Reunification Is Coming!

I know Easter is nearly upon us with many colleagues on leave and this is only adding to an eery silence on the probation front. There hasn't been much coming out of the MoJ for some time and since the veritable battering of TR dished out by the NAO, HMI and Justice Select Committee, to name but a few. 

The newly formed and adhoc 'Probation Alliance' have put forward a strong case for ditching TR2 and there is reason to believe commercial interest is lukewarm at best anyway. The 'Third Sector' have weighed-in with a strong pitch and we all await signs of white smoke from the MoJ and their deliberations on that 'sham' consultation, following a suitable 'pause' of course. 

The conditions are therefore perfect for rumour, or rather informed speculation based on joining up some dots, a few nods and winks and a bit of insider gossip, oh and political nous. It's looking like re-unification folks, but with a face-saving sop to privatisation with the hiving-off of UPW and the scene is being prepared courtesy of a parting shot from Dame Glenys delivered today:-        

Wales NPS - Well led and enthusiastic staff managing offenders well, but some suffering from high workloads.

Inspectors found the National Probation Service (NPS) in Wales, supervising nearly 7,000 high-risk offenders, to have dynamic, effective leaders and enthusiastic staff committed to high-quality work.

However, like other parts of the NPS across England and Wales, the service in Wales suffered from a shortage of probation officers, meaning some staff had unacceptably high workloads, despite the leadership’s efforts to mitigate the impact of shortages.

A report published by Dame Glenys Stacey, HM Chief Inspector of Probation, following an inspection in December 2018, recommended that HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) should recruit sufficient staff to fill NPS vacancies.

Inspectors assessed NPS Wales as ‘Good’ overall, the second-highest rating. Its case handling was mostly good and, in one respect, ‘Outstanding,’ the highest assessment.

Dame Glenys said NPS Wales staff held leaders in high regard. “They feel there is a learning culture, and professional development is encouraged. Effective systems are in place to monitor and improve performance and the process of learning lessons from case reviews, audits and complaints was effective.” Despite shortages and high caseloads for some staff, overall morale was high and sickness levels were low.

“Stakeholder engagement is good and includes the Welsh Government as some services are devolved. A wide range of services is in place to meet offending-related needs – though access was limited in some rural areas.”

Inspectors found that pre-sentence reports assisted judges and magistrates to decide on the most appropriate sentence. Individual offenders were sufficiently involved in the planning and delivery of their sentence. Assessments identified and analysed offending-related factors and sentence planning was focused on keeping others safe. Work to keep sentences under review was outstanding.

Staff welcomed support which they felt had made them “far more psychologically informed and confident” to deal with offenders who had severe personality disorders and highly complex needs. Inspectors found a shortage of mental health provision across Wales but highlighted innovative training to inform staff about the impact of brain injury on individuals.

There were some shortfalls in NPS Wales, Dame Glenys added. Information from child and adult safeguarding agencies was not consistently requested and relevant information about individuals subject to supervision was not routinely shared with the prisons or police.

There were “extremely lengthy delays” before individuals could start offending behaviour programmes. “Delays of this nature are plainly unacceptable.” Inspectors found long waiting lists to get onto Horizon, a nationally accredited group programme designed for medium-risk male sex offenders.

Overall, Dame Glenys said:

“NPS Wales is performing to a good standard. I hope that our findings and recommendations help the division to improve further.”

--oo00oo--

This news coincides with a glowing report from the astute Frances Crook of the Howard League:-

Notes from a visit to the National Probation Service in Wales

Thank you to everyone in the National Probation Service (NPS) in Wales for meeting me and showing me round last week. I got some really interesting insights into the changes taking place and the immense challenges staff face.

The message to ministers is that reintegration of the service is going well and is popular with staff. This is particularly important as ministers have cited ‘restructuring fatigue’ as one of the reasons they were reluctant to bring the service together into a national public service in England. Once the failure of the community rehabilitation companies comes to an end, it is logical and would be popular to reunite probation into a national service, as we have argued repeatedly.

Apparently in Wales there will still be parts of the service that are going to be outsourced under a commissioning arrangement, which I think will be a big mistake. Unpaid work has never been a success when it was done for commercial reasons. Private companies do not have the practical links or the ethos to promote volunteering with small community groups. Serco ran unpaid work in London and it was a disaster; men were counting their time travelling up and down the Northern Line because the company did not have the relationships with small voluntary organisations to find things for them to do.

Unpaid work can be a great way for someone who has offended to pay back into the community and make amends, but it has to be immediate, constructive, well organised and appropriate. Commercialising it will not work.

There are lessons here for England

In Wales, I met some frontline national probation officers who were very impressive. They told me that before Chris Grayling deconstructed probation they had a mixed caseload which meant some very dangerous and risky people and some who represented less of a risk. Now they have a caseload of just very risky people, which means a relentless worry, and they go home every night worrying if they made the right decision. They also said that newly qualified staff have to take on a high-risk caseload.

I was told that the NPS in Wales is going to be doing more focused work with 18- to 25-year-olds. Also interesting to hear that they are monitoring magistrates’ courts as they are worried about unduly punitive sentencing of women.

I visited an approved premises that houses men coming out of prison, often who have served extremely long sentences, and helps them settle back into the community with housing and something to do all day. The staff were, quite frankly, amazing, but the fabric of the building was pretty shoddy (although I was told it was better now than before).

There are lessons here for England. I call on ministers not to replicate the mistakes of the past but to learn and put things right.

--oo00oo--

I know many probation professionals regard being a Civil Servant as completely incompatible with being able to deliver a probation service worthy of the name, but I suspect the pragmatic will accept reunification as a sound first step towards the ultimate goal of an independent, arms-length public service, hopefully able to shake off the dead hand of Prison Service command and control.