MoJ in denial about TR chaos and staff concerns
On 4th July 2014 Napo the three Probation unions wrote the Chief Executive of the National Offender Management Service, Michael Spurr, raising our concerns about the implementation of Transforming Rehabilitation.
The letter focussed on:
- Continuing risk of harm to staff and members of the public as a result of excessive workloads, inappropriate allocation of cases to staff and the flawed new Risk of Recidivism Tool (RSR Tool).
- The emotional breakdown and high sickness rates being suffered by staff who have been left in chaos by the rushed split of the probation service.
- Non allocation of cases due to staff shortages and IT failures.
On 9th July Michael Spurr responded to the letter with the following comments in relation to the points raised.
Workloads
"It is inaccurate to suggest that the transition has resulted in excessive workloads for probation staff, or indeed risks to public safety arising from the use of the RSR Tool or case allocation."
Napo is astounded the MOJ could be in such denial and so removed from reality. Our Parliamentary Bulletin last week raised clear examples of excessive caseloads and issues with case allocation. We are still being given evidence that many staff are working at 50%-70% over their capacity.
- Both NPS and CRC staff carrying caseloads of 70+
- NPS staff being asked to do overtime covering in the CRC on top of their normal caseload.
- CRC staff being asked to write pre-sentence reports for the NPS due to the backlog of reports waiting to go to Court for sentencing.
Excessive workloads will lead to a serious public safety issue as has been the case in the past, for example the well cited Sonnex case in 2009.
Staff Morale
"We recognise that staff morale is a very important issue....The programme has provided significant support to staff during the transition period"
Napo is continuing to receive information about personal experiences on the frontline. Staff repeatedly cite chaos and uncertainty along with workloads as having a direct impact on their wellbeing and morale. Unless these issues are dealt with as a matter of urgency we predict that more staff will leave the service, morale will deteriorate further and sickness levels will continue to rise.
Here are some comments we have received from members:
"The morale in our office is as low as I have ever seen it and pretty much everyone is feeling hopeless"
"I am in the CRC and I am hating it. I used to enjoy writing reports and now they have taken that away from me even though I am qualified to do it with 10 years’ experience."
"In all the 30 years of being in the criminal justice system I have never felt so de-professionalised as a result of the changes that have been fostered upon us"
Case Allocation
"We have done extensive checking of the offender allocations and are confident that the vast majority of offenders have been assigned correctly."
Napo is continuing to receive information about cases remaining unallocated, including since the 1st June. These were cited in last week’s bulletin as well as the below examples.
- 200+ cases remain unallocated in Yorkshire area.
- Wales - Taking 3 weeks to allocate cases, despite some being domestic violence and the period after sentence in these cases is critical.
- Midlands - sex offender cases being allocated to CRC and unqualified staff being allocated high risk of harm cases in the NPS.
Napo is deeply concerned about these reports. The first few weeks after sentence are critical to risk management and offender engagement. Without this immediate contact it is much harder to gain compliance and ultimately reduce reoffending. Supervision is an essential part of working with complex behaviour, managing risk and protecting the public. Without it vital information such as risk to children and victims cannot be elicited and this leaves the public at significant risk of harm.
Questions you may wish to ask
- Why are there still cases unallocated and when does the Minister envisage all cases to be allocated to an appropriately trained officer?
- Why has the MoJ publicly said that there is no issue with staff workloads when evidence from members of Napo shows that there are excessive workloads and no agreed workload management tool is in place?
- Does the Minister believe that the CRCs are not currently business ready for share sale given the issues of staff morale, excessive workloads, case allocation; and will the Minister postpone share sale until these issues have been resolved?