tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post471323003709326597..comments2024-03-28T20:12:43.003+00:00Comments on On Probation Blog: Guest Blog 34Jim Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00258147767051200157noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-51645078748540665712015-04-02T23:32:47.102+01:002015-04-02T23:32:47.102+01:00Pf has no involvement in new codes on ndelius. The...Pf has no involvement in new codes on ndelius. The position on restructuring is in the FAQs on their website. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-63815306285839019182015-04-02T03:22:32.056+01:002015-04-02T03:22:32.056+01:00The criminal damage done to the service, as predic...The criminal damage done to the service, as predicted by many, has created a situation where risk assessments are being skewed leading to arguments across the divide. With eyes now firmly off the ball, the chances of further sonnex-like situations increase. TR is tearing down the previous infrastructure of public protection.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-63395972883084004742015-04-01T23:48:32.005+01:002015-04-01T23:48:32.005+01:00The uk will go off on one this summer. All the ing...The uk will go off on one this summer. All the ingredients are there - anger, resentment, people feeling ignored, the bleating of ovine politicians desperate to get elected, overcrowded jails, inexperienced agencies trying to cope with the disenfranchised in the community...<br /><br />... Be prepared. Check you're up to date with your insurance, fire extinguishers are working & cultivate a friend who lives in the countryside with a spare room or two and who thinks folks from the city are cool.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-45448736739198719682015-04-01T23:26:57.434+01:002015-04-01T23:26:57.434+01:00and so it continues 22:27. IT that hinders and det...and so it continues 22:27. IT that hinders and detracts rather than assists and actively contributes if not directly causes inefficiency; Over worked , experienced and inexperienced staff. Courts releasing people before recall action is completed and cell staff legally unable to detain people. Law and expectations changed with little if any notice; amendments following fast behind due to error. Committed and concerned people desperately trying to keep it going as the systems and processes fracture . Those responsible for managing the whole thing ...well does it need to be said.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-59794424858490129552015-04-01T23:07:29.916+01:002015-04-01T23:07:29.916+01:00Whoever makes Quetiapine seems to be making a prof...Whoever makes Quetiapine seems to be making a profit..the current liquid cosh ??Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-51598777482793189192015-04-01T22:46:15.634+01:002015-04-01T22:46:15.634+01:00I agree with you about John Smith but the t...I agree with you about John Smith but the tories have done nothing for the people on the ground.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-36114529534335985952015-04-01T22:41:44.865+01:002015-04-01T22:41:44.865+01:00Anon 18:59 what planet are you on. Have we not had...Anon 18:59 what planet are you on. Have we not had enough from the powers that be telling us we must be positive. Where has that got us.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-88664861072683156402015-04-01T22:33:11.806+01:002015-04-01T22:33:11.806+01:00There's not been a meaningful Labour governmen...There's not been a meaningful Labour government since 1979, and the only prospect of such died with John Smith.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-47799989762864111482015-04-01T22:29:28.206+01:002015-04-01T22:29:28.206+01:00Active population management strategy in many Loca...Active population management strategy in many Locals, esp on remand wings.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-19521417807936275302015-04-01T22:27:50.377+01:002015-04-01T22:27:50.377+01:00No coincidence that the conservatives were in powe...No coincidence that the conservatives were in power at the time of the Strangeways riot.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-78729539895328449692015-04-01T22:27:04.289+01:002015-04-01T22:27:04.289+01:00A trip down memory lane with Marcel Berlins, Guard...A trip down memory lane with Marcel Berlins, Guardian 2009:<br /><br />"I feel a little sorry for the probation service. They took most of the blame for the fact that Dano Sonnex was at liberty to perpetrate the horrific murder of two French students in their London flat in June 2008. It is accepted that there were failures at every step of the criminal justice system, but too much has been attributed to probation errors.<br /><br />This raises an important issue: by starving the probation service of the funding needed to do its job, how much is the government responsible?<br /><br />Somewhere along the way, for reasons not necessarily the probation service's fault, Sonnex was classified as a medium risk rather than the obviously high risk he was. That undervaluation of his dangerousness led to his file being dealt with by a low-level, inexperienced, very overworked offender manager rather than by experienced specialists.<br /><br />Other mistakes followed, many the result of admittedly poor management in the London probation area handling the case. In addition, magistrates, through a misunderstanding, released Sonnex on bail even though they knew that steps were being taken to recall him to prison. Finally, the police took two weeks to go to Sonnex's family home to get him. He had committed the murders a few hours before.<br /><br />However the blame is apportioned, the government's treatment of the probation service is once again in question. Probation officers feel strongly that they are being asked to perform a difficult and sensitive job - aimed at the safety and protection of the public - without the resources and funding needed.<br /><br />Yet when an offender under supervision commits a serious crime, the probation service gets the flak. With more and more freed prisoners being subject to probation, as well as more offenders being sentenced to community punishments entailing supervision, the workload on probation officers is increasing, without a commensurate growth in their numbers or other resources. Jack Straw, speaking after the Sonnex trial and revealing the findings of two independent inquiries into what had gone wrong, rejected that argument. "Probation spending has increased 70% in real terms in the past 12 years. The fundamental problems - as the independent reports emphasise - were managerial."<br /><br />That last may have been so in the particular circumstances of the Sonnex case (and the chief of probation of London paid the price by resigning) but Straw's broader point is disputed. Napo, the probation union, claims that much of the extra money allocated to probation was wasted on an IT system that didn't work. Moreover, the government has announced savage cuts in probation expenditure, says Napo. The government says the cuts will be modest.<br /><br />Whatever the detailed validity of the financial complaints, the probation service feels frustrated, undervalued, under-respected and inadequately funded. Everything I have heard and been told recently suggests there is good reason for dissatisfaction. Probation is a hugely important part of our criminal justice system, especially as it is so closely tied to public safety. It deserves greater appreciation - and proper funding."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-49482489331138536822015-04-01T22:26:34.053+01:002015-04-01T22:26:34.053+01:00i agree but who controls how the prisoners get dru...i agree but who controls how the prisoners get drugs. If they are stoned out of their head are they really likely to cause any resistance?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-72497693656059999662015-04-01T22:16:56.508+01:002015-04-01T22:16:56.508+01:00i'm very surprised it hasn't - maybe the f...i'm very surprised it hasn't - maybe the fact prisoners are allegedly too stoned/pissed out their brains renders them unmotivated to do anything like that again.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-1305961416695123892015-04-01T21:33:13.006+01:002015-04-01T21:33:13.006+01:00BBC2 now - the story of the Strangeways riot years...BBC2 now - the story of the Strangeways riot years ago - horrendous. Could it happen again?...MLnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-3867835841881221472015-04-01T21:25:39.294+01:002015-04-01T21:25:39.294+01:00Guardian Letters Today - Helen Schofield Past Napo...Guardian Letters Today - Helen Schofield Past Napo Chair - current Greater London Napo Chair - Pat Waterman and two emeritus professors all have letters published about different aspects of the Sodexo/Nacro staff cuts news<br /><br />http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/apr/01/sodexo-prison-kiosks?CMP=share_btn_twAndrew_S_Hattonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09115192522317353139noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-1474314951838107772015-04-01T21:25:25.437+01:002015-04-01T21:25:25.437+01:00Its apparently exactly the same in HMP Northumberl...Its apparently exactly the same in HMP Northumberland (also Sodexo run prison). Drugs are an issue always. To be fair some of our public run prisons also have similar issues, also down to cut in staff (like HMP Durham). I drug tested a release who tested positive - admitted used two days before his release.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-74431004129277539962015-04-01T21:13:16.476+01:002015-04-01T21:13:16.476+01:00lets hope other contract areas do the same. We ne...lets hope other contract areas do the same. We need to back our colleagues who fall into the Sodexo areas though and give what ever support we can to protect them - and no I am thankfully not in sodexo area - but this could be any of us at any point now or in the future.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-35925075592511691932015-04-01T20:25:46.946+01:002015-04-01T20:25:46.946+01:00NPS, aided by Prof Grubin, have invested a huge ch...NPS, aided by Prof Grubin, have invested a huge chunk of resources into the polygraph. We had a puff piece by some NOMS numpty about the availability of NPS's own specially trained lie detectorors - coming to interrogate a sex offender near you!!!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-71585128591814964492015-04-01T19:59:20.112+01:002015-04-01T19:59:20.112+01:00Whatever they want, apparentlyWhatever they want, apparentlyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-75528476174962360512015-04-01T19:58:48.517+01:002015-04-01T19:58:48.517+01:00Yeah - I am gonna resign from the NPS and look for...Yeah - I am gonna resign from the NPS and look for a vacancy in Sodexo CRCs..<br /><br /><br />oh, hang on....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-39031092127809642592015-04-01T19:57:21.152+01:002015-04-01T19:57:21.152+01:00The tragedy is that, until recently, we only had t...The tragedy is that, until recently, we only had to worry about offenders telling porkies. Now it's coming from all sides.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-38851640575626030492015-04-01T19:57:00.636+01:002015-04-01T19:57:00.636+01:00Polygraph testing is just phrenology in modern clo...Polygraph testing is just phrenology in modern clothing - no study yet has proved that there are any physiological responses at all that can be demonstrably linked to deceptive behavior. Their value only lies in what people think they rte capable of, and are therefore more likely to tell the truth when hooked up to the machine as they think it will catch them out. <br /><br />A recent(ish) study showed that the very latest machines, coupled with the use of top professional questioners/result interpreters, managed to correctly discern a falsehood 55% percent of the time - almost the same odds as flipping a coin to decide if the person was lying!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-91361924720174861152015-04-01T19:46:55.493+01:002015-04-01T19:46:55.493+01:00RESPONSE to Anon at 19:15
By Bidding to run a CRC...RESPONSE to Anon at 19:15<br /><br />By Bidding to run a CRC NACRO (I expect some NADPAS folk are spinning in their graves) & SODEXO OR ANYONE ELSE including so called mutuals are colluding in the split of Probation agencies at the local level which all my experience, going back to the 1970s and an understanding of some earlier social work failures, screams at me is MORE DANGEROUS than ever a local and unified Probation service can be,<br /><br />So - if those behind SODEXO had the integrity they try to infer from their PR they would have said to the MOJ something like - we will will not bid to run a probation contract in these circumstances - if however, you do not have a national probation service but divide the whole lot up - like it was on 31st May 2014 we will consider bidding to run one or several areas!Andrew_S_Hattonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09115192522317353139noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-63251075511322830572015-04-01T19:38:54.161+01:002015-04-01T19:38:54.161+01:00GS has updated the blog - refers to a pay offer th...GS has updated the blog - refers to a pay offer that members are to vote on but he doesn't actually tell us what the derisory offer is. Does anyone know? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-73670438394999393092015-04-01T19:16:05.539+01:002015-04-01T19:16:05.539+01:00Negativity.......... Shut up.Negativity.......... Shut up.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com