There was a time of course when notions of 'command and control' would have been complete anathema to any Probation Officer worth their salt, but they just love it at HMPPS HQ and it's coming soon to a CRC near you:-
Probation Change Bulletin - Issue 4
Welcome to the first edition of our bulletin in 2020, keeping you up to date with the progress of the probation reform programme. Due to restrictions imposed during the general election campaign at the end of last year, we were unable to publish updates in November and December. Rest assured, work has been continuing at speed and the programme remains busy.
I look forward to providing further updates as we continue to make progress this year. If you have any questions or would like to contact the programme team please email: strengthening.probation@justice.gov.uk
2. Reflecting on 2019
2019 was a year of great progress for the probation reform programme. We started by listening to the outcome of the consultation (which received over 450 responses) on how we best strengthen probation before announcing the unified model in May. We then started to deliver on the model through the transfer of offender management staff from the Community Rehabilitation Company (‘CRC’) Wales to the National Probation Service (‘NPS’) Wales in December (see below).
The last three months of the year also marked some key milestones which I’d like to share with you. These included:
2.1 Launching Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (‘HMPPS’) Strategy
The strategy, launched in November 2019, outlines the outcomes that everyone within HMPPS is focused on achieving. HMPPS is central to achieving three of the Ministry of Justice’s overall objectives:
- Decent and safe prisons
- Public protection
- Reduced reoffending
2.2 Launching the probation delivery partner competition
The first phase of expressing an interest in the delivery partner competitions and the launch of the competitions has started. Probation delivery partners are the organisations that will deliver Unpaid Work, Accredited Programmes and other Structured Interventions to the regions. There will be one probation delivery partner in each of the 12 new probation regions in England and Wales.
We very much hope that current organisations will express an interest in these competitions, but understand that sometimes this might not be the case. Regardless, there will be no impact on the quality of probation services that are provided to offenders, staff and stakeholders during the transition.
2.3 Appointing the regional probation directors
The programme continues to make great progress towards the launch of the unified model next Spring. that goal. I’m delighted that we have appointed the new team of 12 National Probation Service Regional Directors for England and Wales (11 for England and one for Wales). These new senior leaders are from a range of backgrounds and all have great experience of probation, both in the NPS and CRCs.
As they start to build their own regional teams, they will be working closely with the programme to implement change, develop best practice and lead probation services in their region. This is in line with our blueprint, published last June, with further details included in our draft Target Operating Model, which we plan to publish towards the end of February.
We were determined to appoint the right people to these important roles. The process was rigorous with a number of individuals involved, including Police and Crime Commissioners who sat on interview panels. The regional probation directors are:
Ian Barrow, Wales
Andrea Bennett, North West
Chris Edwards , Greater Manchester
Bronwen Elphick, North East
Lynda Marginson, Yorkshire and Humberside
Sarah Chand, West Midlands
Martin Davies, East Midlands
Steve Johnson-Proctor, East of England
Kilvinder Vigurs, London
Angela Cossins, South West
Gabriel Amahwe, South Central
Mary Pilgrim, Kent, Surrey and Sussex
2.4 Wales transition to the NPS unified model
The transition process in Wales has gone well and I’d like to express my thanks to everyone who has been involved. On 2nd December 2019, just over 300 staff in Wales moved over to the partially unified model for the probation service.
The transition has been a major achievement and a review of staff working needs, in terms of environment and IT resources, will ensure they are given the best support in their important and challenging roles. There are a number of lessons we can usefully learn, especially given that the scale and complexity for transition in England will be different.
2.5 Increased focus areas
Like any complex reform programme, there are inevitably a few areas that have taken longer to move forward with than we had hoped. One of these is the design of our Dynamic Framework. Our initial approach was to hold central competitions for each of the 12 regions. Following feedback from key stakeholders we have paused the launch and are adjusting our approach to ensure it’s more regionally tailored to what already exists.
NPS deputy directors are currently completing a gap analysis with their local partnerships to support this work. We have set up a new board to help our resettlement model align more closely with prisons, while the design work for a unified offender management system in the NPS is in its early stages and we’re keen to make quick progress on this soon.
3. Looking ahead to 2020
When we announced plans for the new probation model last May, we said that transition would occur in Spring 2021 and we have now settled on a specific date. Management of low- and medium-risk offenders will pass from CRCs to HM Prison and Probation Service in June 2021, allowing time to implement these complex changes safely. Therefore 2020 will be another busy year of engagement with staff and stakeholders and finalising the Target Operating Model.
Over the next few months, we will launch the first stage of the competition to appoint providers to the Dynamic Framework (smaller, more specialist local providers of pathway provision). From April we will begin the process of shifting the NPS from its current formation of seven divisions to 12 regions.
By the end of the year we will have completed that process and appointed all partner organisations that will support NPS regions in the future. Further details can be found in other areas of this bulletin. We will also commit to continuing to consult, engage and inform staff and stakeholders as well as with our trade unions on the progress in the programme.
3.1 The launch of the workforce programme
In January, HMPPS launched a five-year probation workforce programme. This is a parallel programme to the reform programme with a purpose to ensure the new unified service has the right staff in the right places at the right time, bringing together all the probation workforce areas currently sitting in different parts of HMPPS and the Ministry of Justice.
A key focus is to make sure all recruitment is diverse and inclusive, staffing level requirements are met, staff have the right qualifications, learning opportunities and professional career development plans and, overall, making sure our HR polices are fit for purpose. Ian Barrow, previously probation delivery director for the National Probation Service in Wales, has been appointed interim director for the probation workforce programme.
The programme, which sits alongside the probation reform programme, will be launching its workforce strategy towards the end of February. It will ensure that, as CRCs are integrated into the new unified model, there is a clear focus on supporting probation colleagues as they carry out new and challenging roles.
Amy Rees, Director General for Probation and Wales, said: “We made a commitment in the recent HMPPS Strategy and the People Plan that a strong workforce was an absolute priority for us to achieve our aims in the agency and in probation…I do not underestimate the scale of what lies ahead but we have a real opportunity here: to shape the direction for our probation workforce and create a lasting legacy for our valued staff.”
3.2 Publication of the draft Target Operating Model
Final work is being done on the interim Target Operating Model, which will be published in the next few weeks. This important document outlines how probation will be run from 2021, the structure of the future NPS and the processes that we are implementing. This follows the operating blueprint, published last June.
While there is still a huge amount of work to be done, gaps in design areas and many questions that still need answering, the Target Operating Model, clearly demonstrates the commitment of HMPPS to continue to drive the reform programme forward at pace to deliver for the public, probation staff and individuals under probation supervision.
3.3 Assistant Chief Officer events
Two engagement events with NPS and CRCs and the programme have recently taken place to refine the delivery structures for the 12 new regions and agree on the processes for staff transfer from CRCs to the NPS.
We anticipate the Probation Delivery Unit structures for regions will be announced shortly.
The only constant is change - everything is always "in its early stages", "undergoing reform", "anticipated". Has anyone ever launched so many things so often since D-Day? Yet nothing ever seems to be completed other than giving even more highly paid jobs to the usual suspects:
ReplyDelete"Our probation reform programme is explicitly aligned to the overall objectives of protecting the public and reducing reoffending... do not underestimate the scale of what lies ahead... we have a real opportunity to shape the direction for our probation workforce."
"The first phase of expressing an interest in the delivery partner competitions and the launch of the competitions has started"
"We have set up a new board to help our resettlement model align more closely with prisons, while the design work for a unified offender management system in the NPS is in its early stages..."
"Over the next few months, we will launch the first stage of the competition to appoint providers to the Dynamic Framework (smaller, **more specialist local providers** of pathway provision)."
"In January, HMPPS launched a five-year probation workforce programme."
"Two engagement events with NPS and CRCs and the programme have recently taken place to refine the delivery structures for the 12 new regions..."
"Ian Barrow has been appointed interim director for the probation workforce programme."
"we have appointed the new team of 12 National Probation Service Regional Directors for England and Wales."
And a further hint that we're heading back to the Home Office, into the soft warm cuddly arms of Priti Patel?
"The process was rigorous... including Police and Crime Commissioners who sat on interview panels."
We will also commit to continuing to consult, engage and inform staff and stakeholders as well as with our trade unions on the progress in the programme.
ReplyDeleteAlso we are only consulting and unions are irrelevant clearly in this afterthought and we know why. Unions already onside.
Have to love the tone. It's all a process of perpetual progress and continual improvements. It's exciting times!
ReplyDeleteIt should however be a much more apologetic tone, "weve made such a total f*** up, we're now scratching our heads wondering how to put things back together again.
That would be honest at least.
Personally I think this new design is being tailored to eventually hand the reigns of probation services over to the regional PCCs. The local sheriff will decide what goes on in this town folks!
For me however, it seems all about making the model look good. For sure there's objectives, but very little meat on the bone about why and how this model will achieve them. Maybe I just need things spelling out a bit more then most, but I want to hear "by doing this we are going to achieve x, y, and z." By not doing this it will allow us to achieve d, e and f."
Architect's don't just design good looking buildings, they have to make them safe and functional too!
More detail please.
Wonder what a regional probation service might look like if ever David Fraser became a PCC?
https://conservativewoman.co.uk/dont-be-duped-boris-is-still-soft-on-crime/
'Getafix
Oh well done 'Getafix - our old friend David Fraser:-
DeleteDon’t be duped: Boris is still soft on crime
Over recent months, Boris Johnson has made three separate announcements about sentences for some violent crimes.
In September 2019, he stated that the killers of pre-school children will be sentenced to whole-life jail terms.
That same month, it was announced that violent offenders (and more recently, terrorists) will be automatically released at the two-thirds point of their sentence, rather than halfway, as happens now.
On January 14, 2020, he promised that county lines drugs gangs will be ‘totally wound up’, saying they are ‘killing young kids’.
But are these announcements a real move away from the previous 50 years of lenient sentencing? I suspect they may be just window dressing.
If it is right to lock up the killers of pre-school age children for life, why not those who murder school-age children, or young people, or adults? While it is good news that Boris wants to sweep away ‘county lines’ gangs, why not also target all violent criminals with sentences which stop them in their tracks?
As welcome as they are, the Prime Minister’s stated intentions fail to address the central problem of our justice system, namely the excessively lenient sentences handed down to violent criminals generally.
As a result, they come nowhere near deterring the offender, or protecting the public. The average prison term for violent crimes is 23 months and the time servedis far less. Even when murderers are sent to prison ‘for life’, hundreds have been released to strike again.
Keeping violent men (and women) in prison for an extra few weeks or months is pointless. It will not deter them from future offending.
Even sentences thought to be substantial fail to match the motivation of the offender. In April 1998, Damien Hanson, a violent career criminal, was convicted of attempted murder while robbing a man of his Rolex watch and attacking him with a machete. He was released on licence after serving just seven years of a 12-year sentence.
In November 2004, armed with a gun and a knife, he and another criminal, Elliot White – also subject to supervision –
tricked their way into the home of a wealthy businessman, John Monckton, to rob him. They killed him and almost killed his wife in a bloody struggle witnessed by their nine-year-old daughter.
To believe that seven years, (or even 12, if it were served in full), would act as a deterrent was a denial of the seriousness of the crime and the depth of Hanson’s violent nature.
In 1995, Roy Whiting was given four years for abducting and sexually assaulting a nine-year-old girl. He served two and a half years. In 2000, he abducted and killed eight-year-old Sarah Payne.
In May 2018, Sudesh Amman was convicted of 13 terrorist offences, involving the possession and dissemination of terrorist information. In effect, he intended to kill British people wherever and whenever he could and a prison term of at least 25 years would not have been unjust. He was given three years. In prison, Amman told fellow inmates he wanted to murder an MP. He was given automatic release at the halfway stage and ten days later, on February 2, he stabbed two people in a busy shopping street in Streatham.
These examples are not unusual. Thousands of the most serious crimes such a murder, rape, grievous bodily harm, and kidnapping are committed by criminals freed either under licence following their early release, or given a non-custodial sentence to be supervised by the probation service. Surely no civilised society should tolerate this?
Reform is possible. In America, there is compelling evidence that the threat of draconian sentences can reduce homicide and violent crime. Many US states have halved their violent crime rate since introducing ‘three-strikes’ sentencing, which means a long jail term following a third conviction.
DeleteBut to reach this point, our justice elites need to accept that violence committed by sane individuals is not some sort of crude response to poverty, or driven by social or personal problems. If so, we would have solved the problem long ago, given the thousands of man-hours spent by probation officers, social workers, psychologists and others to help, guide and counsel offenders.
All attempts to ‘rehabilitate’ criminals have failed, because there is nothing about them which is broken and needs mending, nothing ‘lost’ which they need help to recover.
Criminals have gone out of their way to make it clear that their violence cannot be ‘programmed’ out of them, as if it were some kind of neurotic tic. They are violent because they want to be. It is a tool of their trade which gets them what they want. They use it to impose their will; for financial and/or sexual gratification and sometimes just for the pleasure it gives them to hurt others.
If anything needs rehabilitation, it is the state’s response to repeat violence from criminals who know exactly what they are doing, and who are allowed to roam free.
Limiting whole-life terms to the killers of pre-school age children smacks of headline-grabbing sentimentality. Ensuring that all repeat violent criminals go to prison for most, or all, of their lives would send a clear message to the public that the Government is, at last, serious about protecting them, and to criminals that the era of pretend sentencing is over.
Faced with such a threat, the evidence shows the majority of violent criminals would give up, our violent crime rate would drop, and we would probably need fewer prison places, not more.
But this is not the message that Boris is giving. Perhaps, because like many politicians, he is afraid of being called bad names by the Guardianistas, who would label him heartless, authoritarian, vengeful and cruel.
David Fraser
Got transferable skills?
ReplyDeletehttps://jobs.localgov.co.uk/job/140141/assistant-director-housing-and-community-safety/
My heart sunk when I saw Kulvinder Vigurs is keeping NPS London....does anybody at NPS London agree or is it just me who feels she's created a culture of bullying and negativity?
ReplyDelete