The two organisations responsible for providing probation
services in Suffolk needed to do far more to protect the public,
reduce reoffending and make sure people served sentences handed
down by the courts, said Dame Glenys Stacey, HM Chief Inspector
of Probation. Staff at both organisations were working hard, but
dealing with high caseloads, she added. Today she published the
report of a recent inspection of probation work in Suffolk.
The inspection looked at the quality of probation work carried
out by the Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) and the
National Probation Service (NPS) and assessed the effectiveness
of work undertaken locally with people who have committed crimes.
This was the second inspection of adult probation work undertaken
by a CRC owned by Sodexo Justice Services, in partnership with
Nacro.
Overall, the work of the CRC in Suffolk was not good enough.
Staff needed to do more to protect the public, particularly in
domestic abuse cases, and they needed a greater focus on keeping
children safe. Their work to prevent people committing further
crimes needed to improve, as did work to ensure that people
abided by the terms of their sentence. Staff were working hard
but individual caseloads were very high and staff morale was low.
Inspectors saw some good work, but the quality of work was
generally poor.
Sodexo has a conceptually sound operating model for all of its
CRCs. Based on robust research, it is designed to fully engage
people who have committed crimes and address their readiness to
change. Inspectors were concerned, however, at the over-reliance
on telephone contact in supervising individuals. Without
meaningful contact, people are less likely to develop the will to
change their attitudes and behaviour. Inspectors were also
concerned at the lack of privacy in open booths used for
confidential interviews.
Implementation of the model in Suffolk has stalled and some
systems are not yet up and running, partly because the Ministry
of Justice’s necessary IT gateway that will allow for critical
information to be shared is still not in place.
The quality of work from the NPS with higher-risk offenders in
Suffolk was also poor overall. As inspectors found with the CRC,
more needed to be done to protect the public in domestic abuse
cases and more done to safeguard children. Work to reduce the
risk of people committing further crimes was poor across the
spectrum. In the face of work pressures, local leaders had
reduced the requirement to review cases, which inspectors thought
left some potential victims more vulnerable than necessary.
Inspectors made recommendations which included the CRC taking
enforcement action where appropriate against those who don’t
comply with their sentences and ensuring people can be
interviewed in private when necessary. They also needed to
communicate and engage with their staff more effectively. The NPS
should provide specific support to responsible officers carrying
caseloads of high-risk offenders. The CRC and NPS together should
improve the quality of case management, with a particular focus
on the risk posed to known adults and children, and provide
effective management oversight of all relevant cases.
Dame Glenys Stacey said:
“Suffolk is not being served well enough by probation services.
Staff are working hard but still, the quality of work is poor
overall. I am particularly concerned that neither organisation is
protecting the public enough in most cases, and that domestic
abuse victims and children are particularly at risk.
“Both organisations are struggling to manage their workloads with
the number of staff they have. To deliver well, all probation
providers must be able to employ enough skilled staff and then
make sure they can give of their best. The CRC is waiting to see
whether it will be better funded by government in future, and the
sooner that is decided, the better. As a national organisation,
the NPS should be able to lead and manage staffing better within
its existing resources.”
