London NPS - Respect!

I've recently had sight of what I can only describe as the very worst 'designed' staff newsletter I've ever seen, stretching as it does to an impenetrable 58 pages, including 3 with illustrations on 'Guidance for printer resets'. Sent to all London NPS staff, it contains the following message from the London Divisional Director. All I can say is, London, you have my respect and sympathy - treat yourself this coming weekend if you can. 

London Update 5th of March 2019

About every quarter, I meet with the London NPS management group. Last week's management event was a game of two halves, with very distinct agenda items in the morning and afternoon. 

It started with very emotional and indeed distressing talks from victims, whom we had let down. We let them down by missing their cases, being careless with our letter writing, getting important dates mixed up, being unprofessional in the way we spoke, often unprepared. We have a long way to go to improve our service to victims; to ensure that they can expect to receive a consistently high standard, irrespective of who is responsible for the case. This includes both sides of the business, offender management, and victim contact. Every offender manager should always be asking, who is the victim(s) in this case and have we offered them a service. 

As a contrast, in the afternoon, I invited colleagues from across grades and duties to join the event to present them with Divisional awards. Some of these colleagues have gone on to be nominated for national awards. These groups of staff represent the very best of probation, working under pressure to deliver excellent services. Their names will be published in the next London Calling Spring Edition. 

The day highlighted the very difficult balance I have to achieve, in promoting the good work people do (in very difficult circumstances) and yet being very firm and decisive about poor practice. Often people hear just one or the other. The reality is both good and poor practice exists in London NPS. I would prefer to be highlighting the good practice and using it to promote best practice. My reality is that when bad practice is discovered I must act, recognising that such practice may put victims and the community at risk. Poor performance and misconduct can occur at all grades and roles and is not necessarily just related to front line activities. 

If a manager discovers poor practice, I expect them to complete a dip sample to see if the poor practice is evident in other work. If practice is poor, a performance improvement plan is required, however, if the manager discovers really bad practice, the manager must consider a discipline investigation. It is important to always get advice from an HR caseworker. Each investigation is completed without prejudice and should never predict an outcome. The investigation must consider mitigating circumstances, including workloads, access to training, personal circumstances etc. An option for the author is ‘no case to answer'. 

In cases, when a serious further offence is alleged, the first thing I expect is for a manager to carry out an early look at the case. If the offender is charged, a Serious Further Offence Review will be carried out. The early look is used to examine if there are any significant gaps in practice that need addressing immediately. If it is clear that core tasks were not completed and reasonable steps were not being taken, it is very likely that a disciplinary investigation will be undertaken. Such investigation will consider whether it is a case of misconduct or gross misconduct, including failing to follow instructions from managers. 

We have had occasions when managers are overly optimistic, not wanting to share aspects of poor practice. Independent reviews have later highlighted serious derelictions in duty. As a result, managers who fail to report the full facts leave themselves open to investigation.

When there is an investigation, I want to: 

1) Ensure victims and the public have confidence in us, trusting that we are open and honest about poor practice. 

2) Ensure that those under investigation are supported through the process. 

3) Ensure that investigations and outcomes are fair and proportionate. 

Having shared my views, I want to speak with as many staff as possible about theirs. I am planning a number of staff engagement events shortly. In addition, I am arranging to meet with union representatives to discuss this topic further. I am hoping that they will be able to join me at some events. 

I want people's thoughts on poor performance, poor judgment, lack of oversight, misconduct and gross misconduct, thresholds and how to evidence mitigation. 

This is a difficult message I know, but part of being a top performing division is setting our expectations clearly, helping people achieve them and addressing gaps in practice and behaviour, whether that be poor performance or misconduct. As I stated earlier, the other side to this, is that I will keep giving out local awards to colleagues who represent the best of probation, which I believe to be the majority. 

Kilvinder Vigurs 

London Divisional Director