Following quite a bit of soul and heart-searching I thought I'd share my thoughts regarding both the future of probation in England and the blog. To keep things as simple as possible, I've reluctantly decided there is no future for the current iteration of probation under MoJ and civil service control, or indeed under the current Labour administration. I see no agency, body, institution or individual willing and capable of speaking up for the Service being anything other than part of the problem rather than a solution. Academic institutions currently delivering PO training, or others interested in bidding, are willing to agree and sign up to not allowing any negative expressions as to the direction of travel.
We have a home secretary who wants AI, universal tagging and facial recognition technology to usher in the modern equivalent of Jeremy Bentham's panopticon and we only just stopped her bringing back a modern version of the stocks by photographing, publishing, naming and shaming those undertaking Community Payback. The final straw was the BBC radio 4 Free Thinking episode on criminal justice policy which never mentioned probation at all. Lord Jeremy Sumption summed things up perfectly by declaring that "all the public and politicians want is retribution".
I could go on with a litany of other contributing factors, but as regular readers will be fully aware, all these have been aired and discussed ad nauseam over the years to little effect and therefore the number one priority becomes ensuring the audit trail remains for posterity and benefit of future researchers and historians. With this in mind, I've recently had the following from the British Library:-
"I have set the web crawler to capture the site quarterly. Our initial capture was a successful, in-depth crawl that archived approximately 11 GB of data. The crawler follows internal links back through your archives to capture any published material and comments from the beginning. Moving forward, the crawler will return every three months to ensure new posts and discussions are preserved.The Library will keep this copy as part of non-print legal deposit regulations, meaning a version of the site will indeed reside with us for long-term preservation and access across Legal Deposit Library Reading Rooms. Please be advised that this is not considered a backup copy."
chapeau!, Jim Brown... the British Library is a result, as was the NAO revelation. I'm pleased you'll let the blog run. I suspect there'll be intrusive interlopers initially attempting to take advantage of the 'care & maintenance', but they tend to get bored when there's limited reaction. Thanks for all you've facilitated to date... it aint over.
ReplyDeleteThe British Library archiving the blog is indeed a result. Much has been said here over the years, and much of it has proven correct. There is no real future for the current iteration of probation under MoJ and civil service control, nor under the current Labour administration. There is no agency, body, institution or individual willing and capable of speaking up for the Service who is not, in some way, also part of the problem rather than the solution. Academic institutions delivering probation training, or those hoping to bid for it, along with much of the research community, will not express openly critical views about the current direction of travel.
DeleteA standalone Probation Service outside the Civil Service and separate from prisons is sensible starting point, but that now is a pipe dream. I read a comment in Napo News earlier that summed it up rather well.
Over the summer, Napo published a series of (now largely forgotten) articles exploring “professionalism in probation”. While some conclusions may be idealised, they underline an important point: the only people who can truly speak for probation are its practitioners.
Reflections on the meanings of professionalism in probation practice
https://napomagazine.org.uk/reflections-on-the-meanings-of-professionalism-in-probation-practice/
The Concept of Professionalism in Probation – A View from the Frontline
https://napomagazine.org.uk/the-concept-of-professionalism-in-probation-a-view-from-the-frontline/
A strong passion – professional identity in Probation
https://napomagazine.org.uk/a-strong-passion-professional-identity-in-probation/
If that is still not persuasive, we need only look at jurisdictions where probation continues to function tolerably well, Scotland and Ireland being the clearest nearby examples.
Alas, none of this seems likely to happen here. Real probation in England and Wales is quietly passing into history, and, fittingly, this blog may become one of the few places where its story is preserved.
Yes thanks Jim without this avenue of expression the darker days of the split would have been darker still, you provide a sense of a ‘ probation community’ than anything the centre has been able to provide. The comparison to the Post Office scandal event has already started with pressure groups and some MPs supporting the damage that IPP has ( and continues to have) on those blighted by this abhorrent sentence. In 2004 I attended an event in Preston at which the architects of IPP explained how they saw its function,which was significantly different to how it turned out in practice and on that basis the Parole board itself has to be in the dock.
ReplyDeleteThe impact that this blog has had cannot be measured in metrics but by conversations with colleagues who saw beyond the Goebbels style propaganda thrown out by the centre and knew thanks to you, that what was happening in our office was echoed more or less throughout the land- a useful thing to know when you feel as though you are the only one, this then is not goodbye but merely au revoir……
The mis-selling of IPP was as deliberate as the OASys sleight-of-hand... regardless of political colours, it was simply the political classes finding weasel ways to navigate the justice system towards its current retribution model.
Delete(hit send too early)... and the killings inside the prison system are testament as to how the retribution-centric bastards want it to go, i.e. death sentence by peers.
Delete"The brutality of his crimes made him a target in prison and he had been attacked several times previously."
Deletehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c80jmm00379o
"Ian Huntley, the former school caretaker who murdered two 10-year-old schoolgirls in Soham, died on Saturday following an attack in prison.
The 52-year-old suffered significant head trauma after being attacked with a makeshift weapon by another inmate at HMP Frankland on 26 February and had been on life support in hospital."
"Since 2015 3,601 people have died in prison in England and Wales. Of those deaths, 965 were self-inflicted... of which 41 were homicides."
Deletehttps://inquest.org.uk/campaigning-for-change/statistics/deaths-in-prison/
Au revoir Jim. Thanks for keeping the lights on for as long as you have done no doubt at some personal cost and impact on your health and wellbeing. I expect those loyal to the blog must now step up and act by sending you guest blog posts to keep things going between peaks in the crisis rather than relying on you as much as they have been for emotional support and guidance. Thank you for your service.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jim, for everything.
ReplyDeleteProbation is dead in the water, and by design. Probation managers, regional directors and ministers are all complicit and part of the problem. Their solutions, an obsession with technology, AI, cost-effectiveness and propping up prisons, are alarming and part of that same design. The disrespect and disregard shown toward probation staff fits within it too.
I said on an earlier post that there have been countless contributions here documenting exactly this drift. Letters have gone to HM Inspectorate of Probation, to senior leaders, to ministers and to the unions. Yet nothing materially shifts. There has been no departure from the sobering reflections of the late Paul Senior and his band of courageous TR critics:
https://probationmatters.blogspot.com/2025/09/sobering-reflections.html?m=1
Nor is there any meaningful answer to Rob Canton’s call for “probation as social work”, or at least a return to something recognisably aligned with it:
https://probationmatters.blogspot.com/2025/10/mic-drop.html?m=1
One piece that particularly stands out is the argument even citing Fergus McNeill about “shaping probation’s identity”, where it was said we were heading in the wrong direction and would likely remain an embarrassing outlier. Nothing changed, and here we still are:
https://probationmatters.blogspot.com/2025/07/outlier-england.html?m=1
We were told privatisation and “modernisation” were necessary. We were told unification would stabilise things. We were told successive restructures would embed professionalism. We were “reset” and “reviewed”. Yet here we remain: over-centralised, metric-driven, and steadily hollowing out professional discretion while publicly insisting it still exists.
And it’s not as if alternatives are absent. There are multiple blueprints for something better, comparative international models, academic proposals, practitioner-led reform ideas. Even the Wales model demonstrates there is another way:
https://probationmatters.blogspot.com/2026/01/there-is-another-way.html?m=1
My favourite post ever published here remains the guest blog on “advise, assist and befriend”:
https://probationmatters.blogspot.com/2015/02/guest-blog-26.html?m=1
That phrase, once foundational, now feels like an artefact from another settlement entirely. It describes a philosophy that no longer meaningfully exists within the operational reality of probation. The knowledge, experience and evidence exists. The will to act on it does not.
So when you describe a profession dissolving through incremental change, you’re not describing an unseen tragedy. You’re describing something documented in real time. Many of us said this would happen. We set it out clearly. We explained the likely consequences. And still the direction of travel continued. Perhaps that’s the most dispiriting part. Not that probation evolved or was replaced, but that the trajectory was visible, contested, and allowed to proceed anyway. We’re not short of diagnosis. We’re short of credibility at the top.
If the blog now moves into “care and maintenance” mode, then perhaps its most important function is exactly what you describe: preserving the record. An audit trail showing that the warnings were given, the arguments were made, and the alternatives were set out, long before the consequences became undeniable. Future researchers will not struggle to understand what happened to probation in England. The evidence is here, written in real time.
The tragedy is not that nobody knew. It’s that those in a position to change course chose not to.
And so, here we are.
/ Probation Officer
Jim, I completely understand your position and the direction of travel you’ve described.
ReplyDeleteWrap it up. Put your feet up. Take a breath. You’ve carried the torch for a long time, but the flame itself went out some time ago.
You’ve made your mark. The magic and the mystery of what probation once was will remain with many of us, in our memories, and in the older academic texts that captured it properly not that current HMPPS backslapping malarkey.
Do make sure you end the blog with a final post that’s properly snappy and nostalgic. It deserves that kind of send-off.
And after that, let it rest.
Rob Rinder on social media today:
ReplyDelete"I’ve written to every Member of Parliament today.
Proposals before Parliament would remove jury trials from offences carrying up to three years in prison.
Freedoms rarely vanish overnight. They are chipped away in the name of efficiency.
Juries did not cause the crisis in our courts. Removing them will not fix it.
When the state seeks to take someone’s liberty for serious offences, the judgment of ordinary citizens should never be optional.
This is close to becoming law.
Please read the letter. Contact your MP now."
Well done and thank you.
ReplyDeleteLeyton Orient Football Club came back from the almost dead in 2017 - so can traditional 1907 probation in England and Wales. - the basis is for those of us who remember and were part of the best to stay true to that and take what opportunities that arise to tell others. Hopefully as others learn and experience what social work can offer society and individuals will help as well.
Keir Starmer and David Lammy are taking an extraordinarily dangerous gamble with our individual liberty - thesecretbarrister March 7, 2026
ReplyDeleteThis week, MPs will vote on the second reading of the Courts and Tribunals Bill. Don’t let the anodyne name fool you – this is one of the most revolutionary pieces of legislation in our country’s history.
The government intends to radically curtail the right we all hold to be tried by a jury when accused of a serious criminal offence. Around half of cases that would currently be tried by a jury will not be, if this law passes.
If you are accused of a crime – and, as a criminal barrister, let me assure you that nobody is immune from finding the state mistakenly point the finger of guilt in your direction – you will no longer automatically be entitled to be tried by your peers. Currently, for any criminal offence carrying a maximum sentence of more than six months’ imprisonment, you can insist on your right to trial by jury. This means that twelve independent members of the public are randomly drawn from your local community, listen to the evidence at your trial, are directed by the judge on how the law applies to your particular case, and then return a verdict based on their combined knowledge, life experience and understanding of human behaviour. But no more.
Instead, for offences carrying prison sentences of up to two years, the government intends to force you to be tried and sentenced by three magistrates – unqualified, unpaid volunteers whose demographic overwhelmingly leans white, middle-aged and middle class (Sarah Pochin MP was a magistrate, for reference, before she became professionally offended at the presence of black people on television). Readers of my first book will be familiar with the Wild West chaos in which the magistrates’ court operates. More of that, is what the government thinks we should have. (Oh, and they also want to remove your existing automatic right of appeal against magistrates’ court decisions. Making it more likely that your wrongful conviction by the magistrates will not be overturned.)
For criminal cases where a prison sentences of between two and three years would be likely upon conviction, trial will be in front of a single Crown Court judge. Again, there is something of a type. White, male, middle-aged, privately-educated. Not necessarily a reflection of the people – defendants, witnesses or victims – who often find themselves before the criminal courts. There is also a risk – quite a large one, you may think – of such people becoming ‘case-hardened’. Somewhat jaded and cynical when confronted with the hundredth alleged fraudster claiming that “it’s not how it looks”. An unacceptable risk, you may also think, if it is you, wrongly accused of stealing from work, insisting that it is not, Your Honour, how it looks. Because again, we know that such wrongful accusations occur. And lives are devastated when the system fails to spot them.
contd
/... But these are the reforms that the government are pressing ahead with. It may come as a surprise. None of this was in Labour’s manifesto (indeed, Labour’s manifesto was embarrassingly silent on how it intended to address the longstanding crisis in the criminal justice system, as some of us observed at the last election). It has been paraded by the government as the only way to tackle the record backlogs and delays in the Crown Courts – caused by years of chronic underfunding and political mismanagement – yet the government has produced not a shred of credible evidence to support this claim, nor is it interested in discovering any, forcing the legislation through Parliament at breakneck speed in the apparent hope of avoiding inconvenient scrutiny. Much has been said about David Lammy – Justice Secretary and chief advocate of these plans – and his previous comments about the inviolability of trial by jury, not least as, according to Mr Lammy’s own 2017 review, juries are the only part of the criminal justice system that do not produce disproportionate outcomes based on race.
DeleteBut amid all the many valid criticisms, there has been relatively little attention paid to the most dangerous feature of this plan. And, in advancing this point, I have to credit one man in particular: Robert Jenrick MP.
Prior to his recent sacking and subsequent defection, Robert Jenrick MP was Shadow Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor. He was the man who, in the event His Majesty’s Opposition entered government, would become Lord Chancellor, required to swear an oath to uphold the rule of law and to defend the independence of the judiciary. However, from the day he inherited his brief, he appeared to consider that the best way to defend the independent judiciary was to launch a series of personal and misinformed attacks on judges. He was not only an early mainstream adopter of the far-right myth of “two-tier justice” – a label given to the phenomenon of serious racially aggravated criminal offending receiving the expected treatment by the courts for serious racially aggravated criminal offending – but expanded the myth by spreading untruths about judges sitting on the Sentencing Council, hounding its chair, Sir William Davis, right up until his untimely death. A popular use of his time involved posting lengthy social media threads about immigration judges with whose independent decisions Mr Jenrick disagreed, in which he alleged bias on the basis of things said or done in these judges’ professional and personal lives prior to becoming judges. The decisions that he was criticising were not accurately represented by Mr Jenrick, doubtless because a factual explanation of those decisions would have undermined his claims of “activist” judges. Those attacks resulted in threats to life and judges having to flee their homes. The apotheosis of his campaign saw him at the Conservative Party Conference holding up a judge’s wig like a glove puppet, as he announced his plans to abolish the independent Judicial Appointments Commission and imbue sole power to appoint judges in the hands of the Lord Chancellor. Who, under a Conservative government, would have been Robert Jenrick.
contd
/... Now, despite what the Labour government’s media campaign has pretended – that criminal justice is only about guilty baddies and innocent victims – the truth is a little different. It turns out that not everybody accused of a crime is guilty of it. A history book – even a glance at Wikipedia – might disabuse you of the idea that criminal justice is a procession of charging guilty crims, getting a jury to convict them and then locking them up. You don’t have to be a Mastermind contestant to grasp the point.
DeleteAnd if it were you, facing trial for a crime that you had not committed, would you be comfortable having your liberty – your entire life – entrusted exclusively to the hands of a Jenrick Judge? If you were a young black man wrongly accused of a crime, how confident would you feel in a fair trial knowing that your judge – the person who would determine your guilt and then sentence you – had only been appointed because he had met the political approval of a party which welcomed as guest of honour at its conference somebody convicted of stirring up racial hatred?
Even a non-Jenrick appointed judge would be making decisions on people’s guilt knowing that if their verdict did not meet with Honest Bob’s approval, he would be straight on Twitter accusing them of bias and threatening to remove them. We know that this would be so, because we see something similar already, when verdicts in contentious criminal cases don’t satisfy the prejudices of politicians or pressure groups. When Labour councillor Ricky Jones was acquitted of encouraging violent disorder last August, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp decried the verdict as “astonishing” and “alarming”. Mr Philp was at it again last month, condemning the “shocking” jury verdicts (a mixture of acquittals and no verdicts, meaning they could not reach agreement) at the trial of Palestine Action protestors, which he declared gave “the green light to mob violence”.
BUT.
Here’s the thing. Juries don’t care about Robert Jenrick. They don’t give a fuck about Chris Philp. Politicians can fulminate and scream and tantrum and condemn, and do you know what jurors do? They slip back into their ordinary lives, having done their duty. No juror-in-waiting trudging to their nearest Crown Court on Monday is worried about what Chris Philp is going to think about the verdicts they return, or what glove puppetry Bob Jenrick is going to ask the teenagers running his X account to try and memeify. No juror is going to face tabloid campaigns calling for them to be sacked. They are not going to be named and shamed and forced to flee their homes through partisan accusations of bias. And no defendant, no witness and no victim attends court fearing that the most important decision of their lives is going to be taken by somebody with an eye on how that decision might affect their job security.
Jurors are truly, uniquely independent. They rock up and do their jobs quietly and diligently, not seeking advancement or political approval, not dependent on the whims of politicians or fearful of scapegoating by the media. And, despite the best efforts of populists – on both ends of the political spectrum – to suggest otherwise, the public recognise and respect this. Trial by jury may well be the one part of our ailing, failing criminal justice system which retains widespread public faith.
Our country has a hard road ahead. Once Labour abolishes juries and places responsibility for determining verdicts upon judges – responsibility that, by the way, no Crown Court judge in the country signed up for – the independence of our system is inextricably linked to the independence of those judges, and the good faith of the politicians who ultimately decide how much that independence they will permit.
By removing trial by jury, Keir Starmer and David Lammy are abolishing the ultimate guarantee of independence in our criminal justice system, and are placing extraordinary, unprecedented and untrammelled power into the hands of whichever politicians come after them.
As discussed with you Jim, I intend to set up a probation blog, it will be different to your superb contribution and will, hopefully, be run by a small cohort of former probation employees.
ReplyDeleteWell done thank you who will be running it we all know who JB is trusted respected although he has a massive following it was born from old school practice and solid career defending the as was ideology of probation .
Delete" Trainee Probation Officer recruitment: April 2025 to March 2026
ReplyDeleteThis is an annual transparency publication, to publish the number of Trainee Probation Officers onboarded into HMPPS for the previous financial year.
From:
HM Prison and Probation Service
Published
6 March 2026
These statistics will be released on 2 April 2026 9:30am"
"onboarded"? Another gobbledigook word from the world of shysters:
"If a new employee is onboarded by a company or organization, someone tells them how things work and what their role is."
I guess its the right word for hmpps: "someone TELLS them HOW things work and WHAT their role is."
Drill Instructors screaming at new recruits - sound familiar? Full Metal Jacket... Jarhead... A Few Good Men
"Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded... Who's gonna do it? You? I have a greater responsibility than you could possibly fathom... I run my unit how I run my unit."
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-moves-to-protect-children-from-abusive-parents-through-new-courts-and-tribunals-bill
ReplyDeleteShame to be reading this and end to our vent pipe. It is the close if an era the JB era. There will be only one bloke celebrating ringing the bell and thinking his Xmas has come early. That will be that lazy idiot in charge of the Napo numpties who claim to represent staff best interests. They only represent their own as does the erstwhile useless secretary.
ReplyDeleteEnough of him well done JB you taught Napo who they need to follow and learn from. They got better as you led the way for them to appreciate a real considered approach. Lunging Lawrence list a JR but closed up Napo boards because of the wider genuine view published here.
It is a real sad time to see you rest your keyboard but you can't work forever you saved a lot of people a lot of stress opening this page and I thank you deeply for all the posts the tensions and the highs another stay in touch with the blog fraternity JB and one day I hope to buy you a long cold beer and some stories exchanged thanks mate.
I wasn't aware of this anomaly until today:
ReplyDelete"Causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving carries a maximum sentence of five years, while causing death by driving while uninsured carries a maximum term of two years, according to the Sentencing Council."
in other news:
Causing thousands of death by any means in pursuit of an illegal war you started carries no penalty whatsoever.
I don't see that as driving is a sanction of the driver. Trump has all his team assisting the choices and directing the proposals. He cannot act alone .
Deletewait til mahmood hears about this
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0jvy4xn0l4o
A laser technology to covertly track behaviour. As ever, a tool that can do good is most likely to be abused & used in the wrong way.
On a dark winter evening, a woman waits for a train on a deserted platform. A man arrives and sits right beside her, making her feel uncomfortable and unsafe. A new application of laser technology is being developed to spot this happening and determine when it is an innocent act - and when it is a threat.
Delete"Throughout my entire life the onus has always been on the woman to protect herself," says Rosie Richardson, a technology company product and strategy director.
She is in the early stages of developing a tool to quickly identify behaviour like lurking and tailing, and direct help when it is needed.
"I think we have to develop solutions that put the responsibility back into other places like public authorities, owners of spaces, police forces," she says.
The tool is being developed by Createc in Cockermouth, Cumbria, but it is based on a system the company already uses to monitor crowds at airports and railway stations, including King's Cross in London.
It tracks people using laser technology, showing each as a dot on a screen.
If unusual behaviours are detected, for example a large group of people moves suddenly or in an unexpected way, security teams on the ground are alerted and can check if there is a problem.
"It means you now have eyes on that [situation] and you can make a judgement based on your security training that that's a threat or not a threat," Richardson says.
She says there are specific patterns of behaviour in predators - loitering in an area or following someone - which the technology can detect.
""It means you now have eyes on that [situation] and you can make a judgement based on your security training that that's a threat or not a threat," Richardson says."
DeleteJust who makes the 'judgement ' between 'odd' behaviour and a criminal act?
Its all becoming just a bit Orwellian for me. The eye in the sky has turned. Its no longer looking for criminals or terrorists, it's focusing on everyone in an attempt to weed out those that might not conform to Big Brothers model of 'ideal' citizenship.
Maybe theres a clue in there as to why they've destroyed the probation service by steering it in the direction of control and conformity? Has probation been deliberately shaped into Room 101?
God bless Winston Smith!
'Getafix
Jim,
ReplyDeleteIt’s been quite a journey since your very first post back in 2010. You opened the blog with this:
“Saturday, 4 September 2010
In the Beginning
All blogs have to start somewhere - and this is it. I’m fed up with work - a job I absolutely loved has gone horribly wrong and is about to get a whole lot worse. I moan endlessly to colleagues - and clients - they listen politely and think ‘poor sod, he’ll be retired soon’. Nobody understands what the hell probation is all about - there’s never been a decent tv drama series and this void of universal ignorance is ruthlessly taken advantage of by successive governments in order to wreak havoc upon us. We’ve been nationalised, rationalised, marginalised, bureaucratised and will shortly be privatised. I feel helpless as this madness goes on around me and then suddenly all becomes clear - start blogging!”
https://probationmatters.blogspot.com/2010/09/in-beginning.html?m=0
Now you’re bringing the blog to an end, we need your last post. After all these years, what have you learnt? What are your reflections on everything you’ve seen happen to probation? What did blogging give you, and did it help you hold on to a bit of that old probation magic along the way?
Make it a good one to sign off on. Imagine a TV series without a finale — it just wouldn’t feel right.
Whatever you write, good luck, and thanks for all the reading over the years.
I think that it will hard to leave it knowing that Jim and Jim alone has given a voice to voiceless probation officers throughout the length and breadth of this country and at times of great despair how many of us turned to this blog,to hear our thoughts echoed to know that we were not alone. It felt as though the union abandoned us, management sought to shackle us to the latest algorithmic wonder in order to tell us who to do our job and we just carried on, the magic that happens in the room refuses to be quantified and cannot be bottled, much to the chagrin of HMpps yet this is were ‘probation’ happens and until UK Correctional services takes over, be proud to say that we were there and ably supported by this blog……..
ReplyDelete100% spot on and I hope your right about too hard to leave it. This blog is the only safe place for staff even when there are quips and disagreement.
DeleteJim,
ReplyDeleteI completely understand your decision and want to thank you for keeping this blog going for so long. I’ve followed it from the very beginning and it has been an invaluable record of what has happened to probation over the past decade and more — often uncomfortable reading, but necessary.
Since retiring, I’ve find it simply too depressing to dwell on what has been done to a service that once stood for something humane, thoughtful and quietly effective. Watching the steady dismantling of the old professional ethos has been painful.
I still worry about the future of constructive approaches to reducing the harm caused by crime — approaches based on relationships, judgement and rehabilitation rather than managerial targets and political theatre. That tradition feels more fragile than ever.
And yet, in the wider context of global instability and the huge societal challenges now looming — not least those posed by AI and technological change — I suspect the fate of probation is seen by many as small beer. For those of us who spent our working lives in it, though, it never will be.
Thank you again for sustaining this space for so long. It has mattered.
Romeo hero
ReplyDeletehttps://www.civilserviceworld.com/in-depth/article/antonia-romeos-first-steps-as-cabinet-secretary
aye, she had the nerve to write this load of claptrap:
Delete“We… are the team that leads the almost half a million civil servants charged with delivery of the government’s agenda and services to the public. We set the tone, the culture, the values and the example. We translate priorities into action and impact. Every day, every single person in the country depends on our leadership.”
"the tone, the culture, the values and the example"
Delete"destroy a once proud public service, engender fear through bullying, fiddle away until you get caught - then posture as an icon."
Peter Mandelson asked Foreign Office for £500k severance payment, files show
DeleteThe Guardian, Jessica Elgot Deputy political editor
Updated Wed, 11 March 2026 at 3:18 pm GMT
"Peter Mandelson was offered a severance payment of £75,000 – having initially asked the Foreign Office to pay him more than £500,000 upon his sacking as US ambassador, newly released documents reveal.
Exchanges in the documents released by the Cabinet Office suggested that officials did “well to get this settlement down this low with minimal fuss”, after Mandelson was forced to resign as ambassador to the US because of newly disclosed details about his long friendship with the disgraced financier Jeffery Epstein.
The chief secretary to the Treasury, James Murray, signed off the £75,000 payment – a combination of payment in lieu of notice as well as a special severance deal of £34,670.50. "
Please do not forget the role of Chris Grayling, former Secretary of State for Justice in the demise of Probation. The amount of money that man, now in the Lords thanks to Rishi Sunak, has cost the public purse is only eclipsed by the utter misery and despair he caused to loyal public servants by his wanton destruction of Probation. Disgrace.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpw0eg9q7kwo
ReplyDelete"MPs have voted to allow a bill that would curb access to jury trials in England and Wales to progress to the next stage, despite some Labour MPs stating their opposition to the reforms.
The Courts and Tribunals Bill passed by 304 votes to 203, a majority of 101, with 10 Labour MPs rebelling against the government, and dozens abstaining.
The 10 Labour MPs who voted against the bill were Apsana Begum, Richard Burgon, Ian Byrne, Imran Hussain, Kim Johnson, Ian Lavery, John McDonnell, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Jon Trickett and Nadia Whittome.
There were 90 Labour MPs listed as no vote recorded, which can mean abstention.
Volunteer community magistrates, who deal with the majority of all criminal cases, will take on more work.
The changes will also give magistrates the power to hear cases that have a maximum sentencing range of up to 18 months.
A back-up power to allow them to sentence a criminal up to two years will be created, but held in reserve."
I wonder how the probation service fits in with these changes? More reports (or what now passes as a report)? Or fewer & fewer reports as mags just send 'em down?
* Luvverly bit of irony in the report, especially for the grayling fan @21:00:
"During the debate, Conservative shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy said the government was "rushing" proposed changes to jury trials through Parliament "at breakneck speed"... "
Unlike TR?
Hohohohoho! (oh how we laughed until we were sick & made redundant).
* trump says he went to war because his son-in-law, a neo-nazi & a property developer told him Iran was an imminent threat
ReplyDelete* University tuition fees system is a 'mess', says Clegg: "Sir Nick said he would take any criticism of his role "on the chin"... "
But he told the BBC he was not responsible for changes made afterwards,
* Al Quds Day march to be banned after lord walney's advice (remember him, the labour turncoat who was ennobled by johnson for his treachery?): "The amendment, introduced by independent crossbencher and former Labour MP Lord Walney, would designate certain organisations as “extreme criminal protest groups” (ECPGs) under the Crime and Policing Bill."
FUBAR part 3,791 (& counting)
ReplyDeletehttps://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69b169c9187a6dea7823318e/HMP_YOI_Isis_action_plan_-_March_2026.pdf
"This action plan is the HMPPS and MoJ response to the HM Inspectorate of Prisons inspection report for Isis Prison published March 2026."
Levels of violence remained very high.
Illicit drugs were widely available, which
was a risk to stability.
Too many prisoners were locked up during
the working day.
Leaders did not make sure that prisoners
were allocated to all the available activity
places in education, skills and work, so
that the whole prison population was
purposefully occupied.
Leaders did not ensure good attendance at
education classes
Residential areas were not clean enough.
Contact with prison offender managers
was not regular enough to provide the
encouragement and direction some
prisoners needed to progress through their
sentence.
Leaders did not have effective oversight of
public protection risks.
The most basic of tasks for a secure environment are not being completed.
*** For this, romeo gets promoted to run the civil service on eye-watering sums of public money? ***
The uk is fkd up beyond all repair.
bbcnews: "Starmer was warned of 'reputational risk' over Mandelson's links with Epstein, files show"
Deletestarmer was also warned about reputational issues over appointing romeo... won't be long before that comes home to roost as well.
"also warned about reputational issues over appointing romeo.."
ReplyDeleteReally ? Where has this been verified or is it your speculation. If it's not a fact it's nothing but a slur.
FT: "Concerns were raised with Cabinet Office before Antonia Romeo appointment"
DeleteObserver: "Complaints resurface over Romeo’s reign of ‘terror’ in New York"
c4: "Second person contacts Cabinet Office to warn against appointment of Dame Antonia Romeo"
Fair enough let's all hope your right but I hope starmer falls on sword over mandelson he promised change for integrity sadly he's not delivered . That means remeo is exactly what he likes.
DeleteHe won't jump or fall... he has too much of an important role helping to promote certain ideologies. After the investment in him to topple Corbyn, assemble his right-wing cabinet which serves big business interests - including the lock-em-up agenda - AND filling his benches with similarly-minded MPs, there's no viable replacement now he's kept Burnham in the mayoral seat.
DeleteIt mirrors the tactics used to ensure death of probation-past, i.e. strike a mortal blow (TR), watch it haemorrhage (redundancies, resignations, early retirements) then give it a transfusion of new blood; blood that's been genetically engineered to suit (onboarding new recruits).
osbourne, duncan-smith, hunt, maude, mandelson or mcsweeney for example - they're all from the same stable, the same house: the house of cards.
* grayling doesn't feature as he doesn't have the grey matter required; johnson, may & cameron were the same as starmer - an MC who delivers messages & expedites the order of service.
romeo's role is key, strategic, a conductor rather than a composer, orchestrating the civil service regardless of who's in number ten.
I see a Facebook post about the MOJ taking action about the stabbing of a probation officer in Preston - they say recently - but I suspect it was many months ago. It has certainly atracted a lot of responses.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.facebook.com/UKPSNetwork/posts/pfbid0QCYbBsMeBNZMAsxXRUJak7zK67SVHoBBYMooscqkdey4mFTTHwujyd9fNpvyZtqxl
I just wondered how many of our Probation staff are aware of the new HMPSS Insights video’s on Utube which explore a whole range of issues frequently raised over the years on here. About, culture, listening, leadership, engagement and many other things. I attended one of these recently and did enquire via chat about the extent of staff involvement and I didnt really get a response. But acutely aware this is the public face our Leaders our putting out across social media. Sadly, as I approach the 83 rd MP via X very little if any real response. Very sorry Iangould5
ReplyDeletehttps://hmppsinsights.service.justice.gov.uk/
Delete"What is HMPPS Insights?
HMPPS Insights brings people together from across the Criminal Justice System to learn, share, connect and celebrate the excellent and innovative work that we do.
We are delighted to bring you the Insights Festival, as well as a range of exciting Events and Guest Blog articles throughout the year, created by you, for you."
They also have their very own blog (noted!):
https://hmppsinsights.service.justice.gov.uk/blogs/
You can re-visit their events:
https://hmppsinsights.service.justice.gov.uk/event-recordings/
And they have 'exclusive access' to power!
https://hmppsinsights.service.justice.gov.uk/insights_blogs/insights-from-insights23-stepping-through-history-at-no-10-downing-street/
"We were fortunate to have a number of exclusive events available to staff at the Insights Festival this year, including an exciting opportunity to meet with Sarah Barrett, Private Secretary to the Prime Minister on Home Affairs, at No.10 Downing Street!... Sarah said “Working at Number 10 is brilliant and exciting all of the time, but nothing is as interesting and exciting as actually getting to talk to prison officers, probation officers and HMPPS HQ staff who have first-hand insight of the justice system day in and day out."... "
You spin me round round baby...
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hm-prison-and-probation-service-spending-over-25000-2025
ReplyDeletealways worth a looksee - who's getting paid £millions for what...
Feb'25
serco - £4+million for "EM Future Service Programme"
ernst & young - £600k for "EM Future Service Programme"
hmp parc - £5million for "purchase of goods & services"
amey - £24+million - "property related charges"
misc - £600k - compensation payments
Jan'25
various agencies - £300k for agency staff
serco - £1.6million - "FMS Gold Contract"
serco - £4.2million - tagging
amey - £17+million - property related charges
misc - £600k - compensation payments
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, The Liverpool Echo is running the following story; (unable to post link due to paywall)
ReplyDeleteThree prisoners died at HMP Liverpool in nine days
There are 14 HMP Liverpool deaths currently being investigated by the Prisons and Probations Ombudsman
https://www.nationalworld.com/jobs/what-a-career-in-the-uks-prison-and-probation-service-is-really-like-5629693
ReplyDeleteThe poor people of Leyland have been leading a fight against the building of a third prison in the Garth/Wymott group concerned about the increase in the amount of traffic this will generate in a rural area and it is reported today that construction will now be given the green light. No doubt this will be constructed along the lines of Millsyke, which will bring its own problems. Nice to see the government riding roughshod over the locals….
ReplyDeletehttps://www.ihrc.org.uk/letter-to-lord-walney/
ReplyDelete_____________________________________________
The right-leaning press are ramping up the rhetoric... Lord Turncoat, a fully paid-up member of netanyahu's media team, is once again at the fore. He has no role in this other than as a source of irritation. Walney hasn't held any independent adviser role since Feb 2025: "The government has cancelled the position of Independent Adviser on Political Violence and Disruption in a major shakeup... The position will be ditched entirely, with its remit wrapped into the Commissioner for Countering Extremism (CCE)."
Its sad, because the legitimate right to protest & march has been ambushed by politically motivated agitators & fearmongers; and of course, extremists exist on both sides of an argument.
The statement that "Labour MPs had asked the Home Secretary to ban the Al Quds Day march" is partly true in that 90 had signed a letter; as of March 2026, there are 404 Labour MPs in the UK House of Commons, so clearly NOT ALL Labour MPs.
"Evening Standard
Sian Baldwin,Arielle Domb and Alastair Lockhart
The Home Secretary has agreed to ban an Iran-linked march in central London, but a “static” protest is set to go ahead.
It is the first time a protest march has been banned since 2012. However, since no law bans static protests, a demonstration will go ahead under conditions imposed by the Metropolitan Police.
Labour MPs had asked the Home Secretary to ban the Al Quds Day march, claiming it is “a hate march” which platforms anti-semitism and extremism.
The former independent adviser on political violence Lord Walney said there was a "loophole" in legislation that restricts ministers from stopping rallies that remain in one location... "in exceptional cases like this, it makes sense for the police to be able to recommend that a large, static protest doesn't go ahead either."
Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan, Public Order lead said: “I expect we will still face a difficult public order weekend, we have resources from across country to help officers."
_______________________________________________________
In other news:
"CAGE International has referred John Woodcock - known as Lord Walney - to the House of Lords Commissioner for Standards following his discriminatory attack on our Senior Director, Moazzam Begg.
Lord Walney had last month singled out Begg from some 700 others arrested between July and August for defying the proscription of Palestine Action. Among those arrested were a Reverend, a retired British army colonel, and a former government adviser. Yet, he singled out Begg, publicly calling for his passport to be revoked."
Is this how democracy works? Behind the curtain hoss-trading by, & solely for the benefit of, the powerful?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c89kjql73kqo
"The 92 remaining hereditary seats will be scrapped when the current session of Parliament ends, which is expected to be in May.
But, for some, the end will be deferred after a compromise deal was struck that gives a select few a chance to board what one outgoing peer called the "hereditary lifeboat".
The Conservatives have been offered the opportunity to retain 15 of their hereditary members by converting them into life peers, allowing them to continue passing laws until they choose to retire.
Labour - which only has a handful of hereditary lords - has made the offer in return for the Conservatives agreeing to retire some of their existing life peers."
There are some sane voices:
"Charles Courtenay, the Earl of Devon, will certainly not be among them.
"I don't think we should be using the hereditary privilege we have in the Lords to haggle or negotiate for life peerages," the earl said.
"I don't think it's appropriate."
Lord Courtenay entered the upper chamber in 2018 after inheriting his late father's title, which was first given to a distant ancestor in 1142, almost 900 years ago."
https://www.civilserviceworld.com/professions/article/antonia-romeos-leadership-style-is-exactly-what-we-need-right-now
ReplyDelete"in thrall to romeo" by Dave Penman (gen sec of First Division Association, union for senior civil servants if the arrogance of the union's name didn't give it away already)
https://www.civilserviceworld.com/ugc-1/1/2/0/csw_spring_issue_2026.pdf
An exclusive interview with new cabinet secretary Dame Antonia Romeo and a special focus on security and policing
“One of the issues of performance manage-
ment in big organisations can be the link
between what people are actually doing,
what they think they’ve been asked to
do, what they think good looks like, and
how that delivers the [minister’s] priori-
ties and for the citizen… there can be
quite a big gap between those things.
How do you make sure people are flag-
ging things up that the leadership needs
to know?"
________________________________________
The irony of the following is off the scale:
"She also prioritised a review of performance
management and whistleblowing cultures.
The changes began to make an impact,
she says. For example, departmental spend-
ing on travel expenses between September
and December 2025 – the three months after
the controls were introduced – was £10m
less than it had been in the previous year."
presumably becasue she knows every trick in the book & where to hide claims from the usual scrutiny; if she had to repay £30,000 of her own expenses/travel claims, how much did she escape paying back?
DeleteThere's NO money to pay probation staff, but...
ReplyDelete"HMRC considers tax exemptions for expats fleeing Middle East... Government could waive tax liabilities for over 160,000 British nationals registered in conflict zone"
Tax evaders who've hidden their shillings overseas to avoid uk tax & enjoy the high life in the Gulf states are now fleeing the war zone in tears as they fear they'll be hammered for tax. Luckily dear old blighty has form for being deeply deferential to the disgustingly wealthy & won't touch their dosh after all.
HMRC told to introduce 'sympathetic' rule for expats fleeing Middle East... Accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young has urged HMRC to act, saying families arranging emergency returns to Britain are already wrestling with tax consequences... According to Labour Party government sources, approximately 300,000 expats reside in Gulf nations, with more than 100,000 now having sought repatriation flights... "We are hearing from many families who never intended to return to the UK this year but now have had no choice. They could face exposure to UK tax simply because their emergency return alters their UK residence position."... [conveniently] HMRC has revised its guidance to recognise that the outbreak of armed conflict may constitute an "exceptional circumstance" for residency purposes."
DeleteSpeaking of Probation Pay:
Delete"February 27, 2026
Napo members resoundingly reject 2025-2026 Probation Pay Offer... With a hugely impressive turnout of 83.46% of voting members, 88.97% voted to reject the above offer with 11.03% voting to accept... We will issue more news to members, including on the outcome of Napo’s Probation Negotiating Committee meeting later today, as soon as possible next week."
And... ???
Yep. I'm likely going to write to my rep next week to ask what the hold up is.
DeleteNapo pay rejection is one thing but lazy Lawrence whole other. It will depend on the response from the hmpps and they will drag it out to failure to agree again or revise I would have thought . It is possible to force the rise on staff anyway as a way to put cash in and see how much more resistance comes thereafter. If they do that Napo are finished in my opinion.
Deleteinteresting...
ReplyDeletehttps://www.nottinghamshire.police.uk/news/nottinghamshire/news/news/2024/april/passenger-acted-in-self-defence-when-he-was-attacked-with-a-knife-on-a-nottingham-tram/
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69b41247fdbfc4d58fc8cf49/HMP_Coldingley_action_plan_-_March_2026.pdf
ReplyDeleteAction Plan: HMP Coldingley
Action Plan Submitted: 13 March 2026
Illicit drug use was widespread.
Mandatory drug testing rates
were among the highest
nationally and drugs were
reported as easily available
across the prison
The living conditions on the
older wings remained poor.
There was a lack of supervision
and control on the residential
units. Staff were too often not
present on the landings, and
they did not consistently
challenge poor behaviour or rule
breaking by prisoners
Attendance rates at work and
education were not good
enough
There were not enough
opportunities for prisoners to
demonstrate a reduction in risk
and progress in their sentence.
Too little structured offending
behaviour work took place to
challenge and robustly address
prisoners’ attitudes, thinking and
behaviour. Offender behaviour
programmes were not being
delivered. Some prisoners were
released without the specific
interventions they needed
The rate of serious prisoner-on-
prisoner assaults was high. The
quality of investigations was not
sufficiently robust and
undermined leaders’ ability to
take on learning
The kitchen was in poor
condition and the quality of the
food was inconsistent. We
observed some food being
served which had not been fully
cooked.
All comprise the basics of running a prison.
HMPPS couldn't run a bath but romeo, rees,
farrar, copple et al seem to bathe in permanent
sunshine.
How does one get such an easy ride in life?
I don't watch much telly these days but yesterday I felt I was under attack by hmpps, assaulted from all angles by their frenzied attempts to attract staff through those dreadful ads.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the blog Jim, it has been the scene of many home truths and people venting about both the buffoons in senior management, unions and the government. It has helped share information that others would not normally see because they do not take the time to look for it. This is not the probation service I joined, it has morphed into a blame culture with dictators at all levels of management and everyone of them members of the ‘yes we can do it’ brigade and HR that have links to the Stasi and Gestapo who want everyone issued with warning letters for absence even when having bits replaced from surgery or battling life limiting conditions. I will always remember my first SPO he had different political views to me but he encouraged me throughout my training to be fair and professional and look for the positives. I leave next week with a pension to reinvest and employment with a better salary and less stress.
ReplyDeletewell done, enjoy it - it really is fun!
DeleteHere's a snippet of romeo explaining some of her tactics:
"How do you make sure people are flag-
ging things up that the leadership needs
to know? It can be really easy to have
cultures where people aren’t rewarded
for identifying risk, so it’s crucial that
we do have that."
"an extensive, multi-layered information-gathering apparatus designed to maintain absolute control... created a climate of suspicion, ensuring that nearly every aspect was monitored... relied on personal files and reports, including "unexplained incidents" such as accidents and deaths... ignored information that contradicted preconceived beliefs..." (from a precis of Josef Stalin's operations, NKVD/KGB).