The Island’s probation service has been rated ‘good’ — but reducing staff levels to an ‘unsustainably small number’ has put the quality of its work at risk.
The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) is not publicly owned, but one of five probation services run by the private Purple Futures consortium.
Sweeping staff changes
An inspection report, published by HM Inspectorate of Probation, found sweeping staff changes had put the service at risk.
Almost a quarter of probation officers have been seconded to the national probation service and efforts to recruit new staff members at lower grades have proved difficult.
New staff will not be in place until the autumn and, in the meantime, probation staff have been managing around 70 cases each.
Dame Stacey: Quality of work at risk
Chief inspector Dame Glenys Stacey said:
“The quality of its work is at risk, as the owners have decided to reduce the professionally qualified proportion of its workforce and there have been delays in recruiting new, less experienced staff. “In my opinion, the CRC no longer has the quantity and calibre of staff to deliver an effective service.
“Regrettably, the ability of the CRC to sustain the quality of its work is being put at risk because of the financial pressures that this, and other CRCs, are experiencing.”
Improvement plans revealed
However, the service owner has provided evidence-based plans to show how it can improve. A range of areas were inspected, including leadership, staff and services.
Individual ratings ranged from an outstanding, for information and facilities, to inadequate for case reviews.
Differences between genders
Inspectors said there was a noticeable difference between the adequacy of case reviews between men and women, with female cases tending to retain a stronger focus on engaging the individual.
Dame Stacey said:
“There were clear strengths in the assessment and planning of cases, but a drift in focus during the implementation of the sentence, especially around risk of harm issues.”
Senior case managers ‘markedly better’
She added that the work done by senior case managers was ‘markedly better’ than that done by lower-grade case managers.
The CRC supervises nearly 4,000 low and medium-risk offenders — some are preparing to leave or have left prison, while others are serving community sentences.
Essentials are in place to deliver a good service
Dame Stacey said the service had the essentials in place to deliver a good probation service and that senior leaders were ‘skilled, knowledgeable and energetic.’
Inspectors found the CRC’s work with people under supervision to be of mixed quality. Initial work to assess individuals’ circumstances and to plan activity to improve these was judged to be good.
However, inspectors found the delivery and reviewing of the work was less effective. Staff also needed to improve their understanding and management of the potential risk of harm to members of the public. All CRCs supervise people to complete unpaid work in the community and deliver ‘through the gate’ services to support individuals leaving prison.
The ‘through the gate’ service was judged to deliver a reasonable standard of support, with a plan in place to improve the service from April 2019 in light of a greater resource allocation. Inspectors noted more could be done to support individuals in 40 per cent of inspected cases. Too often, there was no record of work by staff in prison to help inmates prepare for release.
The report listed four recommendations, including that the service reconsider the ratio of senior case managers to case managers holding cases, it increase the extent of staff engagement, and develop a clearer focus on public protection.
Claims refuted by Service
A spokesperson for the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Community Rehabilitation Company said,
“We refute the claim that recent changes to the service could put that at risk.
“The changes made to our staffing model were implemented because we firmly believe they will deliver a better service to offenders because it equips our organisation with a broader mix of skill sets. The HMIP report also acknowledges that changes were made in part due to the financial pressures faced by all of the country’s CRCs.
“We currently have just five vacancies and are actively recruiting to fill this gap. We remain committed to protecting the public and have training procedures in place to ensure all staff are appropriately skilled to carry out their work and to maintain the high standards which HMIP observed during their inspection.”
Article edit
14.50: Comment from Hampshire & Isle of Wight Community Rehabilitation Company added
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which OnTheWight is taking part in. Some alterations and additions may be been made by OnTheWight. Ed
