tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post7454958446063182002..comments2024-03-29T06:40:58.606+00:00Comments on On Probation Blog: Boxes Ticked Says Simon Hughes!Jim Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00258147767051200157noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-6391571336020735102017-02-22T20:03:01.974+00:002017-02-22T20:03:01.974+00:00SH is unbelievable.. what planet is he on ? SH is unbelievable.. what planet is he on ? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-30434570134529498792017-02-22T18:46:55.689+00:002017-02-22T18:46:55.689+00:00Am I too late to call Simon Hughes a self-serving ...Am I too late to call Simon Hughes a self-serving feckless C*NT?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-19362217720129796932017-02-22T12:00:33.177+00:002017-02-22T12:00:33.177+00:00SH visited my office in Southwark just before he t...SH visited my office in Southwark just before he took up that post - he was then the local MP & we were told he wanted to find out more about our work. There were case presentations, he met some clients, and he was full of praise. Little did we realise what he was about to do.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-183653037050283052017-02-21T21:35:42.478+00:002017-02-21T21:35:42.478+00:00I agree. It is all so vague and imprecise, unspeci...I agree. It is all so vague and imprecise, unspecific, lacking analysis and critique. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-33505749112490327042017-02-21T20:41:43.142+00:002017-02-21T20:41:43.142+00:00A scheme to attract ex-prison officers back into j...A scheme to attract ex-prison officers back into jails has attracted just 10 people more than a year since it was set up, PoliticsHome can reveal.<br /><br /><br />https://www.politicshome.com/news/uk/home-affairs/prisons/news/83483/excl-humiliation-government-just-10-ex-prison-wardens-joinAndrew_S_Hattonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09115192522317353139noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-24121767646517436912017-02-21T18:47:11.238+00:002017-02-21T18:47:11.238+00:00SH - I have read that blog today with my mouth gap...SH - I have read that blog today with my mouth gaping, at the childishly worded trash, the lies, the self- praise which is steaming vomit inducing. And doesn't he just love himself. The language and composition sounded juvenile, a young child making a speech to the class, or even the school, on a project they had to do, along with other children. And so chuffed with self, every paragraph, (which in Hughes case, is mostly untrue and exaggerates everything which was done,) is full of 'me,me, I, I..'. But small children have a right to be proud of their work. HE sounds like Trump, a narcissistic fantasist, in charge of TR, and working with the phenomenally very very good Civil Service behind him.<br /> <br /> That paragraph about the success of the Civil Service is beyond comment! And of course, he was responsible for the bigger tasks too-yes, of course he was... And as a Liberal Democrat, who are trying to get their foot over the step again, how pleased the Party must be to have him as a leading light!!!!!mlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-46119825227314088342017-02-21T13:04:51.222+00:002017-02-21T13:04:51.222+00:00Thank you Andrew.Thank you Andrew.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-745926459255734382017-02-21T11:38:54.978+00:002017-02-21T11:38:54.978+00:00I am very sorry indeed Anon at 10:48.
Understanda...I am very sorry indeed Anon at 10:48.<br /><br />Understandably I provoked a lot of animosity when I encouraged folk to simply refuse to transfer from the Probation Trusts by whatever means possible - I realised that would have placed folk in parlous positions financially but at that time Government needed probation workers and might have offered something better if enough folk refused. Anyway individuals would have kept their sanity and were highly employable even those who could not transfer immediately into social work.<br /><br />I appreciate the resentment as I still have some from when I had an “our way or the highway moment” - in 2003, but was offered as a get out, early retirement, on medical grounds, which on advice I accepted because it gave me more and also certainty than I possibly would have got if I had gone the constructive dismissal route, which Napo told me might have got me less than zilch - so with a mortgage I opted for safety & never worked again. <br /><br />Similarly, I simply walked out - having given notice in 1988 when a probation employer, did not treat me as I considered fairly - but I went back for more with another Service 8 months later - in the interval I did a locum SSD job, & confirmed that SSDs were still not quite as good employers as were Probation Services as I first discovered when I did a similar comparison in 1975 - when I looked at 6 social workers in District H of Liverpool City Council SSD, scrabbling round a single phone in a shared office compared to what was on offer from Merseyside Probation Service.<br /><br />I am sorry, I did not campaign enough and conditions deteriorated. When I started in 1975, I recall folk talking about previously probation officers being at the same pay level as police Inspectors in the 1960s. Now new recruits will be on less than Prison Officers, at least in 31 prisons.<br /><br />It is concerted collaborative action that is needed or I can see little chance of improvements as public spending becomes ever more constrained. Parliament is not enlightened - Corbyn's Labour Party does not have any published criminal justice policy that I can see & I see nothing else on the horizon as we await the Truss plan for probation in April - will it involve Police & Crime Commissioners - I wonder?<br />Andrew_S_Hattonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09115192522317353139noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-19797190704337955502017-02-21T10:48:20.068+00:002017-02-21T10:48:20.068+00:00Since the Great Shafting of 2013 & subsequent ...Since the Great Shafting of 2013 & subsequent threatening letter from Trust CEO ("my way or the highway, sunshine") I have been committed to pursuing the argument of constructive dismissal of Probation staff. Mr Hughes' words, published at the time I was being paid off, have made me quite upset.<br /><br />1. I was employed as a Probation Officer by a specific employer and had continuous employment status as a PO for many, many years.<br />2. I was re-deployed against my expressed wishes, outwith TUPE regulations and on undisclosed data I was not allowed to challenge, and assigned to a pseudo-independent artificial organisation, created by the government solely for sale to the private sector - all in the hands of one man whose sole aim was to force through the sale as quickly as possible.<br />3. My one & only chance of appeal against this redeployment was dismissed without any further explanation or justification beyond an arbitrary comment about caseload snapshots on 11 Nov 2013.<br />4. I was sent a letter by my Trust CEO telling me that if I tried to appeal the sifting decision a second time it would be regarded as tendering my immediate resignation.<br />5. The organisation I was re-deployed to refused to consider my request for redundancy (made within the specified timescale) telling me I wasn't eligible...<br />6. ... they went on to place me at risk of recundancy 3 months later, but they refused to co-operate with the national terms & conditions agreed pre-sale and, by applying undue pressure upon staff, the organisation enforced a voluntary severance scheme to rid themselves of 35% of existing staff. After a painful fight, with no union support & under threats from bully managers, I felt I had no option but to leave.<br />7. A number of "priveleged" individuals were not only deemed eligible for the enhanced redundancy package but were also subsequently re-employed by the new organisation.<br />8. I would suggest that the above represents a clear strategy to enforce changes to individuals' employment rights - outwith the TUPE framework - that couldn't otherwise be implemented & which led to inevitable loss of employment; an inevitability which was known in advance by virtue of the national agreement for job losses which the MoJ signed up to, i.e. the EVR scheme.<br /><br />Hughes admits there was "the strategy of how we dealt with the unions, [and the] strategy of exactly how it would be implemented and when." A strategy of dismissal, constructive dismissal, to allow for the implementation of a single-minded political ideology, i.e. the sale of public services to the private sector.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-55971054025564757422017-02-21T09:01:29.078+00:002017-02-21T09:01:29.078+00:00I think if I had met him, I would not have been ab...<br /><br /><br />I think if I had met him, I would not have been able to stop myself attacking him physically, I still feel absolutely furious with him. Having seen him present awards at a Dyslexia school, for convicts event in Hackney one night in about 2000, I was impressed that he seemed to understand the reality of probation. However like so many barristers they did not understand beyond just using us to aid them get a good result for a client in court.<br /><br /> I recall many experiences as a court officer trying to "educate" lawyers into what could realistically be achieved or expected by probation – Simon Hughes was one we failed with, but his arrogance led him to legislate against the advice of probation practitioners. I am reminded of hearing Lord Williams speak. He was briefly a probation minister before he moved to a Justice Ministerial Job, before his untimely death. He was the only minister in the Labour Government 97-2010 who really valued probation and he was at that time encouraging judges to meet probation workers. He had been chair of The Bar Council - Gareth Williams, but sadly died and anyway was quickly moved away from prisons and probation for political expediency. <br /><br />The problem is our whole system of Governance - once central Government effectively moved local magistrates away from controlling probation (and we complained about them) it deteriorated and it was just luck if someone in the Civil service was knowledgeable - sadly David Faulkner had to eventually retire.<br /><br />I recall a stand up row at the end of a ridiculous presentation at the old Keswick conference run by Lake District Napo, with the then head of probation at the time of the 1992 Act. that was about the word offender getting into the legislation and documentation and effectively replacing probationer.<br /><br />I should have campaigned harder and given up on the professional career - one could not do both, I just was not confident about seeking a big Napo role, probably sensibly as I was always going to be limited in my potential due to dyspraxia which I did not discover until 1999 - that I am dyspraxic and dyslexic and the consequences - but that is another story. ND - neuro diversity - in all its forms, dyspraxia/DCD, Asperger's Syndrome, etc., etc., have still to be understood by the CJS. We must be half a century away - judging by the speed we are learning about addiction and mental illness - which were known about when I started out in 1972 - yet still the provision are very poor.<br /><br />https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/people/david-faulkner<br /><br />Andrew_S_Hattonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09115192522317353139noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-21832824802824763142017-02-21T08:54:55.832+00:002017-02-21T08:54:55.832+00:00The dishonesty of claiming success, and therefore,...The dishonesty of claiming success, and therefore, money on one person, multiple times, per order needs to be exposed to the media - please, NAPO? Surely the PAC need to pick up on this.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-72440316369557298122017-02-21T08:52:20.136+00:002017-02-21T08:52:20.136+00:00Sounds like Hughes is a walking advert for Tena, p...Sounds like Hughes is a walking advert for Tena, pissing his pants with the excitement of it all. Pathetic, disgraceful & so, so sad. No regard for the detrimental & catastrophic impact upon staff, users of probation services or the safety of the public. "That was the biggest thing", Simon Hughes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-82250042598670146352017-02-21T08:50:06.801+00:002017-02-21T08:50:06.801+00:00You have to ask, on which planet does SH live?You have to ask, on which planet does SH live?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-52611112530105271382017-02-21T08:49:06.206+00:002017-02-21T08:49:06.206+00:00Interesting and scary insight into the thinking of...Interesting and scary insight into the thinking of the other side ! They clearly don't have a clue about the real world and I don't recognise their world Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-32733969801610095222017-02-21T08:43:57.322+00:002017-02-21T08:43:57.322+00:00"And when we had our thank you party" - ..."And when we had our thank you party" - what a shame the whole bally lot of them didn't choke to death on the canapes, cake & bubbles.<br /><br />Thanks for digging this out, Jim. It reveals what a pack of conniving, scheming shits they really are.<br /><br />"SH: I mean it wasn’t my lead because probation reform had started before and it was led by the Secretary of State who took a personal interest and another Tory colleague [hmm, who was that I wonder?]... it was so controversial and so on, required lots of agreed planning of the strategy, the strategy of how we dealt with the unions, [and the] strategy of exactly how it would be implemented and when. There was an issue to do with an apparent conflict of interest of the wife of the Head of the Probation Service who worked for one of the people who got the contracts. And there was all the secrecy around the contracts."<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com