Many
of Probation Problems relate to the way it has been historically organised into Trusts and this still applies today under the HMPPS. Joining in 2006 I couldn’t
get my head around there being 54 Probation Trusts each with its own Chief
Officer and Board of Directors. This was overseen by NOMS which had evolved
from the 2001 Criminal Justice and Court Service Act. Within the NOMS umbrella
were National Probation Training Consortiums and Central Government Ministry of
Justice Commissioning Units and Central Ministry of Justice Performance Units
all defining how the Trusts should operate. Trusts were free to do their own
thing provided they met the standards defined by NOMS and their array of MoJ
Central Units. This was then audited by a separate Probation Inspectorate.
It
was reduced to 35 Probation Trusts in 2010. Why one centralised control structure
was not adopted I don’t know. All businesses both Nationally and
Internationally adopted such a model but the argument was always Probation was
different. Like the current arguments for the NHS being different. To me the
concept of “Government Trusts” was so outdated with the term Government Agency
being more logical. The Agency would undertake central definition and control
over all processes both business and social engineering inclusive of best
practices and computer systems. Each Probation Office would operate and comply
with these specifications. In fact a standard UK retail model applied to a
social service. Layers upon layers of organisational structure removed. Simple.
But
what happened to Trusts? They decided to really muddle up the organisation
structure. Enter Chris Grayling with the Transforming Rehabilitation (TR) and throwing
in alongside the NPS the 21 Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRC’s). Then to
watch it collapse. To then destroy NOMS in 2017 to form the Prison and
Probation Service (HMPPS) to only fully re-Nationalise the Probation Service in
June 2021. Still lacking the strong central control ethos.
Alongside
this the qualifications to become a Probation Officer were thrown into
disarray. With the once esteemed academically linked training to Degree Level Training
Programmes to become a Probation Officer destroyed. It was initially replaced
by the Probation Qualification Framework (PQF) which had some credibility defining
the promotional paths within Probation. To only be obliterated by TR whilst the
Probation Institute evolved to try and fill the void but never did meet the
true needs lacking any acceptance by either the management or grassroots factions.
In
closing and linking up with my opening theme Trusts. There was a very strange entity
called the Probation Chiefs Association. Founded in 2011 it was dissolved in 2014
by the Transforming Rehabilitation (TR). It was really an attempt by all the
Trust Chiefs to co-ordinate how the Trusts operated in the face of NOMs
imposing how they should operate from the Ministry of Justice. It was like one
step up from NAPO the National Probation Officers Association which in many
ways was looking to achieve, and still is, the same objectives. Having left
Probation in 2016 I am very out of the loop but just reading the press and this
blog it is obvious that the Organisation Structure is still not resolved. Until
the Organisation Structure is fixed Probation will never succeed.
Just
before the Probation Chiefs Association (PCA) was dissolved it produced a glossary
brochure called “Celebration of Achievement” like you do and I have included
some of it in the link below.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_eERMeeiRxMA68O93vhpYu5T6RJy6-qE/view?usp=sharing
