Cafcass shortlisted for Childrens Team award

I read the blog posting from Cafcass Chief Anthony Douglas the other day  http://www.cafcass.gov.uk/blog/posts/2015/august/25th/most-social-workers-are-haunted-by-mistakes-but-feeding-frenzies-help-no-one.aspx  which talked about the feeding frenzy that often follows news of another death of a child or gaps in evidence to the court which the media is oft to seize upon without knowing all of the facts.

It often makes me wonder just what it is that makes people go into professions where, in the eyes of some, nothing you do is ever right. It takes individuals who care about others and who have a deep sense of social justice to hang in there and do the right thing, while others criticise from the side lines.

This shows through in other ways which sadly don’t get the media attention that they deserve and two examples, again within Cafcass, stood out for me over the past week or so when reviewing material that I have not been able to focus on up to now.  Firstly the three awards that the organisation received this summer at the Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion (ENEI) Awards 2015. The link  http://www.cafcass.gov.uk/news/2015/july/cafcass-leads-public-sector-employers-for-equality-and-inclusion.aspx shows how these recognise the achievements of organisations that have taken a lead in challenging discrimination.

Then news that Cafcass has been shortlisted for the Public Sector Children’s Team Award at the Children and Young People Now Awards 2015. The nomination itself, and let’s hope that they clinch the prize, recognises the efforts of our members in trying to improve the life chances of children, young people and families.

Next Tuesday the Family Court Unions Parliamentary Group meets where Napo representatives will again get the opportunity to speak with politicians about the work that our members undertake and how things out there could still be improved. Of course it will take a government who are prepared to listen and act before we see that happen.

E3

A pivotal meeting between senior NOMS officials and the unions this week where we gained a deeper insight into the new intended strategy for putting right the mess that TR has created within the National Probation Service.

Of course they are all things which you predicted many moons ago and the E3 blueprint essentially seeks to redesign the NPS approach to Victims, Youth Offender Supervision, Approved Premises, Courts, Prisons and Community Supervision. In fact all of the work streams that ought to have been in place long before Graylings great share sale vanity project eventually took place.

Of course we have signalled our wish for full engagement on what is a mammoth sized piece of work but doing so with less facilities time available for our elected National Officers does not exactly help us to do so. We have made the point that the bargaining workload has at least doubled in size as a result of TR yet we have half the resources we need to try and deal with the myriad of issues before us, of which E3 is just one.

Election Fever

No not the Labour leadership debate but the results of this year’s round of Napo National Officer elections that resulted in Chas Berry and Chris Pearson being returned to join next year’s leadership team.

Thanks are due to all those and especially the unsuccessful candidates who put their names in the frame.

AGM Beckons

The motions submitted for the agenda for our gathering in Eastbourne in October look very interesting and are sure to generate some controversy before and after the debates.

We are just finalising the Annual Reports and Conference Programme and are confident of securing top line speakers for the probation and Family Court Professional slots. We also intend to launch two new member service initiatives as well, so if you have not registered yet then please do so and why not see if you can encourage someone who has never been to AGM to come and try it out?

Next week:

News about Wrexham Prison – will this be a a new model for Offender Management?

Napo meets with HMIP Probation