Time to say 'no'!

Some recent contributions:-

There's growing disconnect between the wellbeing message coming from HMPPS nationally and the day-to-day experience being described by many frontline staff. If people consistently feel that targets take precedence over wellbeing, then the issue isn’t the message, it’s whether that message is translating into practice.On the removal of the WMT, the FAQs repeatedly refer to line management discussions, professional judgement and management oversight. In principle, there’s nothing wrong with that. The WMT was never perfect. But it did provide a shared reference point. PP and SPO could both see the same information and have a discussion based on objective evidence.

From September, the emphasis appears to shift much more towards SPO judgement informed by dashboards, operational data and discussion. That inevitably changes the power dynamic.

Im sure a lot of SPOs will continue to act fairly and professionally. But good systems should be designed to protect people when relationships become difficult, not only when they are good. If a PP believes their workload is unsafe and their SPO disagrees, what independent evidence is there to resolve that disagreement? A good governance system shouldn’t rely solely on trust between individuals; it should provide transparent evidence that both parties can rely upon.

For me, that’s the real concern. We seem to be moving from an evidence-based conversation about workload to a relationship-based one. If trust is high, that may work well. But if trust has already been eroded, it risks creating inconsistency, discouraging challenge and leaving some staff feeling they have little objective basis on which to question workload decisions. That, more than the removal of a percentage figure, feels like the real cultural shift taking place.

--oo00oo--

HMPPS has completely lost touch with what it feels like to be a frontline PP. Every answer seems to be another dashboard, another AI tool, another restructure, another “holistic approach”, another management conversation. What nobody ever seems willing to acknowledge is the obvious: there is simply too much work.

No amount of dashboards will create more hours in the day.
No amount of management discussion will reduce an impossible caseload.
No amount of corporate wellbeing rhetoric will undo the damage of years of relentless pressure.

We’re expected to carry more risk, more responsibility, more bureaucracy and now, apparently, accept that if we feel we’re at capacity we’ll just have a conversation about it. What happens when that conversation ends with “I think you can take another case”? That’s not workload management. That’s asking PPs to negotiate their own breaking point. And let’s stop pretending this is about modernising the service. It’s about normalising overload.

The WMT may have been flawed, but at least it gave practitioners something objective to point to. Now even that is disappearing, replaced by assurances that everything will be fair because managers will use their judgement. Forgive me if I don’t find that reassuring.

Every year we’re told the next reform will fix things. Every year workloads increase, experienced colleagues leave, sickness rises and the people left behind are expected to absorb even more.

At some point HMPPS needs to stop telling us to be resilient and start admitting the truth: the system only functions because frontline staff are sacrificing their own health, family life and professional wellbeing to keep it afloat. That isn’t leadership. It’s exploitation.

--oo00oo--

Good points, all the things that we try to as POs such as building trust, discussions, focus and understanding the offenders we work with has unfortunately not only reduced in that work but also relationships between frontline POs and the SPO’s who sit in their offices dishing out work to those they know can take pressure and on the other hand protecting their friends with the easier cases. 

Possibly a delicate subject but how many of us are holding extremely high caseloads because others cannot cope? I am sick to death of people receiving a full wage when they are on a reduced caseload because they are ‘stressed’ we are all stressed and adding to my caseload stresses me more and more especially when so many people appear to be working from home more than they should be and those of us in the office have to deal with the fallout from their cases. 

How many times do you see your SPO out of their office? How many times is the SPO in after you and left before you? A lot of the new SPO’s are freshly qualified can make up a good story for interviews but never asked the basic leadership questions and that is why there is no leadership in the NPS just a full on ‘do as I say, not do as I do’. 

I no longer can have serious risk based conversations with the SPOs in my team as they are hardly there and so inexperienced, what happened to the five year post qualification rule? I hear you ask why don’t I get an SPO role, well it is because it does not pay enough for me to listen to moans, record sick and holidays and at the same time make life easier for some and not others.I also enjoy working with people who need my support and guidance and I am good at that and dealing with the violent ones who other people will not work with. 

However, a warning for those further up the greasy pole, people like me are now rare in probation a dying breed, a dinosaur some may say, however with three months left to go, I can already hear the voices, 'I cannot take that case', 'I won’t be taking that' and just the other day, ‘miserable bast*rd why are they taking early retirement, how can they do this to us.‘ 

I say, time to pick up the gauntlet, baton or the reins and get on with it, time to stand up and be counted and it is alright to say no, which is a lot harder than saying yes. What does the future hold, I don’t know but will be watching the next episodes from outside.

Clueless and Uncaring HMPPS

NAPO MAG 29/05/2026

Napo Opposes HMPPS Plans to Remove Access to the Workload Measurement Tool

Napo has strongly opposed HMPPS plans to withdraw practitioner access to the Workload Measurement Tool, warning the move undermines staff safety, workload management and employer accountability. This week HMPPS have advised staff of its plans to withdraw practitioner access to the Workload Measurement Tool (WMT), in advance of its removal in several months.

Napo has not agreed to these changes

We have been made aware of several untrue and incorrect statements having been made by regional senior managers to the effect that Napo, and other trade unions, have agreed to this. We have not and will not agree to these plans. It is now for any individual who has made these statements – whether out of ignorance or malice – to urgently account to staff why they have done so, retract their comments and apologise to their colleagues.

In earlier discussions that took place with the trade unions, Napo representatives have clearly and repeatedly explained to HMPPS figures the hugely negative impact their plans would have on the staff involved, and more widely in the workforce.

During these exchanges HMPPS have admitted for the first time that for a significant period the WMT underestimates the workload of the staff involved. They have failed to publicly acknowledge this in their communications on the future of the WMT, making only vague, and frankly misleading, comments on its accuracy.

These plans completely disregard previous agreements made between the employer and the trade unions on staff safety and care. HMPPS appear clueless as to how they now intend to meet their legal duty of care to monitor and manage individual workloads, for ‘sentence management’ staff and all other employees. They cannot adequately explain how they plan to provide workload reductions for staff requiring these, for instance as reasonable adjustments or as facility time for trade union representatives.

Despite claiming to value the importance of staff and their wellbeing, HMPPS have completely failed to ensure that an adequate mechanism to monitor and manage the workload of staff. HMPPS claim to have been aware that the Workload Measurement Tool (WMT) under-reports on the workload of staff but has not communicated that to its employees. They tell us that they have known that this will become worse due to changes planned under the employer’s heavily criticised and under-delivering Our Future Probation Service (OFPS) programme have not yet made sufficient plans to have a replacement in place.

Napo have, for months, been calling on HMPPS to agree to the joint ownership of the Workload Measurement Tool (WMT), including on any future version of this tool, and for its application to as many other workers outside of ‘sentence management’ as possible at the earliest opportunity.

We believe this is the only way for staff to have any confidence on this issue, given HMPPS’s consistent inability to adequately protect us in this regard, and be open and honest with us. Napo will now include demands for positive change, and a completely different approach by the employer, in relation to workload measurement and management.

We will be responding to a letter sent by the employer yesterday after they had decided to enact these changes, regarding industrial action in response to their failure to resolve our longstanding workloads dispute.

Napo HQ

Guest Blog 96

Reflections 2

I thought I would offer an update regarding my employment. My leaving the service approx 3 years ago was published anonymously as Guest Blog 84 in November 2021. 

I took early retirement after 21 years as a probation officer (in 2021). however I then worked elsewhere for approx 18 months. My old senior and the chief then persuaded me that my experience was sadly missed and asked if I would return on a part time basis? The promise of a mentoring role, guiding inexperienced and newly qualified officers whilst supporting my old team was, I thought, an opportunity to return to the work I once loved.

I have now achieved 15 months back in post as a part time PO, my case load currently sits at 170% capacity (workload management tool). I am told what to do by numerous SPO’s who all have differing agendas. I have had no refresher training and yet the way OASys is now written bears no resemblance to how I was trained. I am micro managed in every aspect of the role and told all decisions regarding enforcement, breach, recall, transfers, amendments and warnings etc ‘must’ have management oversight. 

The team is short staffed and cannot fill vacancies. I am told my role will change ‘when’ the vacancies are filled. People are now being directed to work at my office and sickness absence has reached new highs. Morale is lower than I have ever seen.

I am told that in order to complete mandatory training as part of the CBF framework I should now undertake that work as overtime! If I don’t, I simply won’t get my incremental pay rise! Under the current circumstances I have now tendered my resignation. I have undertaken an exit interview and was asked if I wanted more time to think about my decision (twice). I was then asked to defer my decision for a couple of months! (declined). 

The Service is broken beyond repair. The core skills of a professional Probation Officer are no longer required or desired. Good performance is measured in OASys timeliness and constant management oversight. The development of effective and meaningful relationships with offenders is no longer encouraged or required.

Prisons are at capacity, early release is now common place, PSS licence is on the cusp of being ditched, IPP sentences are being revoked due to the lack of capacity rather than the effectiveness of risk management. When it all goes wrong and the inevitable SFO’s start to occur, it will be the hapless ineffectual and over worked Probation Officer who will be thrown under the bus!

I am done, I give in, this Gold Star Service is no more. I have become a square peg that could never fit the shapeshifting demands of the HMPPS. Hope this helps the cause.

Best wishes,

Anon

--oo00oo--

Have something to say? Want space to reflect? Want to get something off your chest, but anonymously? Why not hit the keyboard and send it in for publishing? jimbrown51@virginmedia.com  

Fancy Being a Probation Officer? 4

Remember when initial allocation of a case was followed by a groan, then to be informed “they are in custody” - gave a sigh of relief and respite. However, under the ever-changing ECSL tectonic plates, release dates of prisoners now calculated in something akin to an FA Cup draw or ‘Wheel of Fortune’ format, rather than being something planned and embedded. The pressures and chaos this creates, along with an already substantial and sustained level of change, is leaving staff utterly bewildered. I am now of the opinion that if a custody case is allocated it will now be met with a groan.

****
As much as early release of prisoners will cause significant problems for probation, probation itself is part of the problem. There are many thousands in prison on recall, not because they have re-offended, but for non compliance. It's penal ping pong. Prisons release and probation recall. Prisons are full because there's too many routes into them. Is there really any need to have everyone leaving prison subjected to at least 12mths probation supervision?

****

With all this going on we’ve been told we must fill in weekly timesheets to explain our hours. Our SPO then told us from Monday she’s coming into the office 5 days a week “to model it to you all”. Not sure what’s going to be modelled. This SPO sits in her office with the door closed firing off emails and gossiping to her cronies all day. Ask her about a case she’s like a cat caught in the headlights.

****

If we are all due to be called back into the office five days a week, watch the sickness rates increase exponentially! Flexible working prior to Covid was a joke and you needed a letter from your mam and the local priest to be granted a work from home day. We also do not have the infrastructure for it. They have changed most if not all offices to only hold 60% of the work force in the buildings.

****
I’ve just received a call from my SPO. They are releasing a very high risk case on 2nd April and apparently there’s lot more of them. POP is on a standard recall but his sentence is less that 12 months custody so those cases are all being altered to fixed term recalls and being released, regardless of risk or MAPPA. Ive asked if this was national and he said he was but this is the first I’ve heard about it. I’ve been told not to share this with my colleagues because the legislation is not yet finalised. They also don’t want all staff seeing the list of names on there and they said this is because it’s confidential data but they don’t normally have a problem when we can see each others POP’s names on PP Dashboard, daily performance reports or when we need to cover another PP’s case on delius. Maybe they don’t want my colleagues to see the list for other reasons.

****

"I’ve been told not to share this with my colleagues because the legislation is not yet finalised. They also don’t want all staff seeing the list of names on there and they said this is because it’s confidential". This is an absolute shitshow. Back awhile the term Omnishambles was coined. This is on a whole new level: Omnishambles on Amphet. Ministry: doing what exactly? Doubling down on failed strategy. Ministers presumably hiding under their temporary desks,
Civil Service: doubling down on failed strategy and waiting for eviction of Ministers, so they can advise the New Boss to be Just Like the Old Boss.

Professional Leadership 1 HMPPS: that leader is a prisons leader. Number one priority get some space in the prisons, probation - whatever that is - will have to cope

Professional Leadership 2 Probation: (where is the Chief?) No idea

Local Management: Fractured coms, headless chickens, rabbits in headlights

Frontline: not enough staff, and being churned out of training into the frontline on a wing and a prayer.

...in the trenches, at all levels actually, good decent people are trying to get the best done for people, living and breathing human beings who should be entitled to a competent service. In every place, a knackered stressed person coming out of prison is faced with a knackered stressed person in a probation office and neither of them have much options. Omnishambles squared.

****

I am more than qualified for PQiP - at level 7 already - but I won't make that transition from PSO because of what I read about from current NQO's and RQO's, who criticise the excessive caseload, stress that creates due to the extra free time put in to meet deadlines - and there is the fear of SFO's which is more likely to come from a PO caseload than a PSO's. What is the point of working hours free of charge only to paid per hour the equivalent of a much less stressed specialist PSO?

****
The academic side of the PQIP is somewhat easier now the 8,000 word dissertation requirement has been removed. Caseloads are not in the mid-20s/30s before qualifying because of the high profile tragic and horrific cases that have caused Probation to reflect rather than the daft conceit of piling work on as a trainee in preparation for the high caseload to come. This never tackles the caseload, but further puts the emphasis on the NQO/PQIP- this is a 'get out of jail free' card for Probation to continue to culturally emphasise that it's the NQO's fault of how they manage cases not the caseload itself. PQiPs don't have to do duty if they're doing a PAROM - when the kitchen sink was thrown at me when I did my training. But will they be prepared to undertake high risk on their own without co-working? 

Cases all start with proper work made in the courts or prisons with meaningful work to prepare them for community testing - not the attitude that most offenders have when they believe that when they leave prison that's the 'end of their sentence'. Much more has to be done at the Court or prison end of the system so as to make the COM's job just slightly less arduous. In addition, cases are often more or not a success if the allocation is made as well as it can be. This comes from risk literacy and making sure that an NQO doesn't have a case of abiding magnitude that they feel overwhelmed and this may turn into an SFO.

****
The ads for the job are basically lies. A lot of the trainees that join would make brilliant probation officers. But they’ve been lied to, they’re disillusioned, and they want a better working life. Nobody can blame them for that. They may lack life experience, but they don’t lack intelligence. They value themselves. The younger generation would rather walk out of a job that makes them unhappy, and find jobs that pay less, if it means they’re happy, and not burned out every moment of every day. I respect them for that. They’re being honest with themselves. They’re valuing their worth and their mental health.

Maybe it’s not the trainees that should be criticised, but the recruiters. Recruiters know how pressurised the job is. The high staff turnover is a clear indication of that. Recruiting for numbers doesn’t work. There needs to be a re-examination of the recruitment process. Having hundreds of people join only to have hundreds of people leave again is a waste of time and resources. All it does is add to the pressure the existing staff are already under. It’s an optical illusion so the powers-that-be can say they’re recruiting X number of people to help ease the pressure, when in reality they’re just making it worse, through being dishonest about the leave-rate. Criticise the right people, and not those who try.

****

I qualified 18 months ago and have never felt so undervalued in a job. My WMT is 175% and my anxiety is through the roof for fear of an SFO. I do not feel supported. I cannot manage risk when I do not have the time to spend with the people I manage. I'm ready to quit.

It's The System That Needs Fixing

It's Monday and I was going to post something about the abysmal refusal of the government to do anything about IPP sentences and the dreadful position many prisoners find themselves in, but it will have to wait. 2,500 hits to this website on a Sunday is pretty unusual and I take it as a strong indicator of the anger and despair growing amongst probation staff. 

As a profession, we currently have the eyes and ears of a big chunk of media upon us, keen and eager to know more about what we do; why we do it and why the hell it's all going wrong. More importantly, it's also an opportunity to start a conversation about how to fix it. The following contributions came in yesterday and add to the growing testimony to an organisation that needs fixing: not fixing individuals found to be at fault.

--oo00oo--  

I don't know anybody who wants to be in case management. Such is the stampede whenever an alternative position is advertised that caseworkers have been blocked from applying for them. Its incredibly unhealthy. Those with the PO qualification have hardly anywhere to go anyway as programmes and court work no longer at their grade.

****

How many qualified probation officers are there in the probation workforce team, effective practice team, performance teams or on other secondments? If this were the police or army they’d all be directed back onto the frontline to hold caseloads.

****

An excellent call which serves to highlight the real stresses which are so great and which leads to staff looking for ANY way out of the front line….I know of several OMIC staff who would rather leave than return to the office and Community Supervision.

****

I also know people who don’t want to go back to case management from other teams.

****
Be honest, how much time are Probation Officers actually spending with service users? Personally I have noticed the amount of time I can spend with them shrinking rapidly over the last few months. It seems to get worse each week. I don't want to be chained to the desk, I didn't come into this to be nothing but a pen pusher. I came in to work with human beings and try to improve their lives and those of the public impacted by their behaviour. All the pressure is to complete assessments, records, reports and very little time to do any meaningful work.

Why doesn't the service collect these stats? Of course they won't as they know it will be damming! At the moment I would say 20% of my time working face to face max! This is the problem being affiliated with the Civil Service, that monstrous bureaucratic machine. I knew it would be like that as I knew people working for civil service. We need to be an independent service again, working within our local authorities and serving local people and organisations . It's the only way!

****
With a caseload of 60+ which is made up of 2/3rds Med RoSH and a third Low, it’s a battle. It is a Sunday afternoon and I’m working. More fool me … maybe… but I am not alone.. Be honest; lot of us are today updating Delius, completing RMPs, clearing the decks as best we can ready for Monday. I am looking after the grandkids, they’re doing homework I’m playing catch up! My age is my saving grace…. How does a young PO or PSO with family do this job? Truth is, we do what we can. Some of our cases get a lot of attention because they present as being desperate and need our time. Somehow we find it; but at a cost to others. 

At least I can fight my corner on what I do as knowledge and experience counts. I want to tell my younger colleagues it will get better, that they’ve made the right choice and can make a difference. They have and they can with the right leadership. The reality is… we only have managers who can fill your inbox with edicts from on high.. targets, paint by number toolkits which they have no understanding of. Yes they are under pressure as well, but it is within their gift to push back and say stop this nonsense. Now more than ever we need leadership and less management. Sadly, I cannot say I would follow our current senior management: not even out of curiosity..

*****
Read the news, spot checks are incoming. Senior Managers are not asking for your fealty or opinion. They are telling you what is required. How you manage your probation work is up to you. Despite your “knowledge and experience” you are working on a Sunday, probably not out of choice, probably not even claiming overtime. You are losing not winning. You are complying and fighting to stay afloat, not “fighting your corner”. You are not doing better than those “younger”. Probation across the country is “inadequate” and every probation officer knows it because we haven’t the time or resources to do the job. It’ll be the same next week and the next, as it was last week and the previous. Managers can not and will not “push back”. It won’t “get better” and only you can say “stop”. I’m sorry to burst your bubble. This is the truth all probation officers need to recognise. The saying goes, it is at the precipice people find the will to change.

*****

Identifying risk correctly may provide the assessor with some protection when things go wrong, but just identifying the correct level of risk won't by itself prevent SFOs. Even whilst in prison people are prosecuted for serious offences, including murder and rape. A probation service that positions itself as the vanguard of public protection is on a hiding to nothing. There's always going to be SFOs committed by people subject to probation, and probation will continue to shoulder the blame. Where else would blame be attributed if not to those charged with public protection? Staff shortages, high caseloads, inexperience and burnout are all things that have to be considered as contributory factors and mitigation, but ultimately an SFO will always be seen as a failure.

In many ways those arguments are like the offender on licence caught shoplifting who says they're homeless, cant get benefits, can't access services they need, but ultimately as much as the circumstances can be understood and even sympathised with, it doesn't prevent the prosecution and the consequences that follow.

Probation needs to be able to do more for the people they're involved with to prevent reoffending. Probation staff need a professional qualification that allows them autonomy in the decisions they take, and be given the right to defend and explain their decisions when something goes wrong. They need time to spend with the people in their charge, and they need the ability and autonomy to tap into whatever local services they feel necessary that might help to stop someone reoffending. Endless assessments only identify problems, and that process becomes pretty pointless if you're unable to find solutions.

****

This may, or may not seem contentious. But can I suggest that there is another way to respond to the terrible work situation many face. I retired 3 years ago but I spent 5 years counting down to that date. I had returned from a spell in NOMS and was ill prepared for the absolute shit shower on my return to an SPO role in Yorkshire. It soon became clear to me that in order to remain sane I had to manage my work in a way that kept senior managers at arms length without alerting them to the fact that I was only doing what I wanted to do and generally ignoring the rest. 

Now I know people will say that I knew I was leaving and had little to lose, but it got me through 5 years. Just imagine what could be achieved if the majority of staff started to manage the service rather than letting the service manage them. I targeted a number of avenues. I spent the first few months perusing a number of policies. The sickness policy was a boon as I quickly worked out how much sick leave I could pull without drawing too much immediate attention. I also stopped filling out sickness absences that only involved a few days. That way staff avoided being drawn into a prolonged HR process. If the computer packed up I went home. If the systems aren’t working then that’s not my fault. The organisation failed to give me the tools to work so I didn’t. And more importantly I didn’t rush to complete a deadline if the computers failed. The service was to blame not me. So they got the blame. 

If my manager insisted it got done then I didn’t do something else and made it clear that hadn’t got done as the service was to blame. Then I started to take sick leave. But I was careful and planned it well in advance. On one occasion I got wind that I was going to be moved. So I waited until closer the time to move and promptly went off sick. Long term sick is better than a couple of days. Always take as close to 6 months as you can. I know that seems extreme but stress on a doctors note works a treat. Put your feet up and let your manager know how keen you are to come back…but don’t. 

When you eventually return the phased return is a joy. Until it ends then you wait until…another until you can repeat. Just one month with stress and this time a bit of anxiety. You have to break through the garbage we are fed about working hard and the usual tripe about a fair days pay for a fair days work blah blah blah. It’s engrained in us and our colleagues but you have to draw a line. Your objective shouldn’t be about damaging the organisation that’s just a by-product. Keep it simple like working to your contracted hours and easing the work place demands. Use work policies to your advantage. Health and safety policies can be very helpful. Do not involve the Union. They are not your friends and they will not support you. Get your support from like minded peers. 

May I suggest you start with your working hours. Once your weekly hours are completed go home. Do not work from home and do not work over a weekend. Study your contract and use it to your advantage. You can not be sacked if you refuse to work more hours than you are contracted to for. If the computers fuck up then push back. Do not rush to complete the work as this is not your fault. These are just few examples I’m sure you can think of others. The strategy is yours to decide. I can go on about work place sabotage but I think I have said enough now. 

So in conclusion game the system to your advantage. If you put your head up ensure you are on solid ground (the policies support you). Stick to your hours. If the systems fail you put the blame where it’s needed. Don’t be nice and offer to do it later that evening. Because I know you will want to. Undermine at every opportunity. Use the sickness policy. And when you get really pissed off hit the fire alarm it’s amazing how long that takes out of your day oh and remember it’s not your fault it went off so please don’t rush around or make up your hours just go home.

A Perfect Storm

Regular readers of this blog will no doubt appreciate that it's been a very long time indeed since the level and nature of contributions warranted my posting an 'omnibus' edition. But it's clear the fallout from recent SFOs and continuing negative HMI reports has triggered a veritable tsunami of anger and served as a catalyst for an unprecedented willingness to whistle blow. 

Over the years I've been contacted many times by the media and have always tried to assist, but this is different both in terms of breadth of interest and what I perceive as a genuine desire to really understand what probation is about; it's significance as a concept and it's many and varied problems brought about by successive politically-motivated upheavals.   

It's clear the service is broken and the media is keen to expose what has been discussed anonymously on here many, many times over the years, but also take the time and effort to put it into a wider context. But they need help and anyone who can give 'chapter and verse' is particularly asked to consider getting in touch and contact details are on the profile page.     

Of course what has now been set in train has both potential benefits and serious risks attached, but it's widely understood that the service was effectively destined for oblivion under HMPPS/MoJ command and control anyway. I sense there's a growing mood to just 'go for broke', get the whole sorry story out there, but at the same time make the case for a reconfigured and independent service. We can do this, but it requires the help of all those who can speak authoritatively on our behalf, academics, politicians, CJS charities, former Chiefs and HMI's. 

--oo00oo--       

It's a bit of a perfect storm isn't it? We are in the wake of appalling and inevitable failures of our Probation public protection brief. Redefined in current media and by this awful government, and the equally awful MoJ command, as the agency with responsibility no not so much as manage risk, but to eliminate it, the flickering flame of Probation Identity as an agency of social justice, critical of the state, and alive to the social context of crime, working in therapeutic and humane ways with our clientele, may be extinguished, if it isn't already.

Exhausted and betrayed staff are now queuing up to blow the whistle and Pandora's box is now opened. Probation people are in my experience, a very diffident, moderate, corporate and discreet bunch but they have been tested to destruction. The alacrity with which they are now giving vent in public is tantamount to civil unrest. It's a development fraught with risks, given the relish with which the party in government is now debating the benefits of capital punishment within its ranks. 

No response from within HMPPS will be anywhere near the mark of what is needed and wanted. Government-in-waiting is not inspiring - to be kind - on this front. The scope to build something meaningful and progressive from within looks pretty minimal, so maybe destruction of the status quo is the only and inevitable way. 

There are allies and practitioners at all levels working to forge progress within the current structures, and power to their elbows, but it's too urgent and the organisation has no capacity or will to listen. The alternative is however to start from scratch: a small movement of missionaries - lets say people with social consciences and humanity - to start from scratch. The quandary for all of us, not least our Union, is that with wilful hastening of the destruction of what remains of the profession, there will be a real and painful impact on the lives and living of employees.

*****

It is happening already; Downgrading eligibility criteria and lengths of Probation Officer training. Red site status stacking cases, conducting reporting centres and suspending core work. Focus on recruiting PSOs over POs. Removal of release recommendations in Parole reports.

They could pay POs better wages and pull POs out of prisons into probation offices. Instead the HMPPS sticking plasters while it’s prison driven steam train drags Probation further towards the scrapyard.

***** 

The probation service isn't being directed by the prison service, it's actually become an extension of the prison service. What's more I believe it's now being seen as the failing part of the prison service.

I was struck by a comment on yesterday's blog post that pointed out that whilst the recent publicity and whistleblowing probation is experiencing might do a lot in exposing the problems and pressures that probation services are faced with, that exposure might come with a significant cost to the service. Might the solutions that must come not further imbed probation within the prison service? Might the service not become more like 'prison officers working in the community' rather then 'probation officers working in prisons'?

Channel 4 reported on the whistleblowing story yesterday, and although the news was specifically about probation, the video that accompanied the story contained nothing but locks, bolts and bars, and prison gates and landings. Surely that imagery can do little else but imbued in the public's mind that probation is indeed part of the prison service?

******

I sincerely hope that it does galvanise some serious debate Jim, not least because probation supervise a population that's roughly equivalent to the population of Milton Keynes.

They've somewhere along the line stopped being people and become caseloads. They've become the problematic tenant in the probation household, and just like people in prison are processed until they reach the end of their sentence, people on probation are processed until they reach the conclusion of their supervision period. That approach serves no one, and it's a very expensive investment with little reward for anyone involved.

As for suitable imagery? I really don't know. Maybe probation helping someone fill in a housing application would be better then prison landings, gates and keys? I think the right imagery may become clear once probation can define it's role in the CJS in it's own right, and maybe that's the fundamental question probation needs to answer. Who are we? Why do we exist?

*****
"They've somewhere along the line stopped being people and become caseloads." Thank you. In a nutshell. Regarding imagery, if I wanted to encapsulate an image of the wasted time and resource, it would be rows of probation staff sitting in rows, typing. If I wanted an image of the potential and the joy, it would be encounters with befriended people on the park benches, the doorsteps, the car parks, the CAB offices. Sometimes but not often in the office.

I cuddled a baby last week, with her dad, who a year ago was in trouble and despair. Proud dad, proud probation officer. The room was full of love and optimism. He was never a threat to public safety, just to himself, and to others in being inconvenient, antisocial and using up a lot of court time. The "solution" was never ever punishment or incarceration. It was housing purpose and hope.

*****

With local line managers, local senior managers and alike unable to influence how current policy hampers officers doing their job, and who are notably responsible for creating and maintaining the oftentimes, toxic and bullying environment we have to work in, one must question what can be done to bring about meaningful change.

The Probation Service used to have fantastic training staff, long serving officers had time to nurture the new recruits coming into the service. Staff of all grades stayed, believing the PS to be a good employer. As officers, we could frequently see positive outcomes for those we support.

All of this has been replaced by counting by numbers training that does little to educate and does nothing to help staff retain learning. Staff of all grades are expressing continued discontent or leaving, and those in charge do little to evidence they are listening or even barely interested in the thought of frontline practitioners.

Inspections report failings but influence very little and the unions are of little effectiveness. The question is, can staff collectively come together to bring about meaningful change and if so, who will lead us in doing so?

*****

The sad reality of the service is finally revealed, although not to it’s full extent. Staff have been struggling for long enough and even when you go off sick, there is a short period of ‘grace’ if we can even call it that, and then it’s back to the old same issues.

Staff retention is a huge problem. Throwing money at recruiting so many PQiPs is not the answer. I know of many reputable, well experienced officers who have left because there is no other choice. We are told there is no fix and when we say we are struggling, we are compared to others who are seemingly ‘coping’. Truth of the matter is they are not. The environment is mundane and seeing so many colleagues burn out is soul destroying.

The Senior management team have their own cliques and if you are not part of it then you may as well talk to a brick wall. Being asked for ideas on how to help is not enough, as often it’s not followed through. Management make changes to tick their boxes and not for the benefit of frontline staff or PoPs.

*****

The issue that many readers will know is not necessarily how they stand on WLMT, but that this tool does not accurately allocate the true amount of time that tasks actually take. OASys as one example. OMs are allocated something along the lines of just 2 hours for an ISP, when it can take even the most experienced staff member close to 10 hours if not longer. The same can be said for reviews. If the WLMT provided an accurate allocation of time for tasks, then I’m pretty sure staff would be in excess of 200% or even 300%. Why NAPO and other unions allow this injustice to skew the true workload OMs are having to cope with is beyond me. The risks to the public are evident.

*****

"We do not want more training and silly support scheme, we want to be paid better which will in turn attract and retain staff." Pay & Ts+Cs have been happily surrendered by the unions over the last decade or so. As a consequence of that capitulation, regaining that ground will be very difficult.

Training is a critical issue, front-end & ongoing; learning should never stop. CPD has never been formally established within probation work. It does not work well when linked to pay progression; natural curiosity & a desire to improve used to be enough.

Simply demanding more money will attract some staff, but not neccessarily those who have the 'probation ethos' in their hearts. It has been the myth of "more money" that has contributed to the current catastrophe, e.g. new staff only applying to get a degree without paying for it & then clearing off, eager applicants for managerial jobs with a handful of months' experience, secondments to 'the centre' & ultimately never returning.

The service needs to decouple from HMPPS, to redefine itself along the lines of 'advise, assist, befriend' and hold firm. Labour's tough on crime & the Tories' new death squads headed by Lee Anderson do not represent probation work, however well paid they might be.

****
“Training is a critical issue, front-end & ongoing; learning should never stop.” Again mistaken. The response from London Probation to the abysmal HMIP inspections and SFOs has been to send probation officers on more training. The failing is not because of lack of training it is because of lack of staff. We could have the best trained staff in the world, and once did, if they are not paid and treated well they will leave and never return.

****
Here's another angle you might consider in lieu of you actually speaking to any of the whistle-blowers bravely breaking cover trying to make someone take notice and help us so we and the public don't come to serious harm. Perhaps ideas regarding solutions were provided but they're not deemed attractive reporting. Perhaps they said that individuals had been trying to sound the alarm via appropriate channels but were ignored or told that they couldn't possibly know what they were on about.

Perhaps the pathetic excuse the Probation Service calls training was brought up, the continual abuse of staff with any whiff of a protected characteristic, the increased numbers of suicidal staff, the staff charging electronics in the office because they can't afford to do so at home. Maybe even simple solutions for those were proffered. Perhaps the need for better pay, gross overhaul of management, mental health provision, the need to overhaul the criminal justice system and the need to focus on the social work aspect (rather than prison command/control rhetoric) were discussed.

Perhaps it was mentioned that the probation service is reflecting just how sick public services are - even if we had the most incredible and supportive probation service ever, how would it ever function well when the NHS, social services, housing, education, the police, the DWP etc aren't fit for purpose either. It's not like probation works in isolation. That's far too political and talking about reality just means people can't play ignorant and bury their heads in the sand.

Perhaps those things were even acknowledged but they couldn't be reported on because hard evidence is needed and evidence in the MoJ and HMPPS is slippery. But heck, what do I know? I'd be lying if I said I understood what goes through the minds of journalists or editors in determining what Joe Public wants to read or needs to know.

*****
Two observations. The disaster of TR was NOT "reversed". This keeps being reported and it's not true. With taking the credit it just removed half of the problem and relocated it into the other half of the problem. Neither existed pre TR. The exposing of the scandal that is the wrecking of Probation is needed, and on balance probably good and I hope more staff roll up. But: the risk is that all remedial action will be in the form of strengthening risk management. AKA policing. Any narrative about redemption, forgiveness, healing, reparation, is being blown away like sand in a gale.

*****
The regional WLMT shown today is scary showing 8/12 regions in the red. Drill down to PDU level and the picture is dire… its about parity of pain, city v rural it hides the reality at regional level. Long term more POs/PSOs with better pay will obviously be a good thing, but it is broken today and will be tomorrow. 

Senior management such as heads of operations and above need to tell MoJ/HMPPS to park/suspend the service levels. Above all, shut down the algorithmic monster known to all as OPen it is a live beast that needs feeding daily and it’s always hungry. If not, try as I might, please accept that I cannot deliver a good service to all of my people when I am constantly hovering around 147%. WLMT is not my invention, it’s a service designed system to show managers that staff will burn out if you leave them at 110% for too long. When at that magic figure, managers should intervene and take supportive action. Unfortunately their managers tool box is empty.

*****
As a PO of 20 years having moved through 4 specialist areas of work plus one secondment to YOS, my view is the vast majority of what I read (and 100%) of what I contribute on this blog is true. RoSH is being manipulated to allow allocation of more cases to officers, the WMT does NOT reflect the actual time taken by a competent officer to do the tasks measured and indeed, the WMT is changed at times and not all work we do is measured anyway. 

Finally SFOs are not an accurate measure of serious offending by those we supervise and in the months after TR, offences were actually removed from SFO reporting. The truth is important but front line practitioners are labelled negatively by management if they speak up within the organisation it is a “put up or shut up” culture in probation now. Management has lost the confidence and trust of the majority of the front line. We are exhausted trying so hard to do our jobs properly and the culture we work in is now toxic. This blog is a place of testament.

*****
WLMT isn’t fit for purpose, we all know that and nothing happens when in the red! Prison based POs have no WLMT and in my recent experience we have lost 3 POs leaving 2 POs to manage 84 high ROSH cases each . Before backlash starts, I fully acknowledge the role is different to the community, however still target driven under OMIC which should be called COMIC, still unmanageable to undertake work with prisoners. Swallowed by HMPPS.

Number of issues highlighted with NPS, lack of experience of SPOs, many cushy jobs created to quickly get off the frontline. Unrealistic expectations, target driven service, poor pay and conditions the list is endless. In over 20 years I have never seen the service so utterly broken, if it was a horse it would be in the glue factory. 

There are many great people of all grades in the service pushed to the edge and with the move to laptops it appears unwritten rule that people work over the paid hours of 37 hours and somehow those who try and stick to those 37 hours are frowned upon for not meeting unrealistic targets given the caseloads. As a service we have never really celebrated our achievements, the thousands who don’t commit SFO for a start! Rightly so the spotlight should be shone on failings, but let’s not forget the failings are top down not bottom up.

*****
As the next general election approaches, with the state the country is in, the Tories have precious little to sell the public in order to garner votes. A poll this week even suggested that if a snap election were called now they might even find themselves as the third party in parliament instead of in opposition. Enter the CJS. I think there's going to be a lot of dissembling and scaremongering going on, and I think the CJS is going to be in for a rough ride over the next 18mts.

This week alone with the media full of SFOs the Tories have appointed a chairman openly in favour of the death penalty. They've rejected the notion of resentencing IPP prisoners. They've given police forces quotas to take in the prison over spill. Rabb has announced prison abstinence wings to reduce 'state sponsored drug dealing' reducing the amount of methadone and subutex given in prison to addicts. They've changed the criteria for releasing prisoners serving under 4 years early on tag. They've excluded people serving sentences for domestic violence, stalking and harassment etc from being able to be released early on tag, whilst in an attempt to balance the impact this will have on prison population, they've increased the period for those who are eligible from 4 and a half months prior to release to 6 months prior to release.

I have no idea how this will impact on the courts or probation services. The CJS is always used as a political football as elections approach, but more then ever I fear we are going to see big changes, bigger lies, more spin then ever before. The Tories are going to be the new vaccine for crime. And as usual, very little good will come of it.

More Whistleblowing!

Astonishingly, we appear to be 'on a roll' media-wise as it looks as if the BBC have some whistle-blowers of their own. I've just noticed this article recently posted on the BBC news website. I have to say it's incredibly gratifying to see that dedicated staff and possibly former staff are willing to come forward and tell the media what's really going on in probation. 

 
Most probation services are over capacity, leaked data reveals

The majority of the service which tries to prevent criminals reoffending in England and Wales is working at excessive capacity, internal figures seen by the BBC show. Some officers in the Probation Service have workloads twice as large as their recommended capacity. A whistleblower warned the risks to the public are "significant". The government said it would "recruit thousands more staff to keep the public safe".

The revelations about the extent of the probation crisis come after two damning reports into failures to monitor offenders who went on to commit murders. His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Probation, Justin Russell, said the service failed at every stage to assess the risk of killer Damien Bendall, who murdered his partner Terri Harris, her two children and their 11-year-old friend. Mr Russell also said it was impossible to be sure the public was safe because of the quality of work in parts of the Probation Service, after Jordan McSweeney murdered law student Zara Aleena nine days after being released from prison.

Probation officers play a critical role assessing how much risk criminals pose to us, during the sentencing process, during sentences served in the community, and after someone is released from prison. Their jobs combine face-to-face meetings with criminals with writing reports and making checks to prevent them descending back into criminality.

The BBC has seen a snapshot of data from an internal Probation Service workload measurement system which monitors daily case numbers and warns if staff are operating beyond their capacity. The numbers were collected this week and assess workload based on a points system which takes into account the complexity of cases. In the 12 regions of England and Wales, 10 were operating at over 100% of capacity. Only Wales and the North East Region were just below. Seven were "showing red" with average scores of more than 110%.

Justice Minister Alex Chalk said in 2021 that "anyone over 110% for a period of four consecutive weeks is deemed to have an excessive workload", adding that there were policies to help staff who meet this threshold. London is under most pressure at around 127% of its capacity on average, followed by the Yorkshire and Humber and Eastern England regions at 118%. Our analysis suggests at the moment the data was collected, more than 400 probation officers were working at 160% of their capacity or more, with some over 200%. This includes probation officers still in training, as well as more experienced staff. In some cases, staff had individual caseloads of more than 70 people.

The probation watchdog concluded in 2021 that "in our opinion, it is difficult for even experienced practitioners to deal with 60, 70, 80 or more cases properly". The figures do fluctuate, but insiders told the BBC the pressure on the workforce creates an inevitable risk of mistakes. Staff said the workload makes it harder to dig deeper into cases and chase up checks with police forces, who often fail to respond. "We are supposed to question everything, but people don't because it opens a can of worms," one said. Even offenders rated low and medium risk can be people capable of killing themselves and others, probation officers say.

A string of cases have demonstrated the risks of failing to carry out checks. One murder a week is committed by an offender on probation. Nadine Marshall, whose son Conner was murdered by David Braddon while he was on probation for drug offences and assaulting a police officer, said the data shows there are not enough probation workers and the service is "completely inept". Probation officers are being fed to the dogs by the management and structure of the probation system. They are left to carry a heavy load which is unsustainable," she said.

An internal report on the case, marked "sensitive" but obtained by the BBC, describes a key probation officer involved feeling "overwhelmed" by work and says the "alertness to risk" had suffered. Braddon missed a number of meetings with the service and the reasons were not fully investigated, the report found. At moments when an offender breaches the terms of their licence or sentencing conditions, the probation service is under pressure to gather evidence to support an offender being sent or returned to prison. A whistleblower told the BBC that if this does not happen, "you're just sitting there waiting for another offence to be committed". 

Low level breaches of sentence conditions are supposed to be dealt with within six days. But a recent data snapshot for London also shown to the BBC reveals that of more than 860 breaches, 669 had not been resolved within that target time. After three months, 198 were still outstanding. 

A whistleblower told the BBC staff were "burnt out" and "working late every night and weekends". Another junior probation officer said they had dealt with caseloads "in the high 70s", sometimes seeing up to 12 offenders a day, though recently the demand had reduced. At one point in the pandemic, an offender they were overseeing committed a serious offence. 
Pressure on the probation service grew with changes in the law leading to an increasing number of cases requiring their attention. Then in 2013, there was a disastrous reorganisation of the service. It was reversed by 2021, but the probation inspectorate said it played a major part in pushing up workloads. Covid made matters worse, with probation officers reduced to going to offenders' doorsteps for face to face meetings.

By next month 4,000 new probation officers are being recruited, the Ministry of Justice said. But front line officers are leaving because of the mental health pressures they face. In the year up to September 2022, data reveals that mental health or behavioural issues were the cause of half of all days of staff absence. This figure is rising steadily. The Ministry of Justice said "we have taken immediate steps to address the serious issues raised by recent reviews and are investing £155m more every year into probation to improve the supervision of offenders."

The ministry said the extra spending would "reduce officers' caseloads and recruit thousands more staff to keep the public safe". The government is also introducing more rigorous requirements for prisoners to be given parole, and the power for the Justice Secretary Dominic Raab to prevent the most dangerous offenders being released.

Management Have The Answers

Hi Jim,

Plenty of food for thought here. I particularly like the one about the NQO becoming an SPO. Like many others, I have had enough and retire in a couple of months. Good luck and best wishes to those remaining.

Director General’s Trade Union Engagement Event (Friday 25thJanuary 2022): Q&A with Amy Rees, Jim Barton, Ian Barrow

WORKLOAD

Q. What is being done to reduce workloads and stress levels for staff other than using trainees thus overloading them or using resources in another team creating stressors there?

As Amy fully acknowledged in the session, there are currently shortfalls in staffing. However, every effort is being made to increase resource levels as quickly as possible. Our trainee probation officers are the future of the organisation and we will protect them whilst offering the best possible learning opportunities. The Prioritising Probation work being led by Kim Thornden-Edwards is actively looking at ways we can rationalise BAU processes and remove or reduce the number of tasks faced by front-line colleagues in the interim. We will report back on this as soon as we can. We are also looking closely at the way we are implementing essential changes within the organisation and we will seek where possible to regulate the rate at which it is delivered in order to reduce pressure. However, we must remain mindful that public protection is our priority and we know that our front-line staff will continue to work hard to deliver this. We understand and are very grateful for the level of dedication they show under huge pressure.

Q. Has a workload measurement tool been formulated and agreed upon for Victim Liaison Officers? Caseloads are excessive - 250 cases are allocated to a full-time VLO. Covering absences/sickness is also expected as part of duty rota.

It is acknowledged that there aren’t sufficient victim liaison officers in the system. The 22/23 target staffing uplift for VLOs will enable us to start moving towards enhancements and or reinforce the delivery of the existing victim contact scheme. With regards to the workload management tool and the inclusion of VLOS, this remains an area for future development; however, we are unable to give you an indication of the timescale for development due to other priority work.

DIVERSITY & EQUALITY

Q. Do you accept that probation is institutionally racist - and that vetting is an example of how not to reflect the communities we serve?

Whilst we must accept that the results of the recent race survey were not all we could have hoped for, action plans are well underway to address many of the issues raised and we take this very seriously. However, as Amy pointed out, in terms of staffing demographic overall, we are slightly ahead of the 14% national target representation for minority ethnic staff. We do accept that there are regional variations that we are working hard to improve upon. Some work is also still required to achieve this level of representation in senior management posts which currently stands at 11%. We also continue to work towards improving the vetting process with the aim that it should normally take no longer than 20 days. However, we must ask you to accept that the vetting process is prescribed and is not one over which we have sole control.

Q. When can we expect staff that have come across from the CRCs have full access to the I.T. apps in the same way previous NPS staff have?

We are not aware of widespread issues with staff being unable to access apps and there is certainly no reason why this should be the case for staff on the DOM1 system.

We have spoken directly to Darren and offered suggestions for him to get what application and shared drive access he needs. He informs us that someone has already also been in touch with him about Cardinus.

Any other union members experiencing difficulties in this regard please contact the ICT Helpdesk via the Technology Portal in the first instance and they can advise. For applications which are not owned by the service such as Cardinus, please discuss with your local Business Manager who should be able to direct you on how to access.

Q. In 2022 is it acceptable to be adding buildings to the estate which are not accessible? e.g. no lifts.

All PS Probation Offices should be designed with a diverse range of users in mind, some of whom may require increased accessibility in order to act independently, safely and with ease. Under the Equality Act 2010, we must also cater for those with accessibility requirements and ensure that all employees have equal access to facilities, services, and premises. Following the onboarding of legacy CRC sites in 2021, we continue to assess the estate and look at improving accessibility in all of our offices through local Facilities Management and wider project initiatives. We are aware of one property where it was not possible to source a suitable alternative premise or install a lift in the probation building. This is an exceptional circumstance and does not reflect our wider policy.

Over the last 2 years we’ve managed to bring huge investment to the estate with us delivering major refurbishments and new acquisitions which now meet our Design Guide principles and within that meet the accessibility requirements.

Following the Spending Review, we are finalising our strategy a further investment over the next 2 years again including major refurbs and new acquisitions to meet the following criteria:

• Assists the region in aligning their estate to the Target Operating Model
• Following the project, the property will be PS Estates Design Guide compliant (meet the accessibility requirements)
• Following the project, the property will effectively support smarter working

We’ll continue to communicate progress and evolution of the Estate and we are already looking into developing the future estates strategies for your Regions beyond the Probation Reform Programme, improving accessibility and security and support future moves to mixed caseloads.

RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION

Q. Positive to hear numbers for recruitment and future forecasting. How do we keep staff in the interim? Staff that will be asked to support these new staff in their development​.

Whilst acknowledging that the resource issue has been both long-standing and frustrating, we cannot overstate how much we value our staff who have stuck with it through that challenge. We are very confident that we are now turning the corner on this issue. As was said in the session, there is an unprecedented investment in growing the workforce. Although it may take some more time and effort to get us to the final outcome, we hope our colleagues whom we know genuinely care about the service will see that there is genuine progress and that the leadership are determined to deliver a fully resourced service to the highest standards.

Q. What is the current retention rate at frontline delivery? Themes are clearly coming through that colleagues are leaving, especially very experienced front line staff, understand Pay is a factor, but so are many other things. ​

For 12 months to 30 September 2021, attrition for the Probation Service is 7.7%, which is an increase of 1.1 percentage points from 6.6% for 12 months to 30 June 2021. This figure is lower than the overall HMPPS leaving rate as of 30 September 2021, which is 10.1%.

Nationally, Probation Officer attrition rates are 6.9% for 12 months to September 2021, which is an increase of 1.1 percentage points from 5.8% for 12 months to June 2021.

In April 2021 we published internally the first Probation Service Recruitment and Retention Strategy (2021/2024) which outlines our commitment in 5 key objectives:

• Increasing Probation Officer numbers
• Ensuring workloads are manageable
• Recruiting a diverse workforce
• Increasing recruitment in hard to fill sites
• Attracting and retaining talented people

We are in the process of reviewing this strategy against our year one objectives (2021/2022) and updating as appropriate our year two objectives (2022/2023). To inform this work we are conducting extensive analysis and wide-ranging stakeholder engagement. Our findings and outcomes will be published in the updated Recruitment and Retention Strategy in spring 2022.

We understand the importance of retaining experienced staff in the service. As outlined in the Strategy, our focus has been on addressing recruitment and retention challenges within the Probation Service, in particular within Probation Delivery Units (PDUs) with the highest average Probation Officer vacancy rates. As part of our work, we identified several common drivers of attrition which include, pay and benefits, and lack of career progression. Work is underway to address these:

• A new standardised approach to exit interviews has been introduced. Alongside analysis of the People Survey 2021 results for Probation, this will help identify current drivers of attrition and further inform our work on retention.

• We launched three career pathways for staff approaching retirement, to help encourage them to remain in service as we recognise that they come with a wealth of experience.

• We are engaging with Trade Unions in February on retention proposals for Newly Qualified Probation Officers as part of our work around retention of staff. These proposals aim to retain PQIP’s in qualifying regions, and new recruits to regions for a period of two years.

• Communicated to staff the availability of key worker housing in some areas (discounted rent or shared equity schemes for key workers including frontline probation staff).

• A new retention toolkit is being developed and will be used by regions to address local retention issues.

Q. Can I ask how we balance fair and open competition with the need for experience in a role before becoming a manager? I am aware that there have been recent appointments of NQOs into SPO roles, where for example, they cannot hold a MAPPA case in their own name as an NQO, but as an SPO they will be core panel reps for MAPPA. This does not seem to make sense to me!

There is currently no minimum experience requirement before applying to become an SPO, this means that NQOs can apply through fair and open competition to an advertised position post qualification. Recruitment panels are required to vigorously test the suitability of all candidates through the application and interview process before they are appointed to the role. Including a minimum level of experience such as 2 or 3 years could amount to discrimination and a breach of recruitment principles. It may be possible to include an alternative requirement (such as experience of dealing with high risk cases) which if implemented would require a reformulation of the SPO Job Description.

PAY

Q. What is the point of pay negotiations if the treasury simply veto's any progress? 

Amy Rees acknowledged the frustration that complex pay deals can cause and the delays in paying out what has been agreed. However, she was clear that Treasury do not "veto" pay progress. Rather it is a case of trying to negotiate with trades union colleagues a deal that is realistic and affordable which both sides can work with. Probation Service leaders are looking at innovative ways to structure pay awards in a way that avoids some of the difficulties, such as multi-year pay deals which mean that there is no need to refer back to the Treasury annually with the potential delays that can cause.

SUPPORT

Q. Would it be possible for a training event for SPOs to support with the use of SOP/managing poor performance/attendance management?

As indicated by Ian Barrow during the event, he is happy to look into arranging this. This idea was also favourably regarded by NAPO and Katie Lomas referred to its previous popularity and success.

Q. Are there any plans to increase the levels of support specifically available to young people transitioning over from Youth Offending Teams? Or a programme of work focusing on those between the ages of 18-24? The transition period is a key time for young people, and we face a significant drop in services who are able to assist us and the young people.

We recognise that it is vital to get the transition from youth to adult services right and that working with all Young Adults aged 18-25, gives us a great window of opportunity to reduce the risk of re-offending and harm and help people lead positive, pro-social lives. On 7th February we launch Next Steps – a resource for Youth Justice Services secondees and Probation Practitioners to support the transition process. The next steps are aligned with the principles of good transition and gives practitioners structure to adhere to the Joint National Protocol for transitions, involving partnership agencies and other important people - all key to the Young Adult's successful transition. It is available on EQuiP and can be recorded as a non-statutory intervention. We have also just launched the Probation Service Management of Young Adults policy framework which, once implemented, will support the Probation Service in responding to the distinct needs of this age group.

WELLBEING

Q. Sensible conversations with managers about stress and workload are well and good - but what is expected of managers to RESOLVE that problem? there is nowhere else for work to go!​

As was said earlier, we acknowledge the resourcing issues, but would once again offer reassurance that everything possible is being done through initiatives such as Prioritising Probation to see what tasks we can cut down on or even potentially halt altogether as a way of managing the situation whilst we grow and train the workforce. We expect some results from this fairly soon and we will report back as soon as we get this.

Q. What central planning is involved in delivering messages, new policies, etc? It can feel at times there is a lack of appreciation of the practicality of implementing a new policy that impacts operational staff that are already over-worked and that this is not centralised in terms of timing and priorities​.

All the evidence points to the fact that change was required to make the future Probation Service all it can be. The Probation Reform Programme has been working hard to design, develop and deliver the essential reforms which we believe will in due course have a very positive impact on how the service operates. However, we also acknowledge that in the current operating environment, the volume and rate of change are challenging. We are currently looking actively at the “change load” to assess whether some adjustments to how change is introduced might improve things at a front-line operations level at least in the short term.

The Probation portfolio is being developed at pace to better align and sequence change across the business as well as the change activity work in the prioritising probation initiative.

WORKING FROM HOME

Q. There was a piece of academic research in the most recent probation journal, which looked at remote contact with the SU. The general finding was that outcomes were the same whether the SU was contacted remotely or face to face. For some of us, we have been able to work from home and contact SU's by telephone or CVP Video link. I have done this as a report writer and generally only need one contact to conduct the interview. For me and other colleagues working from home saves over £200.00 a month and saves a two and half hour a day round trip. This improves my quality of life and time with family. It also goes some way to addressing the pay cuts linked to a decade of austerity, The current pay freeze, inflation, higher taxes /cost of living, and effective pay loss over the last ten years. Where possible will those who can and prefer to work from home be allowed to do so.

The last two years have seen exceptional circumstances with people working from home more than they otherwise would. This period has allowed some time to evaluate our working practices. Taking everything into account we now have the smarter working policy which offers elements of both home and office working. This offers a good starting point and staff should review their own work pattern with their line manager to arrive at the best and most effective for each individual.

PQiP

Q. Would welcome a training approach that seeks to develop existing staff not solely focused upon PQiP learners. Online refresher courses on MyLearning are limited in their effectiveness as don't meet all learning styles.

We have transformed our model for learning and development to enable a comprehensive and modernised learning offer that delivers engaging content at the point of need and is accessible to all staff. The new model is evidence-based and adopts blended and flexible methods of learning and development to suit a range of different learning styles.

Managing People Convicted of Sexual Offences was developed specifically for practitioners with a minimum of two years’ experience. More recent learning products have included Prevent e-learning designed for the Probation staff and a new digital learning package on MAPPA. These are examples of us providing easy access to high-quality, practical learning resources that address existing staff concerns and support day-to-day tasks. Over the coming months, our focus turns to the rollout of the recently commissioned safeguarding and domestic abuse learning for all practitioners, in addition to commencing delivery of SEEDS 2 for Managers.

The new resources made available will support staff throughout their careers, with work underway to help ensure that all learning products form part of an overall curriculum of learning for probation staff. Learning for each role in probation is being mapped out to help to provide a more accessible CPD offer for staff, with the current learning offer being split out into mandatory, required, desirable for each role and identifying gaps in the current offer which will inform the strategic learning priorities for probation going forward. We are in the early stages of developing a CPD framework for the probation service and welcome discussion with the unions as this develops.

Time To Speak Out

This from yesterday's Justice Committee Report:-

"Since Covid-19 hit, around 20% of the NPS staff of 11,000 have been off work each day, putting considerably more stress on remaining employees."

--oo00oo--

The Report generated some strength of feeling:-

I am literally creaking under the weight of my workload (over 150% WMT) My back is aching and my knees click. And NPS had the temerity to offer overtime payments ... for me to do MORE. Not a chance. There is no more blood to be squeezed out of this stone.

*****
To make any progress in unravelling such a shitty position we need to understand how staff are being put in that position.

Bullying?
Threats?
Coercion?
Willingness?
Peer pressure?
Ego?
Ambition?
Hubris?
Ignorance?
Fatigue?

Let's use the extraordinary platform provided using anon posts to try & make progress, understand & make a stand. We know the blog is read & feared by a range of influential decision-makers regardless of their publicly dismissive attitude towards it, e.g. their use of trolls to try & destroy it (a sign of their concern at the blog's value outwith their control). Safely, anonymously but effectively we can unravel the Escher Workload Model.

*****
Having trained as a probation officer approx 12 years ago (albeit jumped ship to a less demanding role within the service, due to burn out and apathy), my observation is that the number of people each person works with has remained relatively stable....but it's the sheer demands of relentless tasks that have increased year on year exponentially. Examples:-

• ARMS assessments
• Delius - HETE data, risk registers, the relentless amount of clicking and trying to write records in ridiculously tiny boxes which don't accept large emails/copies and pastes due to being "too large"/trying to edit them
• Writing case records under 'CRISSA' format
• OASYS QA giving ridiculously prescriptive guidance about every single box, such as "sources of information", "current situation", "offender comments", "assessor comments" - ultimately boxes nobody reads or cares about
• New AP referral for every new ROTL visit (we used to be able to block book them all in advance....not now!)
• Even a simple non AP ROTL has become far more paperwork heavy over the years
• GPS Tagging and all that comes along with it
• Polygraph for sex offenders, and all that comes along with it
• AP placements only lasting 3 months, meaning you never get any respite from "move on" tasks

I could go on but NONE of the above makes ANY DIFFERENCE whatsoever to the service user, or indeed the probation officer working with them. Layers, upon layers, upon layers of additional tasks have been added to a caseload of 40/50 people.....and yet WHY? WHAT FOR? WHAT's the POINT?

So yes guys if we are going to use this blog to organise and you all feel NAPO is not helping, then we need to start a movement from within - no more CRISSA! No more "risk registration updating"! No more filling out stupid boxes in OASYS! No more HETE data, no lengthy ARMS assessments, no meaningless "pull through" OASYs - If we ALL (but it would take each and every one of us) say NO, and focus on the tasks that DO MATTER to us and the SERVICE USER maybe we will switch off at 5/6pm and actually do a better job.

*****
Good points well made. Sounds like staff are doing several jobs where one would do:

- case admin repeated across numerous systems
- case management
- risk assessment
- risk management
- referrals for anything/everything
- tag management
- housing management

"If we ALL (but it would take each and every one of us) say NO, and focus on the tasks that DO MATTER to us and the SERVICE USER maybe we will switch off at 5/6pm and actually do a better job."

--oo00oo--

The future of the Probation Service

Inquiry

Probation services have gone through substantial change in the past five years.

After the financial failure and withdrawal of several CRC providers, the MoJ decided to end CRC contracts 14 months early (during this year) and to return to having a single national probation service for all offenders, but with some services still contracted out to private, voluntary or statutory providers.

On 11 June 2020, The Lord Chancellor announced that the competitive process for Probation Delivery Partner contracts would be ended, and instead these elements of probation delivery would be brought back under the control of the NPS. The new model of probation is due to go live in June 2021.

The Committee’s inquiry will examine the proposed model for the new probation service and seek views on how well the proposed model addresses the problems identified in the past.

Additionally, the Committee will seek to understand the effect Covid-19 has had on the delivery of probation services and what the potential impact may be going forward into the next phase of the Probation Reform Programme.

The deadline for written evidence is 7 September 2020.

Latest From Napo 216

Here we have the latest bulletin from Napo sent yesterday and interestingly someone seems to have discovered the Napo News Twitter button because that's suddenly burst back into life "after awhile". A lot of it is to do with that utter waste of time called OASys that could have been invented specially for those command and control freaks at HMPPS:-  

Bulletin 27 – 2 July 2020

OASys changes

Over the past few weeks we have repeatedly raised with the NPS concerns about changes being made to OASys to incorporate ARMS assessments and the 4 Pillars approach to risk.

The main concerns are as follows:

• Lack of training – especially in current context with members working remotely. Emailing out a powerpoint slide pack is no substitute for proper training and we are very concerned this will lead to members not properly understanding what is being asked of them and ending up being criticised for poor practice further on down the line.
• Issues relating to prison OASys completion. Remembering that OASys will be done by prison staff POMs for some clients, will those prison POMs have had the relevant training for ARMS and the four pillars approach? Some NPS prison POMs did not have the initial ARMS training as they didn’t need it. There is also a concern about the relevance of doing an assessment to support dynamic management of risk in the community while the client is still in custody.
• The integration into OASys means ARMS now needs to be done within the 15-day window for OASys rather than the longer timescale previously allowed for ARMS separately, this will place increased pressure on staff at a time when they are already struggling with excessive workloads.
• It isn’t clear how the additional WMT timing for ARMS will now be allocated to the tool which potentially leaves staff with a shorter timescale to do ARMS and no recognition of it in the WMT.
• The changes do solve some of the issues of duplication between the ARMS template and the OASys template but they also create different duplication between OASys and other reports (MAPPA and Parole) so it doesn’t result in any net gain in term of efficiency

Napo was not consulted on these changes but as soon as we knew about them we began making representations about all of the above and asked HMPPS to pause the roll out to fix the issues and allow for more consultation and crucially proper training. Until today we had received no proper response however we have been promised a formal response by early next week. In the meantime members with concerns relating to any of these issues should raise them formally with their line manager in supervision to ensure that there is a record in case of future practice concerns being highlighted.

Probation Change Programme – a chance to influence the team 

This week Katie Lomas was invited to speak alongside one of the CRC Directors at an event being held for the HMPPS Probation Change Programme team. This team is made up of staff from across the MoJ, some from a Probation background but many from other technical specialisms. The invite was specifically to give examples of the thoughts and feelings members have about the change to come. This was an excellent opportunity to give an unfiltered view of what it’s really like for those facing these changes on the frontline, in CRCs and in the NPS. It was a chance to make sure the team know that TR has been harmful to staff and this may at times affect the ability of members to respond or engage positively. This was also a chance to explain the mixed feelings many have about the future and the fears about moving to the NPS and how this isn’t “going back” as the NPS was only created in 2014.

Drugs, Alcohol and Justice – All Party Parliamentary Group

This group, co-chaired by Mary Glindon MP and Lord Ramsbotham met this week to consider services for those moving from custody to the community. Katie Lomas was invited to speak about the changes to Probation and the opportunities for partnership working with specialist services. It is vital that the next iteration of the Probation system returns genuine partnership working, at local level, with specialist services, especially for drug and alcohol treatment and support. Getting this right will result in reductions in reoffending and the prison population but it can’t be done on the cheap and services need to be properly resourced. Katie also called for better and faster sharing of information and services that are flexible to meet the needs of all clients, not just those best motivated to engage.

Napo HQ