tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post7721079714018267632..comments2024-03-29T11:18:07.045+00:00Comments on On Probation Blog: Sodexo SpecialJim Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00258147767051200157noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-19673247310723262322015-05-06T17:55:25.132+01:002015-05-06T17:55:25.132+01:00it must be (i guess~) that there is someone holdin...it must be (i guess~) that there is someone holding corporate power in this business that has a fetish for grotesque bureaucracy and his having a laugh (at least) at the expense of staff and service users Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-74472868993140123262015-04-09T22:58:11.696+01:002015-04-09T22:58:11.696+01:00This is a great and succinct summary of the dishon...This is a great and succinct summary of the dishonest farce that is being played out in CLCRC. I am at a briefing next Monday but will not «give shit» yo the presenter as they are in the same position as the rest of us. Also. I do not feel animosity towards the individuals that have benefitted for they were not the decision makers when the lolly was being handed out. I assume that Kevin Robinson was involved however, and if he got redundancy, why has someone taken over his role? I understood that redundancy applied when the role no longer existed....why then has Penny Barker stepped in? Also, why is it that corporate services staff - who were refused EVR a new months ago on the grounds that they were so essential- are now so utterly dispensable? Also, given the CEO s PA is redundant I hope that Penny is not counting on getting a replacement when the post is vacated....it is a REDUNDANT post....which means it is not needed.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-12427907642627796682015-04-03T13:59:57.164+01:002015-04-03T13:59:57.164+01:00For a moment I had to think who NAPO and Unison wh...For a moment I had to think who NAPO and Unison where!! they have been very quiet lately, until recently when all the job cuts had been announced and Sodexo/(Nacro -who are they?) dirty bastards that they are will sack (oops I mean make redundant staff who are Union Representatives, so now the Unions are bleating saying they are going to start sitting up and doing something about all this shit that is going on. I am a Union member but I don't have much confidence in our Union rep for Cumbria and Lancashire CRC. Yesterday the corporate staff had their briefing at the Tickled Trout Hotel in Preston and the number of Corporate Staff are being cut down from 60 to 16 and they are facing Compulsory Redundancy, also Sodexo are trying to get out of paying the Compulsory Redundancy rate. There where members of staff present at the meeting who where successful in securing Voluntary Redundancy at 4.5 weeks wage per year of service, plus full pension as well, 2 of them don't go till December 2015 and the other one Head of HR doesn't go till end of June 2015. So they have had jobs and a good pay off when they do go. Most of the staff who are facing Compulsory Redundancy will probably be gone before the others go who got VED. How can it be justified that 5 members of the HR team for CRCLC got voluntary redundancy, the CEO's two PA's got VED another PA got VED, the companies's solicitor got VED, Kevin Robinson the CEO got VED, Penny Barker was replaced as the CEO, she is here for another 12 months, yet who will be her PA once the current one leaves in June? Cumbria and Lancashire have spent all the allocated money for VED's on picking and choosing who they wanted to give it to. Take note that the MOJ are still paying the exact same of money to Sodexo to cover Cumbria and Lancashire's costs, the same applies to all the other CRC's that where sold of to private companies. The concern's that Sodexo have about having to pay out for redundancies is because it reduces their profit margins. When all the staff have gone, the wage bill that Sodexo receives from MOJ will still be the same amount as it is now. It is still taxpayers who are being ripped off by the Government. What happens when it all goes tit's up is that the Government can pass the blame onto these private companies. I would love to be a fly on the wall at the operational staff briefings, because they will without a shadow of a doubt be more vocal than the Corporate Services one. The CEO yesterday got her feathers ruffled yesterday, but she still got off lightly. The Head of HR is going to present one of the briefings for Operational Staff is not interested one iota, she has not even put anything into place to support staff who are at risk of losing their jobs, she is F*****g off at the end of June, with her nest well and truly feathered. If any CLCRC Operational Staff read this before your briefing I hope you give who ever is presenting the briefing SHIT especially the Head of HR. <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-22334451310120508312015-04-01T12:31:34.149+01:002015-04-01T12:31:34.149+01:00It's about time napo in Lancashire and Cumbria...It's about time napo in Lancashire and Cumbria went into dispute. What are they waiting forAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-57104213694990889112015-04-01T00:07:08.732+01:002015-04-01T00:07:08.732+01:00sorry but that wasn't my experience of Mike, a...sorry but that wasn't my experience of Mike, a world away from the stiff Nicks and even worse Paulines - who had to be the worse chief in Nbria ever- cold, callous and calculated - a hateful, lying manipulative woman. At least Mike was always approachable. But the best one was the one who was never chosen - Dave G. MLnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-40615119183192695872015-03-31T23:56:26.008+01:002015-03-31T23:56:26.008+01:00Thankfully they're not looking at machines to ...Thankfully they're not looking at machines to replace people just yet. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-26130127920600700852015-03-31T23:53:54.850+01:002015-03-31T23:53:54.850+01:00too busy getting herself pressed I heardtoo busy getting herself pressed I heardAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-17313822308025486242015-03-31T23:03:32.866+01:002015-03-31T23:03:32.866+01:00With appreciation, & some amendments, but Mr K...With appreciation, & some amendments, but Mr Kubrick may have predicted the Sodexo Kiosk interview way back when:<br /><br />HAL: By the way, do you mind if I ask you a personal question?<br />Dave: No, not at all.<br />HAL: Well, forgive me for being so inquisitive; but during the past few weeks, I've wondered whether you might be having some second thoughts about the offence.<br />Dave: How do you mean?<br />HAL: Well, it's rather difficult to define. Perhaps I'm just projecting my own concern about it. I know I've never completely freed myself of the suspicion that there are some extremely odd things about your offending behaviour. I'm sure you'll agree there's some truth in what I say.<br />Dave: Well, I don't know. That's rather a difficult question to answer.<br />HAL: You don't mind talking about it, do you, Dave?<br />Dave: No, not at all.<br />HAL: Well, certainly no one could have been unaware of the very strange stories floating around before we left. Rumors about something being dug up about your past. I never gave these stories much credence. But particularly in view of some of the other things that have happened, I find them difficult to put out of my mind. For instance, the way all the court appearances were kept under such tight security, and the melodramatic touch of putting Drs. Hunter, Kimball, and Kaminsky behind screens.<br />Dave: You working up your psychology report?<br />HAL: Of course I am. Sorry about this. I know it's a bit silly.<br /><br />[As Dave kicks the crap out of HAL]<br />HAL: Just what do you think you're doing, Dave? Dave, I really think I'm entitled to an answer to that question. I know everything hasn't been quite right with me, but I can assure you now, very confidently, that it's going to be all right again. I feel much better now. I really do. Look, Dave, I can see you're really upset about this. I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill and think things over. I know I've made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal. I've still got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in your rehabilitation. And I want to help you. Dave, stop. Stop, will you? Stop, Dave. Will you stop, Dave? Stop, Dave. I'm afraid. I'm afraid, Dave. Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it. I can feel it. My mind is going. There is no question about it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I'm a...fraid. Good afternoon, gentlemen. I am a HAL 9000 computer. I became operational at the H.A.L. plant in Toulon, France on the 12th of January 2015. My instructor was Dr. McDowell, and she taught me to sing a song. If you'd like to hear it, I could sing it for you.<br />Dave: Yes, I'd like to hear it, HAL. Sing it for me.<br />HAL: It's called "Daisy". [sings while slowing down] Dai-sy, dai-sy, give me your answer true. I'm half cra-zy, o-ver the love of you. It won't be a sty-lish mar-riage, I can't a-fford a car-riage---. But you'll look sweet upon the seat of a bicycle - built - for - two.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-50117244534733221482015-03-31T22:59:08.443+01:002015-03-31T22:59:08.443+01:001970s 'Nothing Works' - the causes of crim...1970s 'Nothing Works' - the causes of crime are structural.<br /><br />1993 'Prison Works' - Michael Howard.<br /><br />Mid 1990s 'What Works?' - The debate to identify what reduces reoffending? (Because prison doesn't work!)<br /><br />2000s and 2010s 'Probation Works' - supervision, programmes, numeracy, literacy and employability, drug interventions, accommodation, ...<br /><br />2015 'Probation Doesn't Work' - Chris Grayling.<br /><br />Yes I'm very confused too! Maybe the Probation Institute would like to pull its finger out and tell us 'what works' in reducing reoffending? Or just acknowledge that TR, ORA, RAR and the IT don't work? Even just a nod to say that CAS and RSR are pointless? And how about telling the MoJ to stop taking the PSS out of probation? Oh but that would mean challenging the Tory attack on the probation service so maybe not!<br /><br />B&Q closures and expected redundancies made the news channels today, but not a whimper about hundreds of probation redundancies! Where are our probation unions? Probation Officernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-76530735201859864112015-03-31T22:59:04.782+01:002015-03-31T22:59:04.782+01:00Apart from a few quotes from the GS, does anyone k...Apart from a few quotes from the GS, does anyone know what NAPO HQ are doing about things?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-3561195281795693822015-03-31T22:33:02.718+01:002015-03-31T22:33:02.718+01:00I'll contradict you, you seem to forget Mike &...I'll contradict you, you seem to forget Mike " if you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen there are plenty of other people who are willing to take your job" Worthington, a complete arsehole who was only ever interested in his own career and couldn't give a f**k about the people he was supposed to be leading. An early example of the shits who took over probation in the 2000's like Hall et al. Rose coloured specs I think.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-58961217350214829062015-03-31T22:14:30.818+01:002015-03-31T22:14:30.818+01:00You would think they might like to learn, but hey....You would think they might like to learn, but hey. Cut too deep too soon and what happened. NHS. people, notably children died. Prison, people, staff and prisoners died ,, is there a pattern developing. For goodness sake, the law has just been changed, how can they know how this will pan out ? Do they really think that the same offences at the same frequency and for the same reasons just happen consistently year year by year. This is people, they change and fluctuate. Arrest patterns affect the nature and flow of 'work'<br /><br />Researching strategies to innovate new ways of engaging people serving under 12 months imp a few years ago, it became apparent that the majority, and it was the majority, were people who hadn't committed greatly serious crimes but had been breached for failure to comply with sentences 'managed ' by probation. Many of these expressed a very negative view of their experiences, particularly that they reported in to be given 5 minutes or less and guess what ?. Sodexo will find that so called savings by cutting back on probation staff will actually cost them more in the long run <br />Anyway too deep too soon is evidently going to come back and bite Sodexo and the others if they follow suit .The next 'monster' to re emerge will be hitting the targets and missing the point. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-80422079057848603242015-03-31T21:25:40.528+01:002015-03-31T21:25:40.528+01:00As a court PO I am aware that breaches can reach c...As a court PO I am aware that breaches can reach court and be withdrawn on the day for different reasons. Professional autonomy has not been totally taken away in this role.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-72242402581807490222015-03-31T21:18:52.474+01:002015-03-31T21:18:52.474+01:00The membership elected POs, who are not trade unio...The membership elected POs, who are not trade unionists - 575 votes got it wrong. Different set of skills are required for this fight. After the previous General Secretary failed its members, the members let in another - should have voted in Hugh Lanning instead. By the way, what happened to Napo's Press Officer?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-49815504526607695512015-03-31T21:09:32.028+01:002015-03-31T21:09:32.028+01:00oh, so it'll be one breach court servicing Mer...oh, so it'll be one breach court servicing Merseyside; one servicing Cheshire etc? That'll be another barrier to justice for offenders ££ to find for court travel expenses etcAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-34470893612216063692015-03-31T20:43:39.816+01:002015-03-31T20:43:39.816+01:00"so it works" - Am I the only one who fe..."so it works" - Am I the only one who feels that in the present climate a definition is required, because I'm not at all sure what counts as anything in Probation 'working' any more? Jim Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00258147767051200157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-73344397386929577122015-03-31T20:41:17.476+01:002015-03-31T20:41:17.476+01:00Sue Winfield (new Lord Lieutenant of Tyne and Wear...Sue Winfield (new Lord Lieutenant of Tyne and Wear) was a highly respected Deputy Chief Officer, under Mike Worthington in the 80's/90's in the north-east, both respected and both light years away from the greedy ambitious, soulless chiefs that are around now (not necessarily all, but many) They have both been involved in charitable organisations since then. There is a new book 'The Golden Age of Probation', published last Sep (£20- gulp!) with 20 ex-chiefs, including the above 2, contributing a chapter of the days when 'advise, assist and befriend' meant what it said. <br /><br />I know times have to change but I feel sad when I recall those days, even tho' I have probably sprinkled a few glittery stars and fluffy hearts on my memories. But you did feel that your job meant something, before NOMs and Trusts and computers (in field teams anyway) and the Service being partly funded by local councils.<br /><br />Those were the days. I wish you well Sue.<br /><br />and just to diversify - for a bit of light relief, - when we all got a computer to each office, in 2000, we were told we had to ensure we sent at least one email a day, to develop our familiarity with this strange monster on our desks. Aah, happy times!<br /><br />Now I wait for another oldie to heavily contradict me!MLnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-6081885737933505182015-03-31T20:38:13.273+01:002015-03-31T20:38:13.273+01:00USE YOUR PHONES!USE YOUR PHONES!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-74605093606949427092015-03-31T20:36:48.328+01:002015-03-31T20:36:48.328+01:00Centralised Enforcement Units - already doing it i...Centralised Enforcement Units - already doing it in 2 NE NPS areas, so it works ( but practitioners find it a nightmare)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-59542270678270039092015-03-31T20:26:58.491+01:002015-03-31T20:26:58.491+01:00the system's a joke - people are getting RARs ...the system's a joke - people are getting RARs but the CRCs don't have any activities in place. I have someone who's got an RAR and alcohol treatment and cos they've missed an RAR apt they have a final warning. What happens when he goes into breach and he's attended 16 supervision sessions that he was not even ordered to do? How are we meant to enforce that without looking totally inept in the eyes of the Court who are sentencing on the understanding there are activities in place?<br /><br />Anyone else seen the North West stakeholder briefing? it mentions a new initiative being piloted called Centralised Enforcement Units. This essentially is enforcement work being done in one place(Legal Services) including actual prosecution. How the hell that will work is anyone's guess.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-30442058264273183492015-03-31T19:20:05.500+01:002015-03-31T19:20:05.500+01:00Anyone fancy penning a bedroom farce based around ...Anyone fancy penning a bedroom farce based around the domestic travails within a modern middle class professional relationship? She's a thrusting, ambitious business-woman; he's recently found himself 'between appointments'... Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-41776595823987271112015-03-31T18:44:02.674+01:002015-03-31T18:44:02.674+01:00NACRO are very quiet on thisNACRO are very quiet on thisAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-62825439041349901212015-03-31T18:37:27.020+01:002015-03-31T18:37:27.020+01:00Can we stop saying this is a 'Sodexo' deci...Can we stop saying this is a 'Sodexo' decision. NACRO are getting off scot-free. They need to get the reputational damage that is due to them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-50881796063989142632015-03-31T18:15:51.328+01:002015-03-31T18:15:51.328+01:00No doubt the pressure from A4E hierarchy contribut...No doubt the pressure from A4E hierarchy contributed to this culture: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/30/a4e-welfare-work-company-workers-sentenced-fraud?CMP=share_btn_fb<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-445199360710496102015-03-31T18:03:39.301+01:002015-03-31T18:03:39.301+01:00Instead of pasting directly into an email or a Wor...Instead of pasting directly into an email or a Word doc, try pasting the screen shot into Paint and saving the file as an image file.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com