As Napo members set off for Eastbourne and the AGM, I thought I'd reflect upon two recent conversations with friends, one a former colleague and another via an entirely different route. The subject of this blog came up with the former saying "I don't read it - I used to, but it's niche" and the other saying "Way too niche!"
Yes, I get that. I've always felt it's been a useful platform for recusants to gather and lets be honest, they are 'moving on' and not being replaced. I recall a few years ago chatting to an academic who had persuaded some of his students to attend the annual Bill McWilliams lecture in Cambridge. I asked him if he'd ever come across the blog, or if students had? No was the answer and that sort of surprised me because any idle google search of 'probation' will bring the blog up near the top. What does that say about curiosity generally, not to mention 'professional curiosity', or lack of as frequently highlighted in HMI inspection reports?.
In recent years I've had occasion to chat with several academics delivering probation training at the three contracted universities and it sounded pretty dismal to me. The feeling was that for many students it was viewed as a very cost-effective route to employment other than probation with more than a suspicion that what might be termed serious 'study' not being really required. It was surprising to hear that significant numbers hardly ever attend lectures and are almost unkown to tutors. Essays can often show scant evidence of research, sources are routinely 'surprising' and many therefore achieve dismal marks. When challenged regarding the recording actual probation work, there was a strong suspicion of students being 'creative' in what was actually being undertaken. I can fully understand how a wide-ranging and discursive probation blog wouldn't feature much on the radar.
Interestingly, I notice that the contract for training, value £93million, is currently being tendered:-
"This requirement is for the delivery of the Community Justice graduate diploma as part of the PQiP programme. The PQiP is the mandatory training route for all Probation Officers that are employed by the Probation Service. The Offender Management Act 2007 s10 sets out the Secretary of State for Justice's right to publish guidelines about qualifications, experience or training required to be a Probation Officer, with effect from 1 April 2016 and as set out in statutory guidelines, all Trainee Probation Officers (Learners) must undertake the Professional Qualification in Probation to qualify and perform the work of a Probation Officer. HMPPS are the only employer of Probation Officers, and the PQiP programme is the only route for training Probation Officers in England and Wales. The PQiP programme consists of a BA Hons degree or graduate diploma in Community Justice and a Level 5 vocational qualification in Probation Practice.
The academic components of the PQIP that will be delivered by the Contractor will comprise of a Level 6 academic qualification, with Level 4 and Level 5 academic components used to give advance standing onto the core programme (Level 6). The PQiP learning will be delivered through cohorts of learners on a 6 monthly intake cycle, through 4 entry routes; Probation Services Officer Progression (PSOP), Standard PQiP full-time (post-graduate), Standard PQiP (post-graduate) part-time; and a full-time PQiP non-graduate route. The part-time routes can take between 21-30 months and full-time routes can take between 15-27 months depending on learners' prior learning levels.
The service commencement is estimated to start in March 2027, following the mobilisation phase which will include developing and finalising the curriculum and ensuring the course is appropriately accredited."
I understand that in addition to the current providers Sheffield Hallam, DeMontfort and Plymouth, several others have expressed interest and there's a rumour applicants might even include the likes of Sodexo! It's always struck me as somewhat alarming that all the current academic institutions happily agreed to bind their staff from making any public statement deemed critical of HMPPS, MoJ or government policy! So much for academic freedom and no wonder much of the criminal justice system is in such a mess if one chunk of academia with detailed inside knowledge that might be deemed critical is prohibited from speaking up. It also got me thinking about academic papers generally. I've often wondered who they are written for and who indeed will ever read them?
In running this 'niche' blog for a long time, I've necessarily had reason to sift through many papers and journals and boy are most pretty impenetrable. Those that might be viewed as consise and make a strong case in plainish language are rare in my experience. I would say however that the blog has served to bring much academic endeavour to a wider audience, but sadly there's growing evidence that the job no longer requires it. Maybe it never did, but however it happened, there was at least a shared probation ethos, but I'm not so sure any more. I guess it may have just become irrelevant and a 'niche' concept, but at least I can say we tried to keep the flame alive and the blog continues for as long as recusants want it to.
"The Offender Management Act 2007 s10 sets out the Secretary of State for Justice's right to publish guidelines about qualifications, experience or training required to be a Probation Officer" - jack fucking straw does it again.
ReplyDeleteThat 2007 Act contained all the necessary implements of torture, gleefully used by every government since, to reduce Probation to a gibbering compliant wreck. From trusts to privatisation, that Act was the dungeon in which Probation had every ounce of life squeezed out, its bare bones twisted & broken, its once spirited body reduced to a grovelling heap of offal.
"Flies all green and buzzin',
in this dungeon of despair.
Prisoners grumble and piss their clothes,
and scratch their matted hair.
A tiny light, from a window hole,
a hundred yards away,
is all they ever gets to know
about the regular light in the day...
...Slime and rot, rats and snot,
and vomit on the floor.
Fifty yoogly soldiers, man,
holdin' spears by the iron door.
Knives and spikes, and guns and the likes
of every tool of pain.
And a sinister midget, with a bucket and a mop,
where the blood goes down the drain."
(Frank Zappa, the torture never stops)
https://www-bbc-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c04g94xldxqo.amp?amp_gsa=1&_js_v=a9&usqp=mq331AQIUAKwASCAAgM%3D#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17605974644581&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com
ReplyDeleteThere it is, His Majesty's Victim Service:
Delete"A review by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation found the service's risk of harm assessments were largely insufficient, but the region was rated "outstanding" for its work with victims"
The probation service for the north-east of England "requires improvement", according to inspectors who raised concern over the quality of information sharing and its work to protect to the public.
DeleteA review by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation found the service's risk of harm assessments were largely insufficient, but the region was rated "outstanding" for its work with victims.
Chief probation inspector Martin Jones also said work to "engage people on probation and promote desistance" was "amongst the best seen across probation regions so far".
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said the government will be increasing funding for probation by 45%.
The inspection found staff were highly motivated and had a drive to achieve an inclusive and safe working culture.
It also concluded the North East's approach to improving delivery and ensuring staff were able to prioritise most critical aspects of their role had been recognised nationally.
But it found the quality of checks and processes relating to the safeguarding of children was a concern.
The inspection report also said identification of actual and potential victims needed improvement and the delivery of services was not sufficient to keep people safe due to gaps in the sharing of information between police and children's services.
Mr Jones said: "As is so often the case in our inspections, work to protect the public and keep people safe was a concern."
The inspectorate made seven recommendations which included working with all three police forces in the region to improve the quality of information sharing.
Inspectors also recommended improving the quality of court reports to inform sentencing and to ensure domestic abuse and safeguarding information is used effectively.
The MoJ said it is planning to recruit 1,300 probation officers nationally by March.
Can someone in Eastbourne please ask napo and jones if they think this is a healthy place for probation to be, i.e. "the delivery of services was not sufficient to keep people safe" BUT the work done with the victims, i.e. the people *not* kept safe, was "outstanding" ?
DeleteNE England, the victims' champions, scored 8/21 (38%) despite two of its core tasks being rated "inadequate", namely public protection & court work.
How long can the country tolerate £8billion a year being spent on inadequate service provision while the 'leaders' are feted, handed large bonuses & promoted?
The moj's response? "it is planning to recruit 1,300 probation officers nationally by March."
Cannon fodder for an accidental but very expensive victim support service.
Well yes, the Napo AGM is getting underway but it’s striking how neither the probation unions nor the Probation ever mention this blog, when they should be embracing it. Silly given it’s one of the few spaces with a media presence about probation.
ReplyDeletePick up the Probation Journal and, like most related publications, it’s largely filled with irrelevant material. Occasionally something worth reading from a current or former practitioner, but only if written independently of probation. The same could be said of the qualification system, too many fragmented pathways and too little interest or wider application.It would make far more sense to return to a single, degree-based route, ideally tied to social work. Ultimately, the issue goes back to identity: what exactly is probation trying to be? That’s a worrying question, especially if Sodexo is now in the mix for training provision.
As this blog said recently, we’re an outlier in Europe and no one seems to care. So perhaps Napo can put that in its AGM pipe and puff deeply.
Outlier England
https://probationmatters.blogspot.com/2025/07/outlier-england.html?m=1
I beg your pardon this blog is well known to the Napo secretary. On many occasions he has threatened the blogs author with law suit . Criticised the blog and it's anonymous published articles. He claims to refuse to read the blog but we know it's led him through tactics which he abandons when too difficult. The place for the pulse of probation Napo look a different way. Under the current situation Napo is lost. Look at the motions pathetic from membership just what Napo need to exist and do deliver nowt.
DeleteGuardian today:-
ReplyDeleteThe Ministry of Justice, the Whitehall department in charge of a £13bn annual budget for prisons, probation and courts across England and Wales, has failed to file spending receipts of nearly £11bn, a report has said.
Tussell, the public spending analyst firm, said the government department was more than two years behind on publishing receipts for multimillion pound contracts, weakening scrutiny around public money.
The last time the government department filed receipts from its suppliers was May 2023, Tussell said. The industry standard is to allow leeway of two months to publish receipts.
A spokesperson for Tussell said: “This gap in publication is deeply concerning and highlights that the government is failing to meet its own transparency standards.
“Such delays undermine visibility over public spending at a time when accountability and scrutiny are more critical than ever.”
Between June 2022 and May 2023 – the most recent 12-month period for which the MoJ has published its receipts – the department’s spending receipts amounted to £5bn.
Tussell has calculated the missing spending by dividing this figure by 12 and multiplying it by the number of months when the department has failed to file receipts, which is 26. The estimated total came to £10.8bn, Tussell said.
This calculation includes all Ministry of Justice arm’s length bodies, except for the family court advisers Cafcass and the Legal Services Board, which are both more up to date in their publishing.
Tom Brake, the director of the transparency organisation Unlock Democracy, condemned the MoJ’s failure to publish.
“With government finances painfully tight, spending receipts must be published promptly,” he said. “They help detect and prevent the misuse and waste of precious resources. Delaying their publication damages the government’s ability to control its expenditure.”
According to government-wide calculations, the Ministry of Justice is by far the worst performing department when it comes to missing spending data.
The MoJ received a real-term 1.8% spending increase in June, according to the spending review announced by the chancellor.
Day-to-day MoJ spending is set to reach £13.2bn by 2028-29, while capital spending will rise to £2.3bn annually for 2026-27 and 2028-29, before returning to £2bn in 2029-30. This will support the initiative to create 14,000 new prison places by 2031.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies noted in February that MoJ spending was cut by 70% over the early 2010s and, within this, capital funding for HM Courts and Tribunals Service and HM Prison and Probation Service was cut by more than 90%.
They're still trawling the bins outside waitrose looking for enough receipts to hide what they've spent.
DeleteThis is what niche & privileged entitlement looks like:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2nlye8dxyo
"A man was caught by police getting back behind the wheel of his car just moments after he was sentenced for drug driving.
Joshua Michael Carey, 37, of Portinscale Village, Cumbria, admitted being over the limit for cocaine while driving on 19 March.
On Tuesday, Workington Magistrates' Court disqualified him from driving for 17 months and ordered him to undertake 40 hours of unpaid work.
But Carey left court and immediately got into his yellow BMW before he was once again pulled over by Cumbria Police officers.
Carey was charged with driving whilst disqualified and appeared before the same court the following day.
He was sentenced to eight weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months.
His disqualification was extended to 29 months and he must undertake further unpaid work."
No that's not what it means. This guy is a selfish narcissist . Entitlement perhaps. The lords is niche they think they are special and entitled to more. Mp who claimed for a duck house while we can't home released people. The last Tory chancellor idiot who claimed fill on central heating for horses when people died in the cold. That's it there .
DeleteFrom InsideTime:-
ReplyDeleteProbation experts criticised the low number of experienced staff, the pressure under which they work, and the high number of people being recalled to prison, in a panel webinar run by the Howard League for Penal Reform.
Speakers at the event (pictured) included Martin Jones, HM Chief Inspector of Probation; Helen Schofield, Chief Executive of the Probation Institute; Tania Bassett, National Official for the National Association of Probation Officers; and Gaie Delap, retired teacher and climate activist.
Ms Delap, at 75, had been imprisoned for her part in a non-violent climate change protest, but on release Serco had failed to find an electronic tag which fitted her wrist, and so just before Christmas she was returned to prison. Critics said her case highlighted the flaws in future plans to rely even more on technology within probation work.
Discussion at the event, chaired by the Howard League’s Director of Campaigns Andrew Neilson, was wide ranging. All participants expressed concern at the current state of probation and likely future developments. Panellists agreed that the high number of recalls was due largely to political pressure, and that investment was needed in people, not just in technology.
Participants all expressed unhappiness at the Government’s proposal to have photographs and personal details of those carrying out unpaid work in the community published in local newspapers. There was also concern over the idea of major companies in retail and other industries being able to use those on unpaid work within their establishments, with views expressed that this would be exploitative and unacceptable.
There was a need, all panellists agreed, for staff to receive better training and more support when there were mistakes made, as happens in all organisations, so that probation officers did not take the blame. They felt that technology had an important role in cutting back paperwork, but not in dealing with people, and probation work is all about people, not processes.
This was the latest in a series of ‘Spotlights’ events, held by the Howard League, that cover key themes across criminal justice, and which can all be viewed on their website.