SFOs = Renationalise Probation

Today three unions call for probation to be renationalised as yet more Serious Further Offences come to light. Splitting the service in two was always going to be hugely risky. This is from Left Foot Forward:-

Failing privatised probation services must be nationalised, say unions

Firms are being bailed out with public money amid a rise in serious offenses under privatisation.

Unions have written to the government today to demand failing privatised probation services are brought back into public hands – after new figures show a rise in serious offenses under the outsourced bodies. In a letter to justice secretary David Lidington, UNISON, the National Association of Probation Officers and the GMB argue the outsourced probation services are not working, with the public having to bail out many of the failing firms.

It comes as the government continues to sit on a long-awaited review of the so-called community rehabilitation companies (CRCs) which now run most of the sector. Details of the public money spent on spent keeping CRCs solvent have still not been released. 21 of these CRCs were set up and awarded seven-year contracts worth a total of £3.7bn in 2014. Yet nearly all have reported they are already making a loss, leading many of them to be handed fresh handouts from the taxpayer.

New figures also show a rise in the number of people who commit serious crimes while already serving sentences outside prison, since the probation service ‘reforms’ were introduced three years ago. 517 reviews were triggered in England and Wales in 2016/17 after charges for murder and other offences including rape – a rise of nearly 100 since pre-privatisation 2013/14, according to the data released this month by justice minister Sam Gyimah.

Now the government are planning to outsource contracts for night-time supervision in probation hostels, which house some of the most dangerous people to be released from prison before they are allowed to live in the community. The public could be put at risk because private companies will employ poorly-trained staff and pay them low wages, say the three unions.

UNISON national officer Ben Priestley said:

“People are potentially being put at risk because private firms have not delivered on keeping the public safe. The justice secretary has admitted that privatisation isn’t working yet wants to continue this experiment through night-time supervision. What’s needed instead are properly trained public sector employees. That’s why the government must take back control of failing private probation services.”

Last month the Chief Inspector of Probation issued a damning report into Suffolk’s privatised probation service, run by French catering and privatisation firm Sodexo – in which she described the service as ‘nowhere near good enough’. Sodexo secured a seven year contract with zero competition, reported Private Eye.

NAPO general secretary Ian Lawrence added:

“Ministers were warned that privatisation would damage an award-winning service, and standards would deteriorate. This is now becoming reality and having a negative impact on public safety, staff well-being and the ability of people who have committed offences to turn their lives around. The government must now take urgent action, and these reforms should be subject to full parliamentary scrutiny.”

The move to outsource probation hostel security comes despite the government specifically establishing a government-run body to deal with high-risk offenders when former Justice Minister Chris Grayling privatised probation services in 2014 – presumably because private companies couldn’t be trusted to deal with them.

--oo00oo--

BBC website today:-

Women attacked in Kidderminster by rapist on licence

A convicted rapist attacked two women a month after being released from prison on licence. Ashley Shuck, 24, from Worcester, sexually assaulted the women, aged 28 and 77, in Kidderminster in June. His 77-year-old victim was forced to drive around for two hours after she was raped, police said. Shuck had been released on licence a month earlier after being convicted in 2012 of raping an 18-year-old woman. He was jailed for life and will serve a minimum of 10 and a half years.

A serious case review will be carried out and the case has been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission. West Mercia Police said two women reported the attacks on 18 June. The force said Shuck's younger victim was sexually assaulted early that morning at her friend's home in the Worcestershire town. The other woman was raped at her home later that morning and forced to drive around the county afterwards.

Police said Shuck was first convicted of rape at Worcester Crown Court on 19 March 2012 and sentenced to eight years in prison on 19 September 2012. Assistant Chief Constable Richard Moore, of West Mercia Police, said:

 "Following his release from prison in May 2017, Ashley Shuck was managed through multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA). The Strategic Management Board for West Mercia MAPPA has now commissioned a mandatory multi-agency serious case review to examine the offender management of Ashley Shuck." 

Shuck, of Ombersley Road, was sentenced at Worcester Crown Court on Monday. He had previously admitted two counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault and one count of kidnap. He will be placed on the sex offenders register for life and has been made the subject of a lifetime Sexual Harm Prevention Order.