October 6, 2006: Government To Scrap Probation Service, Says Napo

Probation union Napo is holding it’s 94th Annual General Meeting  from 6 to 8 October, at a time when, says Napo, the Government actively plans to scrap and privatise the National Probation Service. The Napo AGM will debate a series of motions which are critical of Government policy.

The Queen��s Speech in November will contain a Bill which will, if implemented, abolish the National Probation Service and replace it with a fragmented raft of private voluntary and public sector providers. In effect, competition will be introduced for the supervision of offenders.

It is expected that the Bill will be introduced in the House of Commons well before Christmas. Napo argues that it is highly likely that a whole Probation Service such as London, could be handed over to private sector companies. The supervision of highly dangerous individuals will become the subject of profit.

According to Napo Chair Mike McClelland:

“The Government introduced the concept of a National Offender Management Service (NOMS) in January 2004. Its prime purpose was to break-up the Probation Service and replace it with the market. No business case has ever been produced and the project over the last 30 months has been characterised by delay, chaos and uncertainty. The supervision of the most difficult and dangerous offenders will be determined by market forces and by profit. All this comes at a time when the Probation Service is performing better than ever."

"Figures for 2006 show that enforcement targets were achieved in 89 per cent of cases (April-June), and there was timely assessment of high risk in 90% of cases. Probation Areas are deemed to have failed if they do not reach special high standards on a basket of targets, which include the timeliness of reports, supervision completions and risk assessment. These figures are produced every quarter."

"The figures are a nonsense; they do not reflect quality of work nor do they allow discretion to staff. As a consequence, within three months one small Area has risen up the league table from forty-second to sixth place, and another Area has dropped from fifth to forty-third. It is clear that changes to a handful of difference can have a disproportionate effect on the tables. It is time the tables were scrapped and that the Service’s performance was measured on its efficiency and effectiveness. There is no hard evidence to support the claims that market forces have made Prisons and Probation more efficient in the past. Indeed, it has been the experience of the Probation Service so far that private sector involvement, including electronic tagging and hostel facilities, has led to services becoming more expensive and less efficient.”

“Last year, Probation was supervising 1,500 people where the risk to the public was considered very high, and a further 11,280 where the risk of harm to the public was described as high. Statistics show that 0.6% of the total in both categories were charged with a further serious offence. This is despite acute resource problems. The service currently has over 1,000 vacancies. The Home Office’s own Offender Management model demands that those who pose a high or medium-high risk to the public must be supervised by a trained Probation Officer. The London Area alone has a shortfall of 150. Nationally the Service needs hundreds of experienced staff in order to maximise public protection. As a consequence of the shortfall, high risk offenders are seen by staff who have not received formal training."

"Napo has learned that the NOMS project is already £40 million overspent. If this continues the deficit at the end of the year could exceed £100 million. As a consequence programmes for sex offenders and those who have perpetrated domestic violence have been cutback. The situation is chaotic, and as a consequence there is unnecessary risk to the public."

"Napo will be urging MPs of all Parties to vote against the proposals in the interests of safety. In 2004, 251 MPs signed an early day motion which demanded that the Probation Service stay public and be properly resourced. In addition, the motion asked that privatisation was not used as a threat to staff or voluntary sector providers.”

He added:

“Napo represents staff in the Family Courts. CAFCASS has been under-funded since its inception in 2001. This year it is looking at a £10 million deficit. As a consequence there will be severe delay in reports being compiled for the courts. This is not in the best interests of children. Staff are already taking on more work. The Government’s solution is to restructure. This does not deal with the fundamental problems of shortage of cash.”

In addition Napo members are debating a range of motions which include:

• A demand for workload protection
• A campaign to defend the Prison’s Inspectorate
• Stopping the privatisation of unpaid work
• Abandoning pilot schemes that take benefits away from offenders who breach their orders
• A demand for proper negotiation and consultation with the unions within CAFCASS