Dear Amy and Sonia,
London Bridge Incident
The events of last Friday were shocking and tragic, and members of the public are understandably questioning their safety and the role of the various agencies who are tasked with keeping our communities safe. This a moment when we share in the collective shock, grief and anger of a society reeling from the evidence that the world itself is not a safe place.
We accept that there will inevitably be a move to review practice in light of these events, but we urge you to approach this in the spirit of learning and developing rather than placating some of the shameful calls from certain politicians to blame and scapegoat probation staff. You will know as well as we do that since 2014 Probation has been torn apart by what is now understood to be the failed “transforming rehabilitation” experiment. Our members have worked against the odds and in the face of intolerable stress to carry on doing the best they can despite huge workloads and, in the case of some CRCs, dangerous operating models.
Our members live every day with the knowledge that they are not working in a system where they can do what they know needs to be done to rehabilitate clients and protect the public. Every day they also face the stress and pressure that this causes them. We now ask in the spirit of partnership that you respond in a supportive rather than punitive way to any perceived failings that are uncovered by this and other SFO reviews, and that you take into consideration all of the circumstances, including excessive workloads, when deciding the approach that HMPPS will take.
We have all been moved by the sentiments expressed by the family of Jack Merritt who told us all that Jack would not want to see a hasty reaction that imposed a more punitive approach to sentencing as a result of this most recent outrage. We encourage you to work with us and our members to find a more measured and thoughtful response than that offered by those who support longer sentences and more restrictive approaches.
IAN LAWRENCE KATIE LOMAS
General Secretary National Chair