More HMI Reports

Two HMI reports were published yesterday, and here we have the press release on West Yorkshire CRC;-

West Yorkshire CRC - weaknesses needing improvement but motivated leaders and staff eager to learn

Staff in West Yorkshire Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) were found by inspectors to be well led and striving to do well but they struggled with heavy caseloads, ICT and infrastructure problems beyond their control, and some gaps in skills.

The weaknesses at the CRC, which supervised 8,136 medium and low risk offenders at the time of the inspection in July 2018, led HM Inspectorate of Probation to rate it overall as “Requiring Improvement.”

Aspects of its case supervision were assessed as inadequate. A key weakness was found in work to reduce the risk of harm to potential victims from those under supervision. Inspectors noted instances where, in domestic abuse cases, some staff members failed to identify the potential risks posed to children.

Dame Glenys Stacey, HM Chief Inspector of Probation, publishing a report on the inspection, said: “A key area of practice that requires prompt improvement is managing risk of harm. Case planning in general is not sufficiently robust and reviews of work need to be improved across the board.”

However, despite noting some poor assessments, Dame Glenys also concluded the leadership of the CRC, part of a consortium of CRCs led by Interserve, was eager to learn and improve as it faced some major challenges:

• Leaders and staff had done much to develop their organisation, “in straitened circumstances, but more needs to be done to improve service delivery.” The report noted: “Staff and managers are passionate about providing quality services but many report being overwhelmed by workload pressures and being weary of organisational change.”
• Much of the CRC’s operating model is embedded but some key aspects (such as the organisation’s estate strategy and information and communication technology strategy) are not fully implemented. These compound the already demanding workload pressures on staff. The report noted that for full implementation to be achieved, the Ministry of Justice must promptly ensure that Interserve can use the Strategic Partner Gateway, or a suitable alternative, that will enable the various systems to work together.
• Some case managers have gaps in their knowledge and skills, and this limits their ability to deliver good-quality, personalised services. The management has begun to address these deficiencies.

Among positive findings, Dame Glenys noted that partnership working was strong. Specialist services, such as services for women, were in place and Through the Gate work with those leaving prison, as well as supervision of unpaid work imposed by courts, showed promise.

Overall, Dame Glenys said:

“This CRC’s senior leaders understand the challenges faced by the organisation. They promote a culture of learning from mistakes and they actively respond to findings from audits and independent inspection. Consequently, we expect that the findings and recommendations in this report will assist their efforts to address practice shortfalls and improve the quality of the services provided.”

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The second is the result of the first new-style of inspection report and perhaps those of a cynical disposition would not be surprised that overall it's quite positive. Having said that, it confirms how TR has created staff shortages everywhere - and we tragically know what the consequences of that can be - and there's a marked unwillingness to use the services of the local CRC and the infamous 'rate card'. 

South West South Central division - good performance overall despite staff shortages

The South West South Central division of the National Probation Service, supervising nearly 13,000 offenders from Berkshire to Cornwall, was found by inspectors to be performing to a good standard overall.

In the first report in new programme of inspections of the NPS divisions, Dame Glenys Stacey, HM Chief Inspector of Probation, said the division was effectively led with robust systems to monitor performance.

However, publishing the first report in new programme of inspections of the National Probation Service (NPS) divisions, Dame Glenys said that a shortage of staff was having an impact on the division.

“The number of probation staff has fallen short of the target since 2015; at the same time the National Probation Service workload has increased. The division has a clear delivery plan to address staff shortfalls, but this had not yet had the necessary impact and, as a result, caseloads in some parts of the division remained high.” The report noted that the problems were most acute in the part of the division bordering London, where vacancies remained unfilled despite the offer of higher salaries.

Inspectors found the division has recently focused on the quality of its assessments of individuals, reflecting the principle that establishing and maintaining a professional relationship with those who are supervised is at the heart of all probation work.

Dame Glenys added: “We found outstanding results in this aspect of its work. The planning of supervision was good, and focused on reducing reoffending and keeping others safe.” Inspectors noted, though, that “contingency plans”, spelling out how to respond to any heightened risk of harm to others, should have been more robust.

The division provided sufficient information to courts to assist in sentencing and a good service to victims who had opted into the victim contact scheme.

There were, however, some shortcomings. The delivery of supervision did not focus enough on addressing factors related to offending, and not enough attention was paid to keeping individuals’ progress under review. Some interventions were working well but the division was not making full use of all services provided by the Community Rehabilitation Companies in its areas.

Overall, Dame Glenys said:

“This division is performing to a good standard overall. I hope that our findings and recommendations enable it to do better still, although we see that, in some matters, improvement is dependent on centrally driven policies and support.”