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 ..read more

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 ..read more

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 t ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more

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 tol ..read more

Continuing with an Irish theme, I notice the Letter of the Day in the Irish Times has some very familiar messages from many in the criminal justice system there:-  Plan for prison expansion is a bad idea Penal policies that rely on imprisonment will either have no effect or make us less safe Sir,  We are members of Ireland’s criminology, political, and advocacy communities with deep knowledge of the Irish criminal justice system, and the research that shows how government can use penal and social policy in smart and equitable ways to keep all of society safe. We are deeply ..read more

A-Z of key research messages  We are committed to disseminating and promoting research findings in a range of ways, helping to: (i) build a common understanding of what helps and what hinders probation and youth justice services (ii) align research, policy and practice. In this document we set out an A-Z of key research messages and concepts, with accompanying links to further reading. Some might feel this is a useful endeavour and worthy of resource allocation at a time of obvious crisis and stress within the Probation Service. Others might disagree:- "What a ghastly document thi ..read more

A great piece here in thejournal from the Emerald Isle and that serves to remind us what sensible jurisdictions think about our failing probation service:- Longest serving probation officer: 'Nail 'em, jail 'em policies will not solve repeat offending' “Capture ‘em, nail ‘em, jail em” will not solve the problem of repeat offenders but including them in the community can positively move people away from a life of crime, Ireland’s most experienced Probation Service officer has said. Gerry McNally has spent 45 years at the coal face of the Irish Probation Service, starting all the way back ..read more

Reflections 2 I thought I would offer an update regarding my employment. My leaving the service approx 3 years ago was published anonymously as Guest Blog 84 in November 2021.  I took early retirement after 21 years as a probation officer (in 2021). however I then worked elsewhere for approx 18 months. My old senior and the chief then persuaded me that my experience was sadly missed and asked if I would return on a part time basis? The promise of a mentoring role, guiding inexperienced and newly qualified officers whilst supporting my old team was, I thought, an opportunity to ..read more