Views On Reunification

Included within the HMI Probation Annual Report published in March was a staff survey of views on the reunification and it was published in full. The following highlights confirm a high degree of dissatisfaction:- 

Key findings and implications 

We received 1,534 responses to our survey, which represents about one in ten (9%) of Probation Service staff. Responses were received from every region, and from all functions within the service. Just over half of the respondents had previously worked in CRCs (51%) and just under half in the NPS (47%); a small minority (2%) had come from elsewhere. While a large sample, capturing views from a broad range of frontline staff, it is not fully representative. 

Headline findings are as follows: 

• About six in ten (61%) believed that senior leaders communicated their strategies for the new, unified, Probation Service sufficiently well. However, a similar proportion (58%) believed that the changes had not been implemented well. 

• Over half (55%) of probation staff were dissatisfied with the guidance received about how to manage work at the point of unification. 

• About six in ten of applicable staff (58%) were ‘always’ or ‘mostly’ receiving case-focused supervision, and just over half (52%) were satisfied that managers paid sufficient attention to staff wellbeing. Six in ten (60%) had sufficient training and development opportunities 

• About half (51%) found their workload ‘not so manageable’ (30%) or ‘not at all’ (21%) manageable. 

• Just over half (53%) had sufficient access to services to meet the needs of people on probation, and about two-thirds (68%) had sufficient access to services and agencies to manage risk of harm to others. 

• Just over half (52%) were satisfied that their current premises and offices supported delivery and engagement, and about six in ten (62%) were satisfied with the ICT services. 

• Just over half (52%) had not made a final judgement on whether unification had made probation better or worse: 19% said it was ‘too early’, 28% felt there had been ‘no change’, and 5% did not know. 

• Only six in ten (60%) stated they felt positive about working for the Probation Service (recently employed staff were more likely to be positive). 

• More than three-quarters (77%) did not think anything had been particularly well managed during the changes, and about seven in ten (71%) thought that there were aspects of the unification changes which should have been done differently. 

When analysing the drivers of the staff responses, we found notable differences by region, with the responses from those working in Wales, where unification has had longer to bed in, tending to be more positive. 

Analysis of respondent comments to open questions revealed these key issues: 

• there is a cultural divide between former CRC and NPS staff; CRC staff feel that they are perceived by former NPS as less skilled, as “second class” 
• induction training was a trial for former CRC staff with too much information being delivered, and not enough time allocated to absorb the training 
• high caseloads and workloads remain a problem for many and have hampered unification 
• ICT problems have made unification more stressful 
• many staff are positive about unification and the future, noting the change process was conducted amidst the pandemic and our society’s recovery.

2.2 Analysis of commentary

Our survey had three open text questions: 

• Is there anything that you think has been done particularly well in managing the changes? Please tell us more 
• Is there anything you think should have been done differently in managing the changes? Please tell us more 
• Please add any further comments about your experience of the changes 

The responses across the three questions tended to converge upon general themes. We have thus analysed the commentary in aggregate and drawn out these key themes. We identify region and former organisation for direct quotes. As we assured strict confidentiality, no further identifiers are given. 

Serious divisions exist between former CRC and NPS staff 

The new service faces the challenge of helping to foster a new identity for all staff, and leave behind the divisions of Transforming Rehabilitation. Many former CRC staff told us they have felt disrespected during unification, that their skills and knowledge have been minimised, and they have been condescended to and treated as inferior. These comments from ex-CRC staff sum up the frustration: 

“There is a clear sense that some staff and managers within what was NPS NW believe that anyone from the CRC is not competent.” (Greater Manchester, CRC) 

“CRC staff were treated like new employees with no acknowledgment of existing skills.” (West Midlands, CRC) 

“CRC staff have been treated like second class citizens.....awful!” (London, CRC) 

“Not enough has been done to address the culture of us and them. As a member of CRC staff I am made to feel second rate to NPS staff.” (East Midlands, CRC)

This statement from a former NPS employee indicates the type of attitude that needs to change: 

“CRC managers / staff should not be job-matched into position that were not vacant. CRC SPOs should not be managing NPS staff.” (London NPS) 

This experience related by a former CRC employee reinforces the point: 

“An example of legacy NPS/CRC stigma is one I experienced first-hand. I completed a handover with a legacy NPS colleague who was shocked that I was able to 'act with such professionalism' as normally his dealings with CRC colleagues was below par.” (East Midlands, CRC) 

Some believe they have been treated unfairly in work allocation and access to resources:

“NPS [are] being allowed to 'cherry pick' the most complex cases to give to CRC colleagues.” (North East, CRC)

“Little has been put in place for CRC staff in terms of admin support or liaison with the courts. Legacy CRC still feels like a "bolt on" and lesser cousin of legacy NPS.” (West Midlands, CRC 

Some ex-NPS colleagues feel colocation may help promote unity: 

“In the local area where I work, physically and culturally things are very different, we still work from separate offices and it is very much day-to-day working that nothing has changed and it is still 'CRC and NPS'.” (North East, NPS) 

These negative experiences are leading to a degree of nostalgia for CRCs: 

“Empty promises..."Best of both worlds" is absolutely not the reality. In a way I'd rather we'd been told that we're joining NPS rather than paint a picture of a new collaborative organisation because they haven't been able or willing to deliver this. …. We had a great SMT in the CRC who were genuinely supportive and transparent in their leadership approach...now I have no idea who anyone is. We've gone from having 4 senior leaders to having 40. I feel like a very small fish in a huge pond and somewhere there is a hole in the pond lining.” (North West, CRC) 

“NPS legacy staff believe that I and my colleagues are lacking in the experience they feel they have over us. Not good. Still a division. The office I will be moving to is like a step back in time from what I am used to. NPS legacy and CRC legacy seniors cannot agree on best practice, as NPS legacy seniors want us to "fit in with them, business as they know it", not helpful, I can’t wait until I can leave.” (West Midlands, CRC) 

“CRC staff are viewed as the poor relative, and the ones who have a lot to learn. The reality is both services have valuable skills and experiences that should be explored and shared. CRCs had the capacity to be creative and you weren't restricted in your role in terms of what you could or couldn't do.” (North East, CRC) 

“The CRC had a slimline way of working and it appears that the NPS haven't progressed any new systems in the last seven years since the split. All the information now is parked and referred to as NPS rather than The Probation Service, which is supposed to be a new organisation taking the best bits of the CRC and NPS to bring a new service to PoP and Probation Practitioners. Instead - the feeling is that it is still and will remain the NPS.” (Greater Manchester, CRC) 

“I personally think the way CRC worked was a more efficient way and cared about their employees. Staff were not just a 'number'.” (North East, CRC) 

Some ex-NPS staff have themselves felt left out during the process: 

“There is a heavily CRC to Probation Service emphasis for the change activity, which is understandable. Ex NPS staff have been largely overlooked in the Unification process.” (Greater Manchester, NPS)

“I am a PQiP who was seconded to the CRC when I started my training. The transition for me has been awful as I have been missed out of communications as I did not feel like I belonged to either CRC or NPS. Even though I have always been a NPS employee I have missed out on things due to my secondment. It has massively impacted my training.” (West Midlands, NPS)

The rapid pace of induction training was difficult for ex-CRC staff 

Many ex-CRC staff comments concerned information overload and the demanding pace of training immediately after unification: 

“There has been a lack of support re: new systems and negotiating processes for legacy CRC staff. Understanding is often assumed and accessing information and processes can be very time consuming. Time has not been set aside for legacy CRC staff to complete required training. My workload is currently excessive, and I am working a 10 - 12 hour day and often one day at the weekend as standard. I do not get overtime and cannot take toil due to the pressures of work. This is is neither acceptable or sustainable.” (Greater Manchester, CRC)

“Moving from CRC to NPS is difficult. Being bombarded with information left, right and centre whilst trying to manage caseload is difficult. I have found it stressful. I am very dubious about how 80 hours of online training is gonna help practitioners who haven't worked with MAPPA cases for years. It is very important the legacy CRC staff are supported and are monitored when they start having MAPPA cases again.” (West Midlands, CRC) 

“My experience of the changes has been that high-minded missives are sent out from senior managers saying how wonderful it's all going to be but this aspirational vision then gets totally lost and bears no resemblance at all to the implementation. It has been chaotic and stressful, with no sign of any positives in the near future.” (Kent, Surrey and Sussex, CRC) 

“Legacy CRC staff have received a significant influx of new information, guidance and training, which has been wholly overwhelming.” (South West, CRC) “Too much information sent out in email. It was information overload. Changes should have been sequenced over a longer period.” (East of England, NPS)

High workloads and caseloads have made unification even more difficult 

Unification came at a difficult point in history as we emerge from the pandemic lockdowns. We have previously noted the pre-existing negative impact of high workloads and caseloads on probation work and staff (HMI Probation, 2021). Unification made those existing pressures of workload and caseload more acute, and staff felt this was not appreciated by senior leaders.

“Unification needed to happen. We shouldn't have split in the first place, however, the workload has increased at a very quick pace which has been overwhelming and unmanageable, particularly at a time when there are lots of system changes.” (East Midlands, NPS) 

“Senior Leaders had an unrealistic idea that once caseloads merged, workload would become more manageable, without recognising that unless staff are retained or replaced or indeed recruited, the issue of significantly high caseloads will remain. The staff training programme, particularly the timescales in which this needs to be completed, is unrealistic, given that staff don't have the time to complete their daily tasks, let alone required training.” (East Midlands, NPS) 

“I went from feeling confident and at the top of my game to feeling isolated, stupid, scared and now lacking in confidence. Caseloads are dangerously high, staff going off sick, important work being missed.” (West Midlands, CRC) 

“CRC staff should have been given some workload allowance to enable them to attend all of the Teams events, training events, and to have time to read all of the documents which have been sent via email, etc.” (North East, CRC) 

“Caseload is way too high. Workload and pressure is too high. Impact on mental health causing me to leave probation.” (Wales, NPS) 

Quite a number of staff were concerned that their new laptops and ICT systems were not functioning well, and there was a lack of training and documentation available to staff. Many were again frustrated that there was not enough time allowed to get to grips with the new systems: 

“I don't think we had enough IT support from the organisation and as most of the systems changed we were left stressed with trying to work things out for ourselves.” (North East, CRC) 

“IT systems should be fit for purpose.” (Yorkshire and the Humber, CRC) 

“The new plethora of IT systems could have been staggered rather than arriving all at once.” (East Midlands, CRC) 

However, a few staff were pleased with the new kit: 

“I felt like the IT changes went quite well and we have got a better system now.” (North East, CRC) 

Some staff had more personal and detailed criticisms of their unification experience, such as: 

• disputes about the regrading exercise 
• problems with getting paid on time and the right amount 
• the civil service ‘bureaucracy’ 
• the new premises being of lower quality than the former CRC premises. 

Some staff expressed a more positive orientation to unification. The following comments reflect the view of those who are taking a longer-term, perhaps more realistic, view of the changes: 

“Superficially, little seems to have changed so far though I acknowledge we are early into the unification process.” (Greater Manchester, NPS) 

“I think it would have been a lot different without Covid-19.” (Yorkshire and the Humber, NPS)

“Things look like they may be starting to embed slowly, but it does feel like we hit reunification before anyone was quite certain how it would all pan out, which has led to some confusion for all involved.” (Kent, Surrey and Sussex, NPS) 

Some were glad to ‘be back’ in a unified probation service, working with new and old colleagues: 

“I think it is really positive that we are unifying, and this is a step in the right direction and is welcomed from staff. There is a general feeling that it will take a long time to recover from the split, particularly with the current staffing issues but this is something that staff want to work towards.” (Greater Manchester, NPS) 

“We have been told many times that legacy CRC colleagues will be anxious about the changes and we should be nice/friendly with them. That has really annoyed me - why would there be any thought that we would not be friendly???” (Greater Manchester, NPS) 

“So much information, opportunities and training, really looking forward to my new career.” (Greater Manchester, Other) 

“Overall, it has been a very smooth transition. So nice to have a decent IT service. NPS people have been very welcoming and I think we've all adapted really well to the changes considering the pandemic in the mix as well.” (East Midlands, CRC) 

“Prior to unification there was a "them" and "us" divide between NPS and CRC staff with NPS staff appearing to occupy the moral high ground. This changed completely after unification and I was pleased with the warm welcome we received in our shared building where former NPS staff went out of their way to implement re-integration of the former CRC staff.” (London, CRC) 

“I think it has gone smoothly for me personally - no issues.” (East of England, CRC) 

“I'm happy about the recent changes. I've been in the service for over 20 years and witnessed what feels like continual change, some of which for no good reason, and sometimes only to revert back to the way it was before! Maybe let the model settle down and just tweak to improve delivery as required, please.” (Wales, NPS)

Conclusion 

Probation staff have divided views about the unified service at this, relatively early, point in the life of the new organisation. Around half are as yet undecided whether unification has improved the service on the ground. 

Former CRC staff are more likely to have a negative view, driven by experiences of being made to feel less worthy than their former NPS colleagues. An effort at all levels of management is needed to counteract any condescension and insults being experienced; former CRC staff skills and professionalism need to be valued, and any regressive attitudes need to be suppressed. 

Another source of the dissatisfaction amongst former CRC staff was the rushed and stressful induction process, characterised by information overload, and exacerbated by ICT problems and lack of time for training. 

Wales emerges as an area where frontline staff have more confidence in senior leadership, and more satisfaction with the processes of unification. While it is possible that the longer run-in period has softened memories of merger, there would appear to be positive lessons to be learnt from the Welsh experience in terms of building a more optimistic work culture. 

It was concerning that ethnic minority staff reported less case focused supervision than their white colleagues. This finding needs to be investigated further by senior leaders in the service with an ‘explain or reform’ focus. 

Although it was disappointing to find that only six in ten felt pride in working in probation (but higher for recently employed staff), many probation staff told us they were positive about the future and pleased to be ‘back’ in a unified service. Around half of staff do not have a settled view on unification, and there is the potential for positive engagement if service leaders can build an inclusive workplace. 

Service leaders have a great challenge ahead to foster this all-important inclusive culture based upon shared probation values, mutual respect, manageable workloads and blended caseloads, space for reflective learning, and meaningful line management. These survey findings help to identify the threats and the promising currents of opinion to undertake that task.

A Dysfunctional Service

It will be pretty obvious to regular readers that the blog has been on autopilot for many months, but just like a pesky weed, keeps popping back into life when you think you've got rid of it. Ok, I've been preoccupied with other stuff in life and was reluctantly coming to accept that the blog had run its course. All the seasoned recusants had been rounded up, they had vented their anger and frustration and were inexorably heading off for enforced fresh pastures or retirement. But no, some are still around and remain vocal, despite civil service attempts to gag them:-  

The Probation Service is now a dysfunctional organisation, with dysfunctional management, run by an out of touch, ignorant and utterly dysfunctional government. As a result, nothing that staff say nor NAPO do will make a shred of difference. With regret, the shop has well and truly sunk. Abandoning said ship is now the only option for those who value themselves and their own mental health and wellbeing. Sad, but true. Side note: who joined up to be tied to a computer for 7.5 hours a day, with only half an hour a day at best to spend helping clients? Not me!

*****

I am weary alongside you and with the majority of my colleagues in the office feeling the same. In fact, battle to find anyone who has anything much that is positive to say among those of us who can't get out of this but live to fight on bloodied, but starting to bow in what I agree is a dysfunctional organisation. The only ones who don't see all this are the PQiPs who don't know any different but some I know are finding it all very disappointing. Despite the negatives, I still find it a pleasure to share knowledge and experience with the PQiPs. I don't teach them how to tick boxes but how to deal with people and situations and all the stuff you can never find in this wretched on line learning we have to engage in these days or by endless Oasys or any other ticky box stuff. I am planning my exit strategy and am counting the days. I never took this job on to be a typist with offenders/clients (or whatever we are supposed to call people these days. I refuse to say PoPs it is ridiculous) who are nothing more than an interruption to the typing. I hold to what I achieved in an earlier time and the difference I made to people's lives. What a privilege it was. So... the life jacket is on...

*****
So true it is dysfunctional and our supposed people focused skills not allowed to be used as time spent on admin constantly. In my view they despise older staff as too expensive too assertive and are used to train up new ones. After many many years service I'm done, it takes its toll on your mental and physical health yet not sorry to see you go or anything. Cold detached attitude and the same as I've heard they have adopted to colleagues with even 30 years service. Treat staff like dirt and pile unachievable workloads on them and yet wonder why we leave.

*****
25 years service and I am appalled! The rush to lower risk to meet “operational requirements“ is disturbing at best and criminal at worst. We are supposed to be there to protect the public and despite the dynamic nature of risk we are now dictated/bullied to reduce risk based on a criteria interpreted by senior managers. What have we become? My notice is in, I am blessed with a wonderful partner who has seen the toll recent years have taken on me and who understands my commitment to clients/service users, and indeed has met several over the years who have approached when shopping or socialising to remark how their lives had changed for the better, but it really is best for me to leave before my behaviour becomes more extreme than anything I have ever experienced from clients/ service users. I never heard of one of them defecating on a managers desk but what a function that would be as my final statement.

--oo00oo--

Happily, it's not just probation staff that are vocal either:-

I find it interesting that the report focuses on those caught up in the 'revolving door' process. These will be predominantly those that will fall into the '12mth and under' cohort. Until TR this group were not subject to probation supervision after release from custody. They were considered too expensive and resource heavy. Probation absorbed 40,000 new cases at the stroke of a pen when Grayling tried to 'fill the shelves' to make probation look more attractive purchase for the private sector. What actually happened was Grayling just increased the speed that the revolving door turned at.

Adding the 12mth and under to compulsory supervision upon release provided that cohort with nothing, but provided a resource drain on an already overloaded probation service. If being subjected to probation isn't going to achieve anything for an individual, then it's pretty pointless directing them there in the first place. Why use resources without any expectation of a return?

The all inclusive, one shoe fits all model of today's probation service is good for no-one. There's nearly a quarter of a million people subjected to probation supervision. That's just far too many for probation to function in any purposeful way. People on probation today aren't really seen by individual needs, they're just part of the herd that gets perpetually processed.

'Getafix

*****
I have only recently followed this blog, and must say I follow 'Getaflix closely. I sort of wish I had met Jim but maybe I did in colleagues of his ilk. My youth and early life was characterised by trauma and I slid into a downward spiral where the base commodity I had was violence. During my last sentence in 1998 I met my probation officer who pulled no punches, he laid the law down in a very clear way. Back in my cell I despised him and ruminated for hours. This man became one the few men I knew, he spoke truth even when it angered me, he supported me when I fell and he applauded my achievements even when I thought them small. That man stuck by me for 6 years pre and post, I will never ever forget him, my children know of him through my stories. The reason I was drawn to this blog is that a cousin’s son has been caught up in what sounds like a dragnet of "probation” and I feel helpless as I don’t know if the probation officers of old still exist. I really don’t know how to advise him but solemnly wish that my old PO was still around and even steering policy.

--oo00oo--

Lets hope this observation from Twitter is not the norm:-

"New trainees have settled in now. I have never met such a bunch of entitled and arrogant young women in my career. Ones already been warned for flirting with a case & another for being aggressive with a colleague. The future of #Probation."

The blog will only continue and have a purpose if people read it, but most importantly, contribute to it. The offer to publish guest blog pieces remains open and contact details can be found on the profile page.

View From the Other Side

Whilst we're continuing to highlight significant dissatisfaction within probation staff, I see the Revolving Doors charity has recently published a report mostly looking at things from the clients point of view. The report is rather neatly summarised by Russell Webster here:-  

What next for probation?

Revolving Doors has just (4 April 2022) published the first report from its Lived Experience Inquiry into Probation. The report is based on the views of 141 people with lived experience of probation and 35 probation practitioners. The report focuses specifically on people in the ”revolving door”, those who commit repeat and often low-level crime that is driven by poverty, trauma, unmet health needs, and its purpose is to:

“support the development of a probation service that is responsive to both the root causes of crime and its consequences, such as mental ill-health and problematic substance use, that drive the revolving door of crisis and crime.”

The report highlights areas of service design and systemic and cultural issues which, the authors (Philip Mullen, Nathan Dick & Andy Williams) argue can make a real difference to the success of the probation service. The report focuses on four key elements of the probation service:

1. The culture of probation
2. Probation’s role at court
3. Probation in the community
4. Prison resettlement

The culture of probation

The Inquiry reports a strong feeling that the traditional probation balance between assessing/managing risk and supporting rehabilitation had shifted to be much more weighted towards risk management, to the neglect of providing or signposting people to the support needed to address root causes (such as homelessness and drug & mental health issues) that drive crisis, crime, and reoffending.

A significant number of people consulted for the Inquiry described probation as a form of policing, and in some cases as an agency that actively spied on them, significantly reducing their willingness to openly discuss their needs and the help they need to better manage these.

There was also widespread frustration at the number of times their probation practitioners changed over the course of their supervision, limiting their ability to build the positive and trusting relationships necessary to feel comfortable in talking openly about their needs, any setbacks, and the kinds of support they needed.

“For me, the probation service is like another arm of the police service, they just check on you, check on your tag… these guys are like the police services, and it’s not about rehabilitation.”

Interspersed with these criticisms were many examples of probation practitioners described as going above and beyond what people under supervision expected of them, for example through sending letters to them whilst they were in prison to build the foundations for a positive relationship, taking the time to listen to their aspirations and ambitions and researching opportunities to help them reach these, and taking the extra care to send letters, make phone calls or attend appointments.

“It helped that my [probation] worker stuck with me, they were not going to give up on me and put structures into place. It also helped that they were real, upfront and honest with me, and that they helped me access the support workers and medication I needed.”

Probation at court

Interestingly, most people were unaware of the role probation played at court and did not see them as present or visible within the court setting. Only a small number of people understood what a PSR entailed and recalled having an in-depth conversation with a probation practitioner to inform a PSR.

Community supervision

The inquiry heard “countless” life-changing descriptions of Probation, of proactive probation practitioners going above and beyond to facilitate people’s access to services to address their needs and support them to reach their aspirations.

“My probation officer, it’s a calling to her, she has too many on her caseload but she goes further and beyond.”

However, there were also many accounts of when probation officers were unable to effectively advocate for their access to vital local services, such as housing, because of insufficient knowledge about these services or how to refer into them, or simply because of a lack of time to take joint steps (e.g., a telephone call together or accompanying them to a meeting) to help address barriers in accessing services.

Several people described their relationships with probation as “tick-box”, with meetings rarely lasting more than 5 to 15 minutes.

“You should be getting something out of probation, not just going there as a punishment. You need to be given time [to talk].”

Prison resettlement

Almost all the people consulted for the inquiry had experience of multiple short prison sentences of less than 12 months. Most experienced the same issues when it came to their release from prison; preparation happened too late, communication with their probation practitioner was challenging and happened too late, and there was a lack of support around practical issues including housing, healthcare, and securing an income (either through employment or social security).

“Most offender managers don’t get involved until 28 days before your release. How can you build a relationship in that time? You need someone you can offload to and get all of the s**t out to.”

The report sets out four key principles aimed at improving this situation:

1. Providing consistent relationships throughout custody and on release.
2. Being proactive in communication.
3. More careful planning for the day of release.
4. Explore the potential of departure lounges.

The views of probation practitioners

Probation practitioners echoed some of the same views as people with experience of being on probation. Many felt a fairer and more equal balance between risk management and supporting rehabilitation needed to be struck. They highlighted lack of resources as a key reason for this, citing high caseloads and a feeling of being excluded from policy development.

"As we have big caseloads, we are not spending as much time with people, bogged down with a load of paperwork. We often have to sacrifice time with someone else to give a person time.”

Conclusions

The report includes 21 recommendations for the development of a probation services more informed by the experiences of people on probation although the authors are careful to credit the Probation Service with an existing commitment to follow this path through its Engaging People on Probation (EPOP) programme.

A Good Question

Can Probation be Rehabilitated?

The above provocative title is of this years Bill McWilliams Memorial lecture to be delivered online and in person by Prof Gwen Robinson, Professor of Criminal Justice, University of Sheffield on Thursday 9th June at 2pm. It's a topic very much uppermost in the thoughts of both demoralised probation staff, together with those who have been affected in some way by matters highlighted in the BBC Radio 4 programme last month and the subject of the most recent Napo press release:-   

Napo has renewed its calls for a public inquiry into the probation service following a documentary aired on BBC Radio 4 last night.

License to Kill? explored the impact of Transforming Rehabilitation, claiming over 500 serious further offences had been committed since 2014.

The programme featured two separate families whose loved ones had been murdered by people who were under probation supervision at the time. Sharing their anguish, they also spoke passionately about their respective campaigns for answers and accountability.

In the wake of the documentary, Napo GS Ian Lawrence said: “Napo welcomes this expose of the earlier disastrous political decision by the former Secretary of State for Justice which has cost the taxpayer unknown millions and has directly led to an underfunded and overworked Probation service which currently simply does not have the capacity to guarantee the required levels of public protection that our communities deserve. The thoughts of our members go out to the families of the two victims featured in the BBC programme and to all those families who have lost their loved ones as well as the victims of other serious further offences.”

Despite the service being reunified, Napo knows the problems are far from over. Ongoing staffing and workloads crisis continue to plague the service.

The private sector cut staffing levels to the bone during TR, while poor pay across both sectors has led to poor recruitment and retention rates, low morale and ultimately dangerously high workloads. On average staff are working to 130% of the workload management tool with many nearing 200%.

Ian Lawrence said: “It is simply not sustainable for probation staff to continue in this current crisis with dangerously high workloads without the public being at risk of serious further offending. It is inevitable that under this extreme work pressure, mistakes will be made and the public and our members will be the ones most affected.”

Napo is calling for urgent Ministerial intervention for probation, a detailed plan of how this crisis can be resolved, a full public enquiry into how the probation service has been allowed to fall into such disarray and what impact that has had on public safety.

******
PO looking for a job elsewhere says:

On the front line is that we are in freefall. The appeals from our employer to our “goodwill” have finally dried up, presumably in the realisation that there is none left between us and our employer. Frontline staff still strive to serve their communities and their clients, but the situation is fast becoming untenable. Staff are stressed and struggling. Our communities are not being protected as they should be by our service. Something must give, and soon.

******
Looking forward to retirement says:

Offender Management at the coal face is referral after referral to outsourced services that have little if any resources, form filling, spending day after day in front of a screen ticking boxes, firefighting crisis cases to no avail. The inevitable SFO investigations focus on the OM not the quagmire of bureaucracy in a service led by bureaucrats with no idea. 27 years in & can’t wait to retire. The training for pquips is laughable. The service has become a depressing joke.

******
Fed up says:

I set up the Gov petition before privatisation took place and I went on strike, I also noted in the write up for the petition that more people would be put at risk and that privatising the Probation Service would not work, I am so sad that I was right… WHY DID NO ONE LISTEN TO US? It was heart breaking to hear these families talk about our failings… we too have been failed and we have nightmares as we are not being equipped with the necessary workforce to do an effective job. We have also been on a pay freeze for practically ten years, our pay is not at all in line with the true cost of living… is it really a surprise that people do not want to work/ remain working in the organisation, when they can get paid much more with a lot less stress elsewhere?

Pay your staff properly, in accordance with the work they undertake. Everything goes up, including case loads, but pay seems to stay at a standstill….When will our mileage rates reflect the true cost on our vehicles? When will sessional rates increase, they have remained the same for over 10 years! We need a huge overhaul of the Probation Service as we have been taken advantage of for far too long.

******
Probation Officer says:

I’m on long term sick leave and will be reduced to half pay at 6 months. I’ll have to deal with the stress of shortfall in my pay due to Covids effect on NHS wait lists and only getting help with to 2 A&E admissions in recent 2 months. After nearly 20 years service I feel penalised by circumstances beyond my control. My good will has definitely run out.

It's Very, Very Sad

Recent contributions pretty much say it all I think:-

I'm left wondering, with so much of what once was seen as probation work being handed over to wherever, is 'probation' still an appropriate term for what the service does?

******
No, current practice not worthy of the term 'probation'.

To a familiar tune:

"Its HMPPS, they're HMPPS, we know they are, that's all they are, they're HMPPS."

The word 'probation' within that acronym is simply to tick yet another a box; a bit like tying your enemy's flag to the back of your rocket launcher, or carving a notch in the stock of your rifle.

Probation is dead.

NB: There are individuals desperately trying to keep small samples of probation DNA alive in the hope they can recreate the noble beast. It is important to keep these locations secret as the HMPPS operatives are determined to exterminate any & all traces.

******
Very sad indeed. What's more, the servility of the senior civil servants who have enabled the destruction of our public services is of much regret. And we have our most senior minister, the 'prime' minister, leading by example.

Most reading this blog are, presumably either probation practitioners or have knowledge/experience of the probation environment. Many will therefore, I assume, be familiar with the wriggly 'weren't-me-guv' behavioural traits of 'regular customers', of those who excel in perpetrating domestic abuse, of the sexual offence perpetrators in denial & the run-of-the-mill bullies who have an overblown sense of entitlement.

All of these behaviours have been publicly celebrated as defining our 'prime' minister by government ministers & (with rare exception) the supporting cast of backbench MPs.

It comes as no surprise that the unfashionable values of 'probation' are unwanted, unloved & ridiculed. How can you possibly believe in truth, compassion & integrity if you are cheering on Boris - a vile creature who regards life as a parlour game for posh boys, something to toy with in between enjoying sexual favours, drinking, eating & spending other peoples' money.

It is true. The rules simply do not apply to Boris. He is other-worldly, esoteric, beyond the ken of man. But not in a good way.

Has anyone actually met him? I have. Skin-crawlingly unpleasant. Vain-glorious. Aloof. Shambolic. Rude. No capacity for focus and very easily distracted by a strong drive to acknowledge wide-eyed women. Easy to see how Jennifer Arcuri became a fill-in shag on the sofa while his previous soon-to-be-ex-wife was undergoing cancer treatment. (Arcuri made sure of pocketing a few quid from her experience & doesn't seem to have regrets).

Lies, law-breaking & other socially inappropriate acts of indiscretion are merely inconveniences to this grotesque. But I think the longer he stays, the better. Uh!?!?

Firstly, the more likely it becomes that he loses his shit in public &/or takes his private quipping & trolling beyond what even the most heinous lickspittles can stomach.

Secondly, the irreparable damage to the Tories becomes more widespread. Sadly there are always unintended consequences, but Starmer might have a better long-term plan than we imagine by baiting the buffoon on a regular basis. We saw signs of a snarl today.

Again, practitioners with some time under their belts will have tales of X or Y eventually being unable to hide the reality of their true personality, or the enormity of what they've done.

The demise of probation values has been co-terminus with the demise of the moral fabric of the UK, the methods & Modus Operandi very similar. The targeting & bullying of vocal opponents, the failures & the syphoning-off of public monies has been an experience far too familiar for many probation staff.

It is VERY, VERY sad.

Latest From Napo 230

It's been awhile since we've covered union news, but here we have the latest Napo mailout:-

Dear Xxxxxxxx

Your pay and the cost of living

On a day that sees our members across Probation, Cafcass and Probation Northern Ireland face massive increases in utilities and council tax together with a hike in national insurance, we understand the anger of members about inadequate pay. We will be doing all that we can in the pay negotiations with your respective employers to try and achieve significant improvements, but members should know that we have many challenges ahead of us. Napo through the TUC, will also be playing its part in the ‘Cost of Living’ campaign and a range of activities are being planned over the Spring building up to the National Demonstration in London on Saturday 18th June. More details of how you can get involved in our pay campaigning will follow over the coming weeks

Changes to Access to Work affecting Civil Servants.

Access to Work (ATW) is a government scheme which supports disabled people in work. It was set up to provide employees with practical support with their work via a grant that can help pay for things like: BSL interpreters; specialist equipment; adaptations to your vehicle so you can get to work; or pay for taxi fares; and, provide a support worker to help you in the workplace.

However, from today if you are a civil servant you cannot apply or renew your grant from the 1st April 2022. If you already have grant in place, please do not worry, this will continue as normal until the grant is due for renewal. Provision is in place so that each individual department will take over responsibility for providing the service previously provided via Access to Work.

This is a significant change and will create a level of anxiety and uncertainty for disabled members. We have been re-assured by the Probation Service that the necessary mechanisms are in place to cover any individual whose funding comes to an end on the 31st March or if a disabled member of staff needs to make any new application from today onwards. This process will be dealt with by the MoJ Workplace Adjustment Service.

If you have any concerns or questions about what support you need as a disabled member of staff, and have any concerns about the changes to ATW please contact Napo’s lead for Equalities Ranjit Singh at rsingh@napo.org.uk

Open online recruitment meeting – Thursday 7 April 12.30-13.30pm

We are holding an ONLINE RECRUITMENT MEETING ON THURSDAY 7TH APRIL 12.30PM-13.30PM with General Secretary, Ian Lawrence, to give an update on matters concerning Probation and the Family Courts and why join Napo. This event is a meeting open to all members AND non-members also so please circulate widely and talk to colleagues about this if they are not yet in a union.

Recruit a Friend Scheme

If you were not aware of this yet, we are running a current ‘Recruit a Friend Scheme’ till the end of April whereby any member who recruits a new member, means that both of you will get a £25 online LovetoShop voucher. So please talk to your colleagues and if they are not yet in a union, encourage them to join Napo or come along to the online seminar on 7th April to find out more. Due to this year’s budget, it is capped at one voucher only for your first new recruit, of course all new recruits will still get the voucher, but don’t let that stop you from recruiting please, as our top recruiters will also be entered into a draw to get an extra prize/voucher. We will be running several of these schemes frequently throughout the year. Do always check out the Napo website where you can download leaflets and handy tips for recruiting and organising.

Activ8rs

In Napo we have accredited reps that will help members in individual and collective representations as well as having accredited Health & Safety reps. We would like to increase our accredited reps across the union and you can sign up for courses at the TUC here https://www.tuc.org.uk/TUCcourses

Make sure you get in touch with your branch if you want to sign up for any of these courses or contact Annoesjka Valent at avalent@napo.org.uk

This could be daunting if you do not know what is involved, but your branch will be happy to talk you through the task and perhaps arrange for you to sit in on some cases / meetings that are happening, so that you get a better understanding of what it all entails. As an accredited Napo rep or when undergoing training, you are entitled to time-off and workload relief/ The branch or Napo HQ Official will assist you with this if you should encounter any problems with your line management.

However, if you feel you cannot take on a role like this, there is always ‘something union’ you can do! You could be a Napo ‘Activ8r’ – be a signpost in your office, maintain the union notice board and just put your name up for people to approach you. You don’t have to have any answers, just listen and tell people you’re going to pass their query/issue onto a rep to get back to them.

Contact Annoesjka Valent at avalent@napo.org.uk if you want to be added to the Activ8r list.

Napo AGM – Thursday 13 to Saturday 15 October in Eastbourne

A mail-out was sent to branches this week about this year’s hybrid AGM. We hope you are looking forward to getting together again, it sure was great to meet up in Newcastle last year. Obviously this is for members feeling comfortable in doing so and able to attend, but we hope you look forward to returning to a seaside venue!

Following on from last year’s post-AGM Survey, we of course will be continuing with a hybrid format for all the main conference sessions the way it was run last year in Newcastle but we will be returning to in-person fringe meetings at the actual conference rather than hold online fringes in the run up to AGM. There may be possibility for one or two fringe meetings to be held hybrid in the main hall but we need to confirm that with the venue and information will be sent to branches following a next site visit. But meanwhile please put this date in your diary now!

Pay updates

Members will be aware that the annual pay progression and pay award is due today. As usual it will not be paid on time because HMPPS cannot make any payments relating to progression or the pay award until the totality of the pay award is settled, and the negotiations on the pay award cannot begin formally until the Civil Service pay remit is issued and permission is given. We have yet to begin formal negotiations on the Probation pay award for 2022/23 and will be issuing the Joint Trade Union pay claim shortly. We will of course share the pay claim once it has been submitted.

We are now at the end of the trial year for the Competency Based Framework for pay progression (CBF). The CBF was part of the 2018 pay deal that members voted on with a commitment for the Trade Unions to work with HMPPS to develop the details of the scheme. We have retained automatic contractual pay progression for all the years while the framework was developed and we secured a genuine trial year during which pay progression would remain automatic. This means that everyone who is eligible for pay progression will become entitled to progression today (even though it won’t be paid until the pay award is concluded). The progression will of course be back dated to today

The CBF is the mechanism that replaces automatic pay progression and enables staff to move more quickly up the pay scales. It would not have been possible to move from the former 23 year pay scales without some mechanism. The CBF was designed to enable staff to progress through the pay scale, not to hold them back. The intention is that no more staff will be held back from progression than with the previous mechanisms (because there was always the potential to hold someone back from progression as a specific outcome of a disciplinary or poor performance process). We know that some staff are struggling to believe that there is no catch, but the truth is that the only catch with CBF is the natural inclination of people working in Probation to seek to prove themselves. The CBF is genuinely a simple process, with very little bureaucracy attached, which only requires staff to evidence maintenance of competence during the year. The threshold for holding someone back from pay progression is necessarily high, as there is a pay implication that could result in justified complaints against decision makers if this was to be withheld.

We encourage members to share any and all feedback about their experience of the trial year of CBF, and to share any concerns about suggestions that the CBF is linked to performance measures in any way.

Contacts – Ian Lawrence and Katie Lomas

Health and Safety

Version 15 of the Safer Working Practice has now replaced V14. You will notice that a lot of the mandated protections have been removed and replaced with words such as "encouraged" or "choose". This is because the government has now handed back the duty of care to the employer.

What this means for us is that the covid risk assessments are even more important to ensure the safety of colleagues and people on probation, especially as the rates are rising as fast as they are doing. Can all health and safety reps ensure they take part in revising existing risk assessments, including those for programme delivery etc. We are not in "business as usual" but "living with covid" and that is about ensuring safety. Good ventilation is key, and staff should still not be using rooms where there is no or inadequate ventilation. Keeping a safe distance and/or wearing face coverings are also important to maintain.

If you are, or suspect a person on probation is, vulnerable please ensure you ask for an individual covid risk assessment (soon to be known as a personal management plan), even if you feel you don't need any reasonable adjustments (and this includes our pregnant members of staff). We are aware that very few people were recorded nationally as being in this group so it is extremely possible there was under reporting of it. Completing this document ensures that the employer is aware of who is more vulnerable to ensure all safety adjustments are put in place.

We have asked for further clarity in relation to this morning's advice that if you think you are experiencing symptoms of covid you should isolate for 5 days, or if it will be more cost effective for the employer to continue to provide testing kits.

Our weekly Winter Recovery meetings with the employer are continuing for the time being, so please do get in touch with any comments or concerns.

Contacts – Carole Doherty and Ian Lawrence

Best Wishes
Napo HQ

Unspeakable

I've been wanting to say something about the obscenity playing out in Ukraine for days, but somehow words don't seem able to adequately convey the horror that Putin has unleashed upon a proud and honourable nation. However, this from the BBC website in the last hour seems to crystalize the whole unbelievable nightmare for me and put it into a chilling historical context:-

Ukraine war: Holocaust survivor killed by Russian shelling in Kharkiv

A Ukrainian man who survived the Nazi Holocaust during World War Two has been killed during a Russian attack on the eastern city of Kharkiv. Boris Romantschenko, 96, died during Russian shelling of his apartment block on Friday, relatives said.

Russian forces have been relentlessly shelling Kharkiv, which lies just 30 miles (50km) from the border, for over three weeks. At least 500 civilians have now been killed there, Ukrainian officials say. Police said one of the victims has been identified as a nine-year old boy.

The Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation said it was "deeply disturbed" by Mr Romantschenko's death. The organisation, of which Mr Romantschenko was vice-president, announced the news after being informed by his family and said he had "worked intensely on the memory of of Nazi crimes". "We mourn the loss of a close friend. We wish his son and granddaughter, who brought us the sad news, a lot of strength in these difficult times," the foundation's statement added.

Mr Romantschenko was born in the north-eastern city of Bondari on 20 January 1926. He was rounded up by Nazi troops after the invasion of the Soviet Union and deported to Germany in 1942, where he was forced to do hard labour, the foundation said. After a failed escape attempt in 1943, he was sent to the Buchenwald concentration camp, where some 56,545 people were murdered before its liberation in 1945 by the allies. 

He also spent time in the subcamp of Mittelbau-Dora, as well as the infamous Bergen Belsen and Peenemünde camps. He returned to Buchenwald in 2012 to celebrate the 67th anniversary of the liberation of the camp by US troops, where he recited the pledge made by survivors to create "a new world where peace and freedom reign".

The Nazi regime murdered over six million Jewish people across occupied Europe between 1941 and 1945.

Command and Control

Thanks go to the colleague for sharing this cracker:-

Sent: 16 March 2022

To: Xxxxxxxx PDU - Staff

Subject: Professionalism, responsivity and health and safety

Dear all,

I’m going to start this email by stating explicitly that the below observations do not relate to all staff. I recognise that you are all working in challenging times, doing the very best you can. However, I think it is important to revisit the expectation that all of us conduct ourselves with the utmost professional curtesy showing due respect for our colleagues and People on Probation. There have been a number of issues coming to the fore of late which can’t continue to go unchecked.

Responsivity

I can totally sympathise with the volume of email traffic that we all get - me personally at least 150 – 200 emails a day. Many of these however are escalation emails to me, where colleagues from with London and further afield are complaining about a lack of response from some of you. I get to see the chain of chaser emails which go ignored or unanswered and this is totally unacceptable. We are all incredibly busy and I recognise that, but even a holding email, advising that you will get to the matter as soon as possible is better than radio silence. This is incredibly frustrating to experience, think about how this makes you feel when you are on the receiving end of it.

Likewise, answering telephone calls. I have seen some staff blatantly ignore reception telephone calls or those form the service centre. What happens next is myself and SPOs then get copied in to emails to resolve queries and issues, only to see you at your desk seemingly able to have facilitated that call in the first place. Frankly, it’s rude, shows a lack of respect for our reception staff, leaves PoPs annoyed and causes unnecessary aggravation. There is a knock on effect when this happens and we need to be considerate of that fact.

PoPs are also left waiting in reception for far to long it causes congestion and leads to people getting irate. If your PoP is early then let reception know that you will come out and see them at the allotted time.

Health and Safety

Staff are still failing to book interview rooms, take the right panic alarm for the right room and if I catch the person who is deliberately unplugging the telephones in the interview rooms, there will be a consequence!! These rules are not meant to be a hinderance - it if for your health and safety. We need to be able to ensure the right response is provided if you need it. Reception staff can’t check to see if you are Ok if the phone is unplugged and if you need assistance in Interview room 3, but the panic alarm for interview room 5 is going off then any meaningful response is delayed. Taking the wrong panic alarm and using the wrong interview room has a knock on effect. This is an impassioned plea for you to all take this more seriously from now on. Health and Safety is a collective responsibility.

Professionalism

This goes without saying for the majority of you, but a reminder that we are a team that need to stick together and look out for each other. We all need to take leave for rest and recouperation and should expect colleagues to cover us as much as we should cover them. Same for unexpected absences, everyone needs to chip in, it should not fall to a select few or those who repeatedly help out whilst others chose to be unhelpful. I expect that cases are in a well-managed state with next appointments and a clear steer in Delius about what work has/is being done with them, especially when cover needs to be provided at short notice.

I expect everyone to take notice of the above. I have asked for examples of where this is not happening and this will be addressed directly with the individuals concerned as it is behaviour that will no longer be tolerated. It is simply unfair!

I appreciate that the tone of the email is curt, but I make no apologies for wanting to foster a work environment where all staff behave professionally and in line with our civil service values.

Kind regards,

Xxxxxxx

Head of Service

PDU Xxxxxxx

London Probation Service

Nothing To See Here!

 Probation Service Change Bulletin - Issue 11 March 2022

1. Amy Rees, Director General Probation, Wales and Youth

Welcome to our re-launched Probation Change Bulletin for 2022. This bi-monthly bulletin will look to spotlight the latest news in Probation, covering all our portfolio change programmes - Reform, Workforce, Reducing Reoffending and Electronic Monitoring, as well as keeping you updated on any key developments across our business as usual areas.

A lot has happened since our unification on 26 June 2021, when we launched the new Probation Service, bringing together staff from the previous National Probation Service (NPS) and 21 Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs). As a new unified organisation we have been able to integrate the services we deliver alongside core supervision - working in partnership to address the needs of people on probation and support the government’s ambitious agenda to cut crime. All of this while dealing with the backdrop of a global pandemic, ensuring the continued delivery of probation across England and Wales. Probation achieved a lot in 2021 and 2022 is set to be another year of enhanced delivery and continuous improvement, building on our unification.

Our next edition will be published in May, so please keep an eye on this page for further updates.

2. Responding to COVID and Recovery

Great strides were made towards the end of 2021 to move from operating on Probation Exceptional Delivery Models (EDMs) to all probation regions in England and Wales delivering to full or light National Standards. EDMs are a suite of documents that were created to adapt how the Probation Service delivered from March 2019, responding to the impact of Covid-19. EDMs looked to set out the level’s to which probation could deliver, dependant on government restrictions and staffing levels. This allowed for flexibility of delivery across England and Wales dependant on local circumstance.

Due to the upsurge in the Omicron variant, Probation Gold Command was reinstated in late December, and the decision was taken to reintroduce the Probation Supervision EDM across England through January. In response to Welsh Government announcement, Probation in Wales also reinstated the Probation Supervision EDM, as well as range of EDMs relating to service delivery for the month of January 2022, this did not include Community Payback and 

Accredited Programme delivery.

As of 31 January 2022, all regions in England and Wales have now successfully exited EDMs again and will be operating on the new ‘Prioritising Probation Framework’, allowing for a steady increase in delivery and providing Regional Probation Directors with a robust tool to help regions adapt to how they deliver probation locally according to numbers of available staff. The aim is to move towards full delivery as soon and as swiftly as is safely possible.

All Approved Premises across England and Wales also exited their EDM on 31 January 2022, unless they were classified as an outbreak site, in which case they will exit their EDM once the UK Health Security Agency / Public Health Wales declares the outbreak closed.

3. Reform and the Target Operating Model (TOM)

The path to Target Operating Model sets out Probations intentions for the future of the service over the 18-months post-unification. The initial focus up to June 2021 was to unify the service, ensuring the transition of around 8000 staff to the Probation Service from the NPS and CRCs.

The focus since June has been to stabilise the service and embed the structural changes across the organisation against the backdrop of Covid-19 and Omicron. The focus now is on delivering more consistent management and delivery of sentence plans, better assessment and management of risk and more balanced caseloads, with an improved case allocation process to support this.

For Unpaid Work, Accredited Programmes and Structured Interventions changes are starting to be implemented that that will drive up completion rates and deliver better outcomes. Much of this will be through making programmes available locally, making improvements to the assessment and induction process and more regular reviews of active cases.

As set out in the TOM, the Probation Service is utilising commissioned rehabilitative services, working with external partners to meet key areas of rehabilitative needs, including: Accommodation; Employment, Training and Education; Personal Wellbeing; and Women’s Services.

Within Courts there is a focus on improving the pre-sentence reports in order to deliver quality advice to courts and improving sentencer confidence in the delivery of community sentences.

Probation is also working to modernise its digital tools to better support probation staff in supporting people on probation. The aim is to reduce duplication in systems, streamline processes and enable better data recording and analysis, to support workload management, decision making and engaging people on probation. Tools have been reviewed that were used to good effect in the NPS and CRCs prior to unification, and are being adopted and improved, as well as identifying gaps and building new ones.

4. Workforce

To support the reforms being undertaken in Probation and to meet the demands of society, in particular the response to the government campaign of recruiting 20,000 new police officers. Probation launched an enhanced recruitment campaign and are pleased to announce that the recruitment target of 1000 PQiPs (Professional Qualification in Probation) for 2020/2021 was met and Probation are looking to increase levels of recruitment even further in this financial year (2021/22) to 1,500 trainee probation officers. As well as PQiPs, there is a real focus on the wider recruitment of staff across Probation, ensuring the organisation recruits and retain the best staff possible. The continued work around recruitment has been a real achievement to help attract the staff needed to meet the growing demand of the wider justice system.

5. Community Payback

The importance of Community Payback was further recognised in the recent Spending Review announcement, with the government providing an additional £93 million of funding over the next three years. This is key to supporting initiatives to provide training opportunities for those on probation, helping them to develop skills to boost their employability.

A new approach to delivering Community Payback will see the Probation Service develop a range of partnerships with national organisation over the coming months to deliver projects across England and Wales. Many of these partnerships will look to focus on outdoor projects that help improve the environment across England and Wales.

Probation recently launched a recruitment drive to attract 500 extra Community Payback staff to join the service, helping to support the ambition to deliver an extra 3 million hours of Community Payback each year. For more information on the recruitment campaign and how to apply for a role in Community Payback, check out Recruitment drive to ensure offenders pay back for their crimes - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Probation will continue to highlight the work undertaken around Community Payback via the HMPPS Twitter account – please check this out regularly to see the latest updates.

6. Reducing Reoffending

Last year’s spending review provided a substantial investment for reducing reoffending over the next three years. £200m a year will be invested by 2024-25 to improve prison leavers’ access to accommodation, employment support and substance misuse treatment, and introduce further measures for early intervention to tackle youth offending.

Work is now well underway on the delivery programme to provide prisoners and prison leavers with the support they need to lead a crime-free life. This includes:

• Delivering a Prisoner Education Service in England which equips prisoners with the numeracy, literacy, skills and qualifications they need to get jobs or apprenticeships after they leave custody;
• Transforming the opportunities for work in prisons and on Release on Temporary Licence, creating a presumption in favour of enabling vetted and appropriate prisoners to take up work opportunities;
• Scaling up specialist roles tested in the Accelerator Prisons project that provide the support that prisoners and prison leavers need to turn their back on crime;
• Introducing new Resettlement Passports that bring together into one place the essentials that prison leavers need to lead crime-free lives on release;
• Ensuring that every prison leaver at risk of homelessness can access the new transitional accommodation scheme.

7. Electronic Monitoring

Electronic Monitoring continues to be a core part of probation service delivery. We currently monitor over 13,000 individuals every day and are looking to increase the caseload to c.25,000 by March 2025. Further investment from the government of £183m for the Electronic Monitoring expansion projects highlights the vital contribution Electronic Monitoring makes to the justice system.

Alcohol Abstinence and Monitoring Requirement (AAMR) is an additional tool available to the judiciary to address alcohol related offending and support rehabilitation. To see more about the new initiative to cut alcohol-fuelled crime, check out Offenders to be banned from drinking to cut alcohol-fuelled crime - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and No Christmas tipples for 770 alcohol-tagged offenders - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). An Alcohol Monitoring on License (AML) pathfinder was also successfully rolled out in Wales and 3 women’s prisons on 17 November 2021, leading to a complete ban or monitored consumption when a person is released from custody. AML will be rolled-out across England in the summer.

The Need For A Better Plan

Even though the Probation Service has pretty much disappeared from public view behind the Civil Service wall of bureaucracy and secrecy, those in the know are fully aware that things are not at all in good shape. Effectively, there appears to be tacit agreement between key stakeholders to just cover their ears and shout 'la la la la la' as loudly as possible and hope everything will be just fine. 

Unless something serious happens, I don't think this situation will alter any time soon, but in the meantime it's interesting to see that the the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, even though not mentioning probation directly, is giving some serious thought as to the whole criminal justice landscape and the mess it's currently in:-     

A few weeks back, we published an article on our website by Whitney Iles, Khatuna Tsintsadze and Charlie Weinberg, the latest in the ‘critical care’ series they have been writing for us.

In the article, they criticised what they called “performance activism”, a tendency in the voluntary sector towards lots of activity, but “very little change on the ground”. While we don't really achieve anything, they argued, we are left “feeling good about our efforts”.

One of the things I have been wondering in the last few weeks is whether, in criminal justice, performance activism is itself a symptom of a frustration with the inertia of current criminal justice policy-making, its ‘stuckness’.

The prison system appears mired in almost permanent crisis. The police face a major crisis of trust. The court system is wrestling with an enormous backlog of cases. Injustices such as unfair joint enterprise convictions, the Imprisonment for Public Protection sentence, or racism throughout the justice system, are sometimes acknowledged. But nothing seems to change. Months may pass; the same issues, the same basic problems, remain.

Unsurprisingly, many of us probably feel trapped by the monotony of repeated criminal justice failure, unsure how, or if, we will ever escape it. A flurry of activity, even if it achieves little, can feel better than no activity at all.

I and colleagues at the Centre work are currently working on a new organisational strategy, to help guide the direction of our work through to our 100th anniversary in 2031. As part of that, I've been thinking about the problems of performance activism, and what might be behind it.

I've written this short piece to start bottoming out these issues. I'd be interested in any thoughts or reactions.

--oo00oo--

How do we escape the monotony of repeated policy failure? How do we instead do something genuinely new and transformative?

Consider the Prisons Strategy White Paper, published in December 2021, in what already feels like a different time.

It promises more prisons, on top of existing plans to expand current capacity to around 100,000 places. “We need a pipeline of accommodation beyond our current build programme”, the White Paper states, “and we will begin preparatory work... to set ourselves up for future expansion”.

There’s nothing particularly new here. In modern times, relentless prison growth has been the monotonous background noise of prisons policy since the eve of the Second World War, as I explained in this Prison Service Journal article from a few years back.

Its effect has been to scupper progress on meaningful reform. Whatever the merits of a number of other proposals in the Prisons Strategy White Paper – improving prison education, doing more to get ex-prisoners into jobs, and enhancing resettlement support, for instance – they will likely be negated by growing prisoner numbers.

A couple of weeks ago, Whitney Iles, Khatuna Tsintsadze and Charlie Weinberg wrote about “performance activism”, a symptom of a “lack of long-term thinking and political bravery”. With performance activism, we see “very little change on the ground”, while we are left “feeling good about our efforts”.

Current responses to initiatives such as the Prisons Strategy White Paper – talking up the perceived positives, while discretely shaking our heads about the obvious negatives – risks falling into this performance activism trap, I think.

Some might argue that this is what you get when too many grant funders favour short-term ‘impact’ over long-term ambition, and commissioning models reward nimble public relations, while punishing principled public challenge. I have much sympathy with such views.

But it also reflects the lack of long-term thinking that Whitney, Khatuna and Charlie wrote about, which all too-often leads to organisations falling into one of two, equally problematic, positions.

First, in seeking to influence the policy process, and to demonstrate impact, we can too readily accept the problem as defined by government, offering ‘solutions’ that tend towards reproducing in the present, and into future, the failed policies of the past. When this happens, we end up being defined in. We become part of the problem we claim we are trying to solve.

Alternatively, in seeking to escape the monotonous circularity of policy failure, we might too easily reject the grind of day-to-day influencing. This can result in powerful critiques and inspiring visions. But they are often critiques and visions easy to dismiss as utopian, and equally easy to ignore. This is the problem of being defined out. We stop having anything useful to contribute to the discussion.

What it means to navigate a course between these two, equally unhelpful, positions, to make possible an escape from the monotony of repeated failure, is something I and colleagues at the Centre are exploring, as we finalise a new strategy for the organisation.

In the context of the Prisons Strategy White Paper, it means, I think, developing coherent and credible alternatives to the seemingly relentless drive to ever more prisons, and charting a path to the world as we might wish it to be, while taking seriously the realities of the world as it is.

Richard Garside