Time For a Serious Discussion

Yet again prisons, probation and the criminal justice system finds itself in the limelight.. It's all an unholy mess, its election year and politicians are wading-in. What on earth can be done to fix it? A serious discussion would be a good start and here are some ideas floated recently by Rob Allen:-   

What is to be Done?

It should now be clear to all that the prison system is facing a very serious operational crisis. It’s at its most acute in local prisons like Wandsworth where the Chief Inspector, summarising his findings as death, drugs and despair, found a jail failing at the most basic level, with no reliable roll to ensure that all prisoners are accounted for and a degree of despondency he’d not seen before.

But we should be troubled too by an unnoticed local watchdog report on Long Lartin, a high security prison, where much of the existing surveillance technology is obsolete or unserviceable and the emergency control room cannot properly monitor the wings. “This limits its ability to deploy timely assistance in emergencies and seriously compromises the safety of prisoners and staff”.

In a custodial estate of 120 prisons, there will always be a number where the challenge of too many prisoners, too few staff or crumbling infrastructure become overwhelming. As the Prison Governors Association has pointed out, the relentless and growing demand for cell space leaves almost no scope to grant temporary relief to places like Wandsworth by reducing their capacity.

Extending early release provisions and using police cells may buy the system some time but without proper resettlement support some of those let out early, may be back inside all too soon.

Probation has been “reset” to enable it to focus on its highest priorities but the National Association of Probation Officers has issued a breathless warning of “early release chaos”- and an increasing risk to public safety- without offering much in the way of alternative solutions.

What more could be done? In the short term, there’s a need to close more tightly the entrance to the court and prison system as well as throwing opening the back door. Developing the use of Out of Court Disposals would for example reduce pressure on the magistrates courts.

Given the concentration of overcrowding in local jails, guidance from the Attorney General, Lady Chief Justice and Lord Chancellor could be issued encouraging alternatives to custodial remands whenever possible, if necessary, monitored with an electronic tag.

Larger sentencing discounts for early guilty pleas could also reduce periods spent both on remand and under sentence. The Justice Ministry are reviewing this but need to get on and act.

The Sentencing Council should expedite too the publication of their guideline on the imposition of community and custodial sentences which could result in fewer short jail terms. More urgency should be given to enacting the Sentencing Bill which would introduce a presumption that custodial sentences of 12 months or less will be suspended.

A more radical measure would be to ask courts to keep out of prison all offenders who have successfully spent their remand period without being locked up. Their sentences could be suspended, deferred, or postponed depending on the circumstances.

As for sentence lengths, the Sentencing Council should for most offences be asked to revise its guidelines to bring the average back down to where it was 10 years ago. After all, most of its guidelines have not been intended to raise the “going rate” but for whatever reason that’s what’s happened with disastrous consequences for the prisons where the increased terms are served. Many of those being released early, will have served longer than they would have in the recent past.

None of this will be politically easy and, in an election, year creating a much needed cross party consensus seems fanciful. But surely someone in Labour must recognise that the prison crisis is likely to be theirs to resolve before too long and it’s in their interest as well as the government’s to prevent it getting even worse. There are of course many reforms a new government should introduce to create a more sustainable, effective and humane justice system. But the priority now its to keep it functioning and safe.

Rob Allen

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Can Probation Keep Us Safe?

BBC 1 Panorama May 23rd 9.00pm

When dangerous criminals leave prison, the Probation Service should monitor them and keep the public safe. But is it up to the job? As convicted criminals across England and Wales are released from prison early to tackle chronic overcrowding, Panorama investigates the Probation Service and asks if it's doing enough to manage high-risk prisoners. Serving probation officers warn that their caseloads are putting public safety at risk, and families whose loved ones have been murdered by convicted criminals on probation ask why the system failed them.

Justice Sunset

So, coming hard on the heels of emergency prison releases and Operation Safeguard, according to this Criminal Law Solicitors' Association press release yesterday, we now have Operation Early Dawn:- 

MoJ implements Operation Early Dawn – Mags Court impacted from tomorrow

We have been informed this evening that the Lord Chancellor is triggering an emergency measure, Operation Early Dawn, to deal with the worsening problem of the prison population. Details are somewhat lacking but it appears to be an extension of early release and other measures, but there is a particular measure affecting Magistrates’ courts in England (but not Wales at the moment).

From tomorrow (Wednesday 15th May) many Magistrates Court cases will be delayed, the cause being a triage process for defendants being transferred from police custody suites to the Magistrates’ Courts and then likely to be transferred to prison. We understand SERCO will do the triage and priority will be given to defendants in the most serious cases.

The Ministry of Justice confirmed that defendants who are not prioritised will be released on police bail. The Ministry of Justice also said that it is expected to have some impact on defendants already on police bail, but cannot say to what degree.

Regrettably practitioners will not know if their clients’ cases will be effected and delayed for sure until they arrive.

We are awaiting further information regarding legal aid and wasted costs.

Details are at this stage lacking and we do not have specific details on which courts other than it is an England-wide policy. We must therefore assume it will have an impact of every Magistrates’ Court in England. Although similar policies have been used regionally before to our knowledge this is the first time it has been deployed on such a wide basis.

Members may wish to await confirmation their client will be in court before attending where possible to avoid wasted trips and extended waiting at court at a time when the criminal legal aid sector lacks the capacity to deal with increased volumes of work as a result of decades of underfunding.

We are appalled of the state of our Criminal Justice System and have been campaigning on this from our inception and whilst we recognise the need for some action, this is a symptom of a systemic problem caused by more than 40 years of neglect of our Criminal Justice System.

We remain deeply concerned about the future, or lack thereof, for the legal aid sector and call on the government to not only deliver in full on the recommendations of the Criminal Legal Aid Independent Review, but go further and invest much needed resources not only into Legal Aid but the wider CJS as a matter of urgency to save our once world-leading Criminal Justice System.

Time For an Election

If an army marches on its stomach, a navy gets hungry too and it's the job of Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships to supply the Royal Navy. What's this got to do with probation? Well it turns out there is no area of public service that the Tories haven't fucked up. RFA crews are about to go on strike because of poor pay and conditions. Out of 7 RFA vessels built to resupply RN vessels at sea, just 2 are active due to crew shortages. So we've spent billions on 2 aircraft carriers and have virtually no ships to replenish them. Morale is at rock bottom and recruitment campaigns have failed. Sound familiar? This from navylookout website:-  

Diminishing strength of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary undermines the Royal Navy’s global reach

The logistical support the RFA once provided the RN was recognised as a great strength matched by few other navies. The precipitous decline over the last decade not only undermines the investment in carrier strike but limits other RN operations and diminishes an important capability that was of great help to UK allies.

The size of the workforce continues to reduce and members of both Trade Unions have voted for strike action over pay. The RMT Union which represents RFA ratings says around 500 personnel are prepared to take action over pay and will go on strike on Sunday 19th May. 79% of RFA Officers who are members of the Nautilus Union also voted in favour of strikes although they have not yet announced a date. Industrial action by sailors on ships actually at sea is not permitted for obvious reasons but there may be some modest effects. At this stage, walkouts are primarily symbolic and designed to raise awareness rather than have a big impact on naval operations. No one wants to go on strike but the grievance is genuine, RFA sailors have seen a pay cut in real terms of around 30% more than workers in the emergency services since 2010.

RFA personnel were involved in strikes over pay in 2000 and in 2010 and came close in 2019. Poor pay is not a new issue but has been exacerbated by the recent rise in the cost of living and a global shortage of seafarers. Like almost every other area of the public sector, people are under pressure as the tasking and workload has increased without resources to match. Many RFA vessels are now operating a Tailored Scheme of Compliment (TSOC), the minimum level of crew possible to run the ship safely which can mean being up to 30% short-handed. This lowers morale and may limit evolutions the ship can safely perform.

The seriousness of the issue has been widely recognised and an early day Parliamentary motion signed by 34 MPs in December demanded a pay increase for the RFA. An FOI submitted last year revealed the total annual wage bill for the RFA in 2022/23 was just £92M. If there is supposedly now a ‘growing’ defence budget, in relative terms it would not take much to increase pay by 20-30% that is needed to make salaries competitive again.

The Faststream Recruitment Group was recently commissioned by the MoD to investigate how RFA pay and conditions match up with commercial equivalents. Their independent benchmarking report completed in March 2024 provides interesting reading, comparing like-for-like roles in the Cruise Ship, Deep Sea, Offshore and Ferry industries with the RFA. While there are some variations by ranks and roles, overall the key conclusion is “the RFA’s current offering pays lower than the market average for the net day rate in every rank benchmarked.” In some cases, RFA personnel may be paid more overall than their counterparts in the commercial sector but they have to work more days at sea, and often in more high-risk areas. Furthermore, the RFA’s appointment length is longer than is typical for British seafarers and the RFA offers less time off per day worked than any other sector. The only remuneration area where the RFA does better is the generous pension but this is not a big priority for the younger recruits the service needs to attract.

This Simply Cannot Go On

Yesterday HMI Charlie Taylor lost his patience with HMPPS and the Minister Alex Chalk MP and wrote him a letter. Probation staff must continue to reflect on how much longer they can possibly continue to be part of an increasingly dysfunctional and abusive HMPPS, especially when there are over 5,300 bureaucrats just a couple of miles away at HQ doing what exactly? 

Dear Secretary of State, 

Urgent Notification: HMP Wandsworth 

In accordance with the Protocol between HM Chief Inspector of Prisons and the Ministry of Justice dated October 2019, I am writing to you to invoke the Urgent Notification process following our unannounced inspection of HMP Wandsworth between 22nd April and 2nd May 2024. The protocol sets out that this letter will be placed in the public domain, and that the Secretary of State commits to respond publicly within 28 days. 

Wandsworth is a prison that is still reeling from the very high-profile escape in 2023. Our findings suggest that security remains a significant concern, although failings were evident in almost all aspects of the prison’s operation. This was reflected in our healthy prison test scores of poor for “safety”, “respect” and “purposeful activity” and not sufficiently good in “preparation for release”. 

When we last inspected Wandsworth in September 2021, we reported serious concerns about outcomes for prisoners and at that time I cautioned against plans to increase the prison roll:

“Leaders in this crumbling, overcrowded, vermin-infested prison will need considerable ongoing support from the prison service…It is hard to see how HMP Wandsworth’s limited progress can be sustained if prisoner numbers in this jail are allowed to increase as they are scheduled to do next April.” 

The population at the time of that inspection was 1,364. When we returned this month, it had risen to 1,513. 

I have issued an Urgent Notification for the following reasons:

• Despite a high-profile escape from Wandsworth in September 2023, inspectors found significant weaknesses in many aspects of security. Wings were chaotic and staff across most units were unable to confirm where all prisoners were during the working day. There was no reliable roll that could assure leaders that all prisoners were accounted for. Given the recent escape, it was unfathomable that leaders had not focussed their attention on this area. 

• There had been 10 self-inflicted deaths since the last inspection, seven of which had occurred in the last 12 months. The rate of self-harm was high and rising, and yet around 40% of emergency cell bells were not answered within five minutes. 

• Overall rates of violence, including serious assaults, had increased since the last inspection and were higher than most similar prisons. In our survey, 69% of prisoners said they had felt unsafe at Wandsworth. 

• Over half (51%) of prisoners surveyed said it was easy to get illicit drugs and the smell of cannabis was ubiquitous. Although leaders had identified this issue as presenting the highest level of security risk, they had suspended drug testing between August 2023 and January 2024. In the most recent confirmed random drug test results (February 2024), 44% of prisoners tested positive. 

• Wandsworth was badly overcrowded and has a transient population, with more than half on remand. Living conditions were very poor, cells were cramped and ill-equipped, and the prison was still too dirty. The fabric of the buildings and facilities including showers and heating still needed significant investment to bring them up to a decent standard. 

• In our survey only 41% of prisoners said that staff treated them with respect, significantly lower than in comparable prisons. Very limited time out of cell, absent staff, and a failure to deliver any key work reduced the opportunity to develop meaningful relationships on wings. 

• A substantial lack of work and education spaces and poor use of those that were available meant there was very little purposeful activity. Most prisoners were unemployed and spent over 22 hours a day locked up.

 • Prisoners had no idea when or if they would be unlocked each day or whether they would get access to fresh air. Life on residential units was unpredictable and confusing for staff and prisoners alike. 

• Consistent failures to enable access to healthcare services due to prison staff absences resulted in important assessment and treatment interventions being curtailed. Clinic non-attendance rates were high at around 24%. The costly new health centre that was supposed to open in the summer of 2022 was still unused. 

• Despite a full complement of officers, sickness, restricted duties, and training commitments meant that over a third could not be deployed to operational duties each day; this led to curtailed regimes, cross-deployment, and burnt out staff. 

• Inexperience across every grade of operational staff was preventing them from bringing about much needed change. Staff were not wilfully neglectful, they simply did not understand their role and they lacked direction, training, and consistent support from leaders. 

The poor outcomes we found at Wandsworth stemmed from poor leadership at every level of the prison, from HMPPS and the Ministry of Justice, leading to systemic and cultural failures that have led to this shocking decline. There was a degree of despondency amongst prisoners that I have not come across in my time as Chief Inspector.

Many well-meaning and hard-working leaders and staff persevered at Wandsworth, but they were often fighting against a tide of cross-cutting, intractable problems that require comprehensive, long-term solutions. 

For this troubled prison to begin to recover, Wandsworth needs permanent experienced leaders at all levels who are invested in the long-term future of the prison to improve security, safety and guide their less experienced colleagues. 

Yours sincerely 

Charlie Taylor

--oo00oo--

The Governing Governor having resigned her post, but professionally decided to stay on pending a new appointment, the Prison Governors Association were quick to respond:-

PRISON GOVERNORS’ ASSOCIATION – URGENT NOTIFICATION AT HMP WANDSWORTH  

The decision by Charlie Taylor, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons to issue an Urgent Notification (UN) at HMP Wandsworth will be of no surprise to the Government, Ministry of Justice or to the Senior Leadership of His Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS).

The Prison Governors’ Association (PGA) has been highlighting the challenges facing our members in Wandsworth and other prisons for years. We are in a position now, where the levers needed to relieve the stress facing many prisons are not available. Although the chronic shortage of staff across the estate has reduced it remains stubbornly high in some prisons. HMP Wandsworth was built in 1851. It has cells designed to hold 964 prisoners. At the time of the inspection, it held around 1500. 

The Governor and her team are in an almost impossible situation, trying to maintain security, order and control whist helping prisoners to reduce the chances of reoffending on release in a prison holding more than 500 more men than it was designed to hold in Victorian times in buildings that haven’t been properly maintained by the Ministry of Justice for the last 15 years. The Governor had decided to leave HMPPS early in the 2024 and resigned during the inspection. This is undoubtedly due in part to the personal toll that running a prison like Wandsworth in current times takes on those who do so. 

The biggest lever for reducing a prison’s population is no longer available as it was when the UN process was introduced several years ago. Then, following a UN, prisons reduced their population by hundreds, allowing a process of improvement to take place. The prison population is around 88,000 in an estate designed to hold less than 80,000, and it is projected to continue to grow. Government policy of locking up more people for longer, making it more difficult to release them, has paralysed a system to the point it is unable to make a difference for prisons which face the gravest of challenges. It is directly impacting on the safety of prisoners, staff and the public. The impact on the health and wellbeing of prison leaders and their staff working in such an environment is significant. It is grossly unfair that our members must shoulder the burden of a crisis which is not of their making. Neither is it of the making of the Senior Leadership of HMPPS, who still have the confidence of the PGA. It is the Government that needs to act, and act now. 

Building more prisons whilst failing to invest in the existing prison estate simply to allow more and more people to be sent to prison is a mistake, it does not effectively protect the public. Ministers have been warned of the consequences at Wandsworth and across the wider prison estate. On sending their report to the Minister in September 2023 the Chair of the Independent Monitoring Board at Wandsworth, Tim Aikens, said: 

“Recent events at Wandsworth have demonstrated the shortcomings of the prison system that the IMB has been highlighting repeatedly for many years. Prisoners are being failed and most have a severely reduced chance of rehabilitation upon release. We are told there is significant investment in the prison system, but we see little evidence of this in Wandsworth.” 

The PGA call on the Government and Opposition to have the courage to move away from being simply “tough on crime” to putting resources into public services, such as mental health and drug treatment, to reduce the burden on our prisons and really being “tough on the causes of crime.” This simply cannot go on.

An Appeal

A freelance journalist is working on a story about the MoJ's plans to disband SPOs working in specialist sex offender units, and replace Horizon and iHorizon with the one-size-fits-all Next Generation Accredited Programmes. She has assurance from experts outside the MoJ that the plans are definitely going ahead, but the official MoJ line is that there are no definite plans in the immediate future. If anyone can come forward to help, with the assurance of full anonymity if needed, you can reach her at hijessicaebradley@gmail.com

Addendum

Also - if anyone has any documentation showing that HMPPS forbids contracted researchers from talking to the media or being critical of HMPPS - she'd be very keen to hear from you.

--oo00oo--

Postscript

Can Probation Keep Us Safe?

BBC 1 Panorama May 23rd 9.00pm

When dangerous criminals leave prison, the Probation Service should monitor them and keep the public safe. But is it up to the job? As convicted criminals across England and Wales are released from prison early to tackle chronic overcrowding, Panorama investigates the Probation Service and asks if it's doing enough to manage high-risk prisoners. Serving probation officers warn that their caseloads are putting public safety at risk, and families whose loved ones have been murdered by convicted criminals on probation ask why the system failed them.

Crisis Created by Government

Regular readers will be fully aware that Bank Holiday Friday's are the MoJ's preferred opportunity to sneak bad or inconvenient news out and last Friday May 3rd was no exception. Coming straight on the heels of another 'probation re-set', we've been discussing ECSL all weekend and quite rightly it's generated a lot of anger amongst probation staff, but this caught my eye from overnight:-

"I hate to say this, but isn't the whole point of being in public service to administrate policy on behalf of the Government of the day? It's not about what we think or what is convenient to us.

That doesn't mean we shouldn't voice our opinions, dwell on the likelihood or the impact these changes will have on our service users, or to fail to evaluate where our worth lay in the bigger scheme, when such changes occur, regarding pay and conditions, but that still doesn't negate the fundamental purpose of what it means for us to be public servants.

To read some of the indignant comments above, from many of you, it's as if the prison and probation services should adapt to a more preferred model of yesteryear, to suit our own personal aspirations to what the probation service ought to be - because we would enjoy the work more that way and it would be less burdensome and less computer driven. If there is a strong service user advantage, fair dues, but is there? Why did the so called Gold Standard befriend, assist model change at all, if it worked so well before?

I've donned my armour in readiness for your spears. I think it is really a case of 'suck it up' or find another profession."

--oo00oo-- 

This has been drawn to my attention, recently seen on the wall of a northern city:-

--oo00oo--

The Times have been a bit late to the party. This from yesterday:-

Prisoners to be released 70 days early to ease overcrowding

A scheme announced in March is being extended as jails struggle with capacity in a move branded ‘a national scandal’ by Labour

Some prisoners will be freed up to 70 days early after ministers quietly extended an emergency early release scheme to alleviate the prison overcrowding crisis. An email sent to probation and prison staff, obtained by The Times, said measures introduced less than two months ago had failed to ease pressure in men’s prisons in England and Wales. It said that a scheme that allows prisoners to be set free before their release date will be extended from 35 days to 70 days from May 23.

In the email, labelled “operationally critical,” officials accept that the changes will “create additional work for many people at a time when we know we have our own resource challenges”. It says prisons face “significant challenges” and despite the emergency schemes earlier in the year to create more space, the “pressures continue in the male estate”.

The move comes in response to internal Prison Service forecasts which have estimated that space will run out in male prisons from June without further measures to free up cells. Violent offenders, including domestic abusers, sentenced to less than four years in prison are eligible for the scheme, as are burglars, thieves and fraudsters. However, the early release measures will not apply to sex offenders, terrorists and all criminals serving a sentence of more than four years.

It is the second extension since the early release scheme was introduced in October, when eligible prisoners were able to be released up to 18 days early. This was extended to “around 35-60” in March as part of a series of emergency measures to free up capacity in overcrowded jails, with fewer than 250 places left available in men’s prisons. Spaces have since been made available, partly through the measures that were introduced in March as well as cancelled renovation work and more rapid deployment cells being installed in jails. However, as of last week there were still fewer than 1,400 places available across the men’s and women’s prison estate in England and Wales.

A Prison Service source said: “Analysis shows that looking ahead, the direction of travel isn’t looking good. This is about preparing ahead of time.” The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has so far refused to disclose how many prisoners have been released early under the scheme since October or a provide breakdown of the cohort of offenders benefiting.

The latest changes, revealed in an internal email sent to probation and prison staff on Friday, have not been put in the public domain despite previous announcements being formally disclosed in parliament. Government sources pointed out that Rishi Sunak is facing pressure from right-wing Conservative MPs to cancel the early release scheme.

Earlier this year The Times revealed that he was at loggerheads with Alex Chalk, the justice secretary, over delays to the Sentencing Bill, which will scrap short sentences and is viewed by Chalk as vital to easing the prisons crisis. However, the prime minister is also facing calls from Tory MPs to ditch the plans over fears it will expose the party as soft on law and order before the general election.

Labour has accused the government of trying to cover up the latest extension of the early release measures. Shabana Mahmood, the shadow justice secretary, told The Times: “The Tories have once again used a cloak of secrecy to hide their early release of violent criminals. It’s completely unacceptable and the public has a right to know the truth.

“After 14 years of Conservative chaos and the utter mismanagement of the prison estate, the government cannot keep extending the early release of prisoners without facing public scrutiny. The Conservatives’ cover-up of this early release scheme is unprecedented. They are still refusing to answer how many prisoners have been released early, which prisons are using the scheme, and which types of offenders are being put back on our streets. This is a national scandal, and Rishi Sunak must come clean with the public today.”

The MoJ was previously accused of trying to suppress coverage of its handling of the overcrowding in prisons when it announced the measures late in the evening on March 11. Chalk announced five measures to make it easier to deport foreign prisoners alongside the extension of the end-of-custody supervised licence scheme (ECSL).

Nicole Jacobs, the domestic abuse commissioner, warned at that time that the early release scheme would risk putting victims of domestic abuse in danger. She pointed out that perpetrators of domestic abuse are often repeat offenders and their sentences frequently do not reflect the severity of harm and the risk they pose.

Charlie Taylor, the chief inspector of prisons, also warned that violent prisoners who could be a risk to the public were being released early under the scheme. He told Times Radio that he was concerned about the lack of preparation for prisoners being freed early to ensure they fitted back into society without reoffending.

The MoJ insisted that those released early were under strict supervision and licensing conditions, which included being fitted with electronic tags, given curfews or no-go areas.

A spokesman said: “We will always ensure there is enough capacity to keep dangerous offenders behind bars. We are carrying out the biggest prison expansion programme in a hundred years, opening up 20,000 modern places, and ramping up work to remove foreign national offenders. To ease the short-term pressures on prisons, in March we announced an increase in the number of days governors could, under existing powers, move some offenders at the end of their prison term on to licence. These offenders will continue to be supervised under strict conditions such as tagging and curfews.”

--oo00oo--

Stop Press

Napo Press Release issued noon today:-

Probation Union warns of Early Prisoner Release Chaos

Napo, the largest trade union representing Probation staff has condemned the Governments recent announcement that from the 23rd of May, certain categories of Prisoners in 84 premises across the male estate in England and Wales will be eligible for early release up to 70 days prior to the end of their sentence. A similar scheme that has been running in the female prison estate has now been suspended.

The End of Custody Supervised Licence (ECSL) scheme was launched last October as a temporary response to the capacity crisis which has seen the prison population soar to nearly 88,000. The Government narrative that the (then 35-day release) process, would ease the increasing pressure on prisons and allow probation staff to safely and effectively manage clients back into the community has been seriously criticised by the unions representing prison and probation staff.

Napo General Secretary Ian Lawrence said: “We have spent many months trying to convince the Secretary of State that in order for early release schemes to work in an effective and safe manner, it has to be recognised that the probation service is also over capacity, and that the members we represent are also now at breaking point.”

Adding: “The ECSL scheme is an unmitigated failure and has not only been extended without Parliamentary scrutiny but represents an increasing risk to public safety. Ministers have failed to heed our warnings that the Government’s refusal to provide workload relief to all probation staff and address the disgraceful situation of a two-tier pay structure in HMPPS where Napo members are the poor relations, will result in us considering our mandate to ballot members for potential industrial action and a possible legal challenge which may involve other stakeholders.”

The Probation Unions are seeking an urgent meeting with the Secretary of State.

Probation Held in Contempt

Just in case there is any doubt as to the contempt in which probation is held within HMPPS, the statement from Napo and published on Friday should clarify matters. Both the MoJ and HMPPS are completely dysfunctional and serve as powerful metaphors for an imploding fag end Tory government. Probation must break free of HM Prison Service and the stifling bureaucratic control of the civil service because to be frank, many feel in its present form it has become the problem not the solution. Wales is already well down this road of necessary and well-argued probation reform - England must make the case and follow.    

ECSL To Be Extended Again

Napo were informed by HMPPS senior managers this morning that the failed End of Custody Supervised Licence (ECSL) scheme was to be further extended to 70 days (therefore doubled) in 84 adult male prisons across England and Wales from Thursday the 23rd of May 2024 until further notice.

We have, in no uncertain terms, communicated the anger and frustration that our members will feel at this decision to the HMPPS senior managers we have been in contact with. HMPPS has once again, in our view, demonstrated by its actions that it views the prison overcrowding crisis as the overriding priority for this organisation, to the detriment of all others. Napo have been clear throughout our discussions with the employer on ECSL, and the joint unions wider ‘Operation Protect’ workloads campaign, that Probation has been treated disgracefully in comparison to the attention and money spent elsewhere in HMPPS, all while this employer demands our members take on huge amounts of additional work at the shortest of notice to help them sort out a prison overcrowding crisis a generation or more in the making.

Some in HMPPS have attempted to claim ECSL merely brings forward work that would be done by Probation staff anyway. Napo have consistently and vociferously argued against this position, which we do not believe for a second would be credibly adopted by anyone with any actual experience of this area of Probation practice. Members would seem justified to take the fact that such comments continue to be made by some in HMPPS as good evidence of the size of the chasm between their understanding of our work and reality.

As members will be aware of from previous communications on this issue (for instance ECSL – Napo’s position) in discussions with HMPPS senior managers Napo have stressed the huge range of practical issues with the ECSL scheme as it existed previously. This latest extension of ECSL only exacerbates these difficulties, especially in the weeks prior to and following this extension coming into force when the demands on us are at their height, but also brings additional concerns. For instance, and a point repeated to HMPPS senior managers when this extension was disclosed to us, was its apparent impact on the ability of some of our members to comply with their statutory responsibilities (and HMPPS’s own policies) under The Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 (e.g., the ‘Duty To Refer’). Also, HMPPS have discussed an extension to the notice period Probation staff in the community should receive that of a person on their caseload is being considered under the ECSL scheme, but this remains far short of what we have previously discussed as being the minimum required for staff to complete such work safely and effectively.

It is clear, and has been stressed to HMPPS in earlier talks, that any possible workload relief for some staff in ‘sentence management’ resulting from the ‘Probation Reset’ plans had already likely been wiped out by various ‘early release’ schemes introduced, and in ECSL’s case drastically extended, in recent months (ECSL, changes to Fixed Term Recalls and the extension of the Home Detention Curfew scheme) even before today’s news. Members should expect a further communication on ‘Probation Reset’ and the ongoing work by Napo and the other Probation trade unions under the ‘Operation Protect’ early next week.

It remains unclear whether this extension to ECSL will stand up to parliamentary scrutiny, given in the last ministerial statement on the matter in March 2024, the Lord Chancellor referred only to that the scheme being extended to “around 35-60 days”. Napo members can be assured that we are in discussions with our contacts in Parliament, including the cross-party Justice Unions Parliamentary Group, to attempt to bring publicity to, and accountability for, this decision. Similarly, Napo will continue its numerous contacts with various media outlets to attempt to publicise our significant concerns over this news.

As previously discussed in our earlier communication HMPPS continue to refuse the calls of Napo and others, including in parliament, for figures on the impact of ECSL to be publicly released. This relates not just to the impact on the workload of staff but also on the numbers of people released under the scheme who have been released without any accommodation, recalled, committed Serious Further Offences, or died while subject to ECSL. Given this, members will draw their own conclusions, based on the first-hand experience of themselves and their colleagues or the apparently unauthorised disclosures made occasionally by some senior regional figures to staff, on just how disastrous these figures must be.

Napo will continue to meet with HMPPS senior managers at every opportunity to repeat our concerns over ECSL and the make clear the strength of feeling of our members on this issue. In addition to this we will maintain our contacts with figures in Parliament and the media. For this reason, it is vital that members continue to keep us updated with their experiences of ECSL – without including confidential or sensitive information on the individuals released under the scheme – as we have used these in the work Napo have done to this point. Please contact your Link Officials and Officers or use the following email address if you want to share any of these with us as your trade union representatives info@napo.org.uk.

Finally, members will recall the mandate provided by Emergency Motions 3 and 4 passed at our last Annual General Meeting (AGM) in relation to pay and workloads. Napo would take this opportunity to remind all members of the importance of ensuring that your membership details – including those we should use to contact you – are up to date. Similarly, members should continue to check emails from both Napo HQ and your respective Branches in the coming weeks as further updates regarding these Emergency Motions, and possible next steps for us as a trade union, will be shared very soon.

Guest Blog 97

Probation re-set, revise and regret

I reset my email password today, that’s something you re-set. You do not re-set an entire organisation with over 100 years of history. It’s been discussed in the shadows for some time now, but the dye has been cast, the touch paper is lit. They’re calling it Probation Re-set, the whisper has become a reality though we do not need a “re-set”, we need resources, independence and staff.

First they “transformed” probation, which really meant dismantling and privatising. Then they “unified” probation which meant joining two disjointed organisations and papering over the mistakes of the past decade. Now the wallpaper is peeling off the walls and HMPpS is using probation to absorb the smoke of the prison overcrowding crisis, blaming probation for recalls and deluding us to believe it needs to be “re-set”. My question is re-set to what exactly?

Probation is not being re-set to its gold medal award status of over a decade ago, it is not being re-set and returned to its social work roots of advise, assist and befriend, it is not being re-set and detached from the hangman’s noose of the civil and prison services. The “re-set” will scrap PSS and terminate all supervised cases at the two thirds point, excepting those registered as MAPPA and child protection cases. All sentence management contact under PSS will cease. All supervision appointments delivered by probation will cease in the final third (unless the exception criteria is met). Contact for People on Licence (PoLs?) will cease in the final third (unless exception criteria is met).

I remember when probation fought to provide supervisory support to those sentenced to under 12 months in custody. We didn’t expect this to arrive in the form of Post Sentence Supervision (PSS), which ramped up workloads and forced support onto many released prisoners that did not require it. Short term sentences should have been replaced by community sentences and PSS should have been legislated as optional for those released from short term prison sentences. If PSS needed to be mandatory then this should have been for the first three months and only extended by mutual agreement and without enforcement practices. Instead there has been a total u-turn and community supervision is being reduced, PSS to be suspended or scrapped altogether and supervised individuals no longer supported in the last third of their supervision. Have we missed the evidence-based research that told HMPpS experts those in the last third of a sentence do not need support, won’t commit crime, or pose a risk to themselves, victims and communities?

If probation is an agency of rehabilitation, enforcement, risk management and public protection then this surely will not be achieved by cancelling supervision and support when it could be needed most. Under “re-set” guidelines an individual could be sentenced to a few years in prison or put on probation, released 60 days in advance of the half way point, to then have their supervision suspended after 6 months on probation. Without dwelling on whether this is what the Courts and victims expect a sentence to be in actual fact, it does not sound very rehabilitative for those in need of help and support.

The rhetoric is that “we will reset probation so that practitioners prioritise early engagement at the point where offenders are most likely to breach their licence conditions. That will allow front-line staff to maximise supervision of the most serious offenders”. The first big elephant in the room is that once again probation is being twisted into an agency for supervising “serious offenders”. Many individuals do not start off as serious offenders and can still require support which will no longer be available. The support that could be needed for those released from prison 60 days early, homeless, penniless and addicted is to be reduced instead of improved. 

The second is that supervisory relationships do not always flourish until the very last periods of sentences. This will no longer happen when supervision is cancelled, not for good progress, but because the computer calculated that an individuals two thirds are up.

The cynical person I am thinks that Probation Re-set is part of the grand design of OneHMPpS which has consumed the Probation Service alive, warts and all. All HMPPS, Rees & Co needed to do was let go of their grip on the Probation Service and allow it to improve its staffing, practices and resources under a more localised control structure. Instead they’re continuing Grayling’s legacy by dismantling what’s left and ensuring probation is no longer a provider of probation services. Or we can be like the Emperor and believe the lies that Probation Re-set is going to save probation, at least for five minutes!

“The Emperor walked under his high canopy in the midst of the procession, through the streets of his capital. All the people standing by, and those at the windows, cried out, “Oh! How beautiful are our Emperor’s new clothes! “But he has nothing at all on!” at last cried out all the people. The Emperor was upset, for he knew that the people were right, and the Emperor walked on in his underwear.”

Probation Officer

COM POM POD PIP POP PEE

Things round here never fail to surprise me on occasion. When on Sunday I was scratching around for something to either say or publish, I never thought a few thoughts by a reader about their practice would generate quite so much activity and on so many fronts! As the thread was getting a bit long, the following seemed to warrant a fresh post and to remind ourselves of the command and control environment we find ourselves trapped within and so loved of HMPPS:-    

Those making up these terms really don’t care how they’re abbreviated or how they sound. Take a few recent terms for example. Recently I was on a prison visit and introduced the titles POM and COM. The prisoner started laughing because “COM sounds like cum, and isn’t a POM a fruit in France or a British immigrant in Oz”. Then take the person that recently came into the probation office announcing he’s “on the piss”. What he meant was he’s been released on PSS.

Person in Prison and Person on Probation are not that bad or “disrespectful”, they’re no worse than calling people convict or offender. Some smart Alec in the centre should have thought these would be abbreviated to PIP and POP which just sound ridiculous. The problem isn’t the terms and abbreviations, it’s the reason behind their creation that is the problem. For years the senior managers have been trying to close the divide between PO and PSO roles, which is why we’ve now been stuck with Probation Practitioner PP (Peepee!!!) to cover all practitioner grades. To differentiate between custody and community PPs we have COM and POM.

If consecutive governments hadn’t been obsessed with being ‘tough on crime’ and turning probation into an ‘enforcement agency’ we would have stuck with ‘clients’ or ‘Probation clients’ as we used to. The Ministry of Justice won’t be softening its style guide under this government. Who knows what Amy Rees, Barton & Co are planning call everyone under OneHMPPS. While we wait in anticipation, please all follow Prison Instruction 3533684.

“When referring to people in prison, staff are allowed to use the terms “prisoners”, “people in prison” or “offenders. They cannot use “residents”, “service users” or “clients”.

When referring to people leaving prison, staff can say “prison leavers”, “people leaving prison”, “people resettling in the community” or “ex-offenders”. They cannot say “service users” or clients”.

When referring to prison accommodation, staff can say “cell”. They cannot say “room”.

A footnote to the style guide states: “All staff employed by the Ministry of Justice, HM Prison and Probation Service and private sector prison providers will be expected to adhere to the style guide, and amend any new products that fail to do so.”

--oo00oo--

Oh look - a shed load more acronyms too:-

Workforce planning system (WPS) transitioning to 'business as usual'

From 1 April 2024, the Workforce Planning System (WPS) will transition from being a project within the Probation Workforce programme (PWP) to being business as usual.

The WPS name will be retired and the work will be separated between new teams in 2 directorates which will retain close links to ensure the best outcomes to support frontline staff and workforce planning.

A new function in the Probation Operations Directorate (POD) led by Kim Thornden-Edwards:

Central Operations support will be responsible for:

• probation role reviews
• job evaluation, design and improvement
• governance including National Operational Stability Panel (NOSP)
• operational and tactical response including current account managers
• operational data reporting

A new function in Transforming Delivery Directorate (TDD) led by Dominic Herrington:

• Workforce and Capability (prison and probation workforce teams) will be responsible for:
• probation activity review and resource modelling
• managing strategic change
• digital solutions including activities and weighting database

How Do You Do It?

A reader tells us how they do it:-

Many speak about having a good relationship with probation officers, feeling respected, listened to and treated fairly. This is not for all though as many speak about probation officers expecting them to agree even when they don’t, disregarding opinions and feelings of Pops, making unfair and unjust decisions, and being like or worse than the police.

This week out of the many Pops I saw a few turned up late, some missed appointments, one tested positive for and admitted returning to drugs, a few were drunk, one was arrested for driving offences, another told me TSP was rubbish, another he hates me, another he hates the police, on and on and on.

None of these Pops were warned or recalled, all eventually attended, the drug user is trying to stop, the drinkers are probably never going to stop, the arrest didn’t result in a charge, all were listened to and heard, all left the office thanking me for my time and even the one that hates me nicely confirmed he hates “the system” more than he hates me and at least he can speak to me while he can’t talk to “the system”. The point is that all had a moment in their week to be “normal” and all took away with the message that they can do whatever is right and necessary for them to do.

But I have other colleagues that would have been warning and recalling some of these Pops. Some would have not listened to these Pops and refused their opinions as if they don’t have a right to think or speak. For me, being a probation officer doesn’t make me perfect or right. I want Pops to learn from me but sometimes I learn from them too. I don’t collude with them, I don’t disrespect them, I can’t offer them much but I do try to advise, assist and befriend.