News of an appalling case of self-harm which took place at a Bristol Court last week made the local media, and obviously does not make for pleasant reading. Yet it doesn't tell half the story of an incident which is especially notable, firstly because of the obvious lack of communication between the NPS and the Working Links owned CRC who had been supervising the client, but because many members have already been in touch to say that we will see plenty more occurrences as the predictions we made before the catastrophic share sale are now starting to unravel.
Of course it’s not just cases of harm that are the principal concern. More and more reports are coming in from worried members that the reputation of particular CRC’s is being given a priority over both public safety and compliance. We are investigating these and will get the facts out to our media connections once they are available. We are also chasing down some leaked information that remedial measures may also have been placed (or about to be placed) on other CRC’s in addition to South Yorkshire. We will keep you posted.
Whilst we are fully entitled to do the: 'We told you so routine', we are well known for having a bit more about us than that, especially as our members have been pulling out all the stops to ensure that they continue to do what they always have done, which is managing service users in the most effective way whilst having to cope with the organisational shambles that is still all too evident within the NPS (see previous HMI Probation Reports). This has been the driver for the E3 programme, and a cost cutting mentality that is embedding itself within the CRC environment. I have already lost count of the numbers of the wider CRC hierarchy who have trotted out excuses to me about how the misrepresentation or absence of critical data in what was supposed to be a ground breaking tendering process (yes, the one which saw the MoJ procurement gurus even get nominated for a national award) has caused them to press the panic button.
Since that particular farce was played out, we have seen Sodexo and Working Links make the first moves in terms of the dreadful job cuts that have been implemented by the former and announced by the latter.
This has started to attract the attention of Politicians and the media over the last few days (which we have already started to follow up) and here is a letter from Leanne Wood who many of you will know was a Napo member before becoming leader of Plaid Cymru.
Serious questions need asking, so let me have them?
Napo and the other Probation Unions have already asked for a meeting with the Secretary of State where we will be asking some serious questions about the current position and Mr Gove’s views on the likelihood that other CRC’s will follow the job cuts agenda and how this is at all sustainable in terms of public safety.
To borrow a tactic employed by Jeremy Corbyn, I am now inviting our members to send me their specific questions which they would like me to directly put to the Justice Ministers. They obviously cannot include expletives and if you want to anonymise them then fine, but I guarantee they will go into the briefing that we will be putting together beforehand.
Speaking of Ministers
We must also be due a meeting with Caroline Dinenage, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Women, Equalities and Family Justice, to see what she makes of CAFCASS since her elevation to high office. I will be consulting with FCS Vice-Chair Jay Barlow to get this arranged as soon as possible and will keep members posted.
Meanwhile here is a link to the speech that the Minister gave at an event held by Relate to launch their report looking into family justice reform ‘Breaking up is Hard to Do’.
Yes, it’s finally Xmas and you could not make this up
I am receiving reports that most CRC's are finishing at 3:00 on Xmas Eve but many NPS members are being told they will have to stay till 5:00 because they're now civil servants. Although there are some regional variations on the theme, the problem in those locations where the CRC fronts the reception is that the doors will most likely be locked, thus keeping NPS staff who have also worked their shirts off and given untold (but clearly unreciprocated) goodwill to their employers, sat at their desks till the close.
Napo will be there
Have a happy festive break, (whatever your faith, or not) and lets all hope for a peaceful and successful 2016. As we have said in the members e-mail that we have sent out earlier today, Napo will be there for you as always, standing up for the professions that our members work in, calling politicians and employers to account and speaking out against injustice and discrimination.
- ilawrence@napo.org.uk's blog
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