have linked the test to hundreds of suicides, and thousands of cases of mental illness.<br /><br />Meanwhile, stories of how the DWP and these companies treat and assess claimants are shocking. Such as the DWP informing a dead woman she was too healthy for payments. Or interrogating a 7/7 survivor for ‘proof’ he had disabilities. Or declaring a woman ‘fit for work’ who can’t read, write, walk or talk. And assessors asking people why they haven’t killed themelves yet during assessments. The list goes on and on.<br /><br />Overhaul, not tweaks<br /><br />Of course, private companies’ involvement in the system isn’t the only issue. The UK currently has a government that has chosen for the system to work this way. But getting the profit motive out of assessments is a very productive step. It’s not one, however, that the Conservative government is likely to take.Jim Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00258147767051200157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-34222683188941955702017-04-30T11:49:04.703+01:002017-04-30T11:49:04.703+01:00Hacking things to pieces with the idea that auster...Hacking things to pieces with the idea that austerity driven innovation and creativity, that only a profit orientated market in services could provide, would enable the sum of those part to coalesce once again as somehow greater or equal to the once whole always seemed bonkers to me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-91085013079799709252017-04-30T11:44:58.426+01:002017-04-30T11:44:58.426+01:00The race to replace Liz Truss as Justice Secretary...The race to replace Liz Truss as Justice Secretary is already under way as allies of potential candidates anticipate a post-election reshuffle. <br /><br />Tory MPs have said that Ms Truss, who has repeatedly clashed with the judiciary, is “on borrowed time” and are discussing the merits of her possible replacements. <br /><br />Sir Oliver Heald, the justice minister, is seen as well placed given he has the trust of the judiciary after more than two decades of experience as a barrister and QC. <br /><br />Also considered frontrunners are Jeremy Wright, the Attorney General, and Dominic Grieve, chairman of the Commons Intelligence and Security Committee.<br /><br />Ms Truss has been involved in a series of damaging public rows with senior judges who questioned her suitability for the role of Lord Chancellor, the head of the judiciary. <br /><br />She has also been criticised over rising violence in Britain’s prisons and increasing probate fees on estates since taking over the Justice Department last July. <br /><br />A senior Tory told The Telegraph: “The general mood is that I don’t think people would be surprised if she went. She is on borrowed time.<br /><br />“There have been too many clashes with the judiciary. There is a sense she hasn’t got the weight and punch that you would expect in that job.” <br /><br />“She is a perfectly competent minister but in this particular role you need more than that.”<br /><br />Concerns are being raised about the suitability of Mr Wright, the Government’s most senior legal adviser, given his record as prisons minister under David Cameron. <br /><br />The number of prison guards was slashed when he held the role while a clampdown on sending books to prisons – which triggered a damaging public row – also happened under his watch. <br /><br />Sir Oliver, who was solicitor general , is seen by MPs as an “experienced barrister” who “knows the legal system through and through” and can heal the rift that has emerged under Ms Truss. <br /><br />He has been an MP since 1992 and held a series of front bench roles for the Conservatives under numerous party leaders. <br /><br />Mr Grieve, a former attorney general, is also being talked up but is believed to have clashed with Mrs May during her time at the Home Office. <br /><br />Allies of Ms Truss dismissed the speculation, saying no one should “put their money” on her being moved after the snap election. Jim Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00258147767051200157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-40876740749552764262017-04-30T10:46:27.380+01:002017-04-30T10:46:27.380+01:00You know it's broken beyond repair when the br...You know it's broken beyond repair when the broadsheets are carrying articles about the justice Secretary getting the boot even before the election has been run. <br />I don't think there's any doubt she'll go, but I'm not enthused by the possible replacements being flagged up. <br />Infact, I can't think of any member of the current government that's up to improving the system. Maybe Grayling could find himself back in the hot seat??? <br /><br />http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/29/justice-secretary-liz-truss-borrowed-time-rivals-eye-post-election/<br /><br />' Getafix <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-76589041646373613372017-04-30T10:41:31.312+01:002017-04-30T10:41:31.312+01:00My social work qualification has served me well fo...My social work qualification has served me well for 20 plus years. So much of what we do IS social work and will always be social work if we actually want to stand a chance in moving people away from crime. Bring back the social work qualification with probation emphasis and placements. Scotland were very wise to hold firm and avoid trying to fix what isn't broken! Would be great to hear from some colleagues in Scotland.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-89205566624369075762017-04-30T10:01:35.816+01:002017-04-30T10:01:35.816+01:00Where did it all go wrong? Well Labour started to ...Where did it all go wrong? Well Labour started to drive for privatisation and the Tories sealed the deal. Then Chis Grayling, the Ministry of Justice and the Probation Chief Officer group made it all happen.<br /><br />Why this push to give probation to PCC's and the Mayor? This 'Thinktank' stinks of the usual backhanders and corruption. Probation was doing fine until it was privatised. We all know that private-run Community Rehabilitation Companies are only after the money. To create profit the CRC's have continually reduced their capacity for delivering community sentences properly. <br /><br />The state-run National Probation Service is no better as it has dumbed-down probation as opposed to effectively resourcing it. Pre-Sentence Reports are mostly now a few pages or spoken on-the-day, qualified probation officers have been replaced by unqualified PSO staff and workers are leaving hand over fist. Where's the think tank report on why probation officers are not qualified social workers as they are in Scotland and the Youth Service, why probation staff being paid peanuts, that the majority no longer recognise the job and nobody knows what a RAR is!!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com