tburke@napo.org.uk's blog

It’s fair to say that Transforming Rehabilitation has had an adverse – dangerous even – impact on the ability of probation staff to manage the risk of their clients and keep the public safe.

Before the service was butchered, categorising clients either high, medium or low risk meant workload could be shared, there were ample opportunities for staff development, and most importantly, cases could be easily escalated to a more experienced officer if anything changed.

Working Links: collapsed. Interserve: liquidated. When two out of the eight owners of private companies delivering probation services fall on their swords, it is surely time for a rethink. But blinkered as ever, the Tories for now seem intent on continuing to make justice a (not quite) profit making industry.

It was always going to be a disaster. Tearing the service in two, giving the bigger chunk to private companies tasked with looking after “medium/low” risk clients; while “high” risk service users would remain under the watchful eye of the publically owned National Probation Service.

One thing Grayling and the Tory government were right about: it really did transform rehabilitation –  but for the worse.

The MoJ is considering puttin an end to prison sentences 12 months or less in England and Wales.

Ministers argue that short jail terms are less effective at cutting reoffending than community penalties, and if scapped, could free up thousands of places in over crowded prisons.

Responding to the news, national chair, Katie Lomas, said: "Napo members welcome this announcement as we have long campaigned for the use of community alternatives to short custodial sentences.

Napo General Secretary Ian Lawrence visited The Den, home of Millwall Football Club in South East London this week to support an event for local primary school students organised by Show Racism The Red Card.

Last Friday Napo GS, Ian Lawrence; and national chair, Katie Lomas, issued members an update on the work Napo has been understaking on their behalf.

Read the briefing in full, or navigate between the sections below.

Notice is hereby given that the 107^th Annual General Meeting of Napo is to be held on Friday 11 and Saturday 12 October 2019, commencing at 10.00 am at the St David’s Hall, Cardiff.

All members of Napo may attend the Annual General Meeting and registration forms will be distributed during June.  A detailed programme and agenda, together with relevant documents, will be sent to all members who return the completed registration form.

The Editors and Publishers of Probation Journal would like to request your opinions on our publication and would greatly value your feedback. This short survey  will take under 5 minutes to complete and will help inform and support the development of the journal. The survey can be completed here.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady and CBI Director-General Carolyn Fairbairn have written a joint letter to the Prime Minister urging a change to her approach on Brexit. They have requested an urgent meeting to discuss their concerns.

The letter reads:

Together we represent millions of workers and tens of thousands of businesses. It is on their behalf that we are writing to you to ask you to change your Brexit approach.