The probation system has undergone a radical transformation in recent months, which has seen the most brutal and systematic dismantling of yet another public service by the Tory-Lib Dem Coalition. Steve Brown looks at the disasterous effects of privatisation of the probation service.
The probation system has undergone a radical transformation in recent months, which has seen the most brutal and systematic dismantling of yet another public service by the Tory-Lib Dem Coalition.
On the 1st June this year, up and down the country, the “Transforming Rehabilitation” privatisation process came into effect when the entire service was split into two distinct sections via the creation of new Community Rehabilitation Companies and the NPS (National Probation Service). These new private companies, CRC’s, are charged with the task of managing up to 70% of all offenders who carry a lower risk to the community, while the rest, the high risk cases, are managed by the NPS, which remains publicly owned.
Chaos and division
This has created chaos and division within the service. From the start the process – which has yet to be completed – has been opposed by all tiers of the service, from probation officers, administrators, managers and even the chief executives.
NAPO, the main probation union, has conducted a number of one-day and half-day strikes to try and halt the privatisation, but all this action fell on deaf ears and has been completely ignored by the government, whose minister, Chris Grayling, steamrollered the break up through a spurious and false consultation process from the word go.
All probation staff have been left stunned at the speed and voracity of the changes and now finally await the last part of the transformation in January 2015, which is the final takeover date. Whichever private company wins the bidding, they will run the service in each area or region – a service which celebrated 100 years as a publicly run concern back in 2007.
Paving the way for privatisation
Like all privatisations, there has been a gradual withering away of the service prior to the actual privatisation. A few years ago the service became a trust, which is usually the precursor to privatisation and paves the way for easier changes in the future, as we are now witnessing. Also, over the years, there has been a steady undermining of the whole public ownership ethos, with the selling off of public buildings that housed probation (and other services), meaning probation has to rent from very costly private landlords for its premises. Then there is the furniture, the IT equipment, the software in the IT, and other material aspects which have all been slowly but surely sold off and privatised.
The selling off of the ETE (Employment, Training & Education) section of the service to private contractors a number of years ago meant that there is a disjointed atmosphere within the service, as each private “provider” has their own IT systems, diaries, admin staff and communication systems.
This makes for a higher likelihood of mistakes, poorer communications and an increasing reliance on other agencies and charitable organisations rushing in to fill the gaps left because of cuts to services and poorer local authority help with things like housing and health services for the “Service users”. Probation Officers are quite often left not knowing the details of offender support due to a lack of feedback because the various companies and agencies have staff with huge case loads and little time to spare.
Profits from taxpayers
Now all of this has finally come together in the complete selling off of 70% of the service. In the North East, the most likely candidate to win the bidding to date is a company called Sodexo.
This multi-national company won the £250 million contract at the end of 2013 to run HMP Northumberland and already runs three other prisons in the UK. With regard to private companies running UK prisons, even the Financial Times’ Gill Plimmer said earlier this year that, “two privately run prisons – the G4S-managed Oakwood and Serco-run Thameside – were rated among the three worst performing jails in England and Wales, according to Ministry of Justice ratings.” So, even by their own measurements the Government admits privatisation has failed.
As a result, and for a variety of other reasons, their prison plans have been scaled back; but this will only be temporary, as these contracts are seen as very lucrative for companies like Sodexo which, combined with major contracts in the NHS providing catering services, has an annual turnover of £1bn in the UK and Ireland alone. That’s our money raised via taxation!
Some might say that Sodexo would be the perfect choice to run the CRC in the North East. Ideal from the prisoners point of view as, on leaving prison, they will be looked after by the same company? All makes sense doesn’t it? Well, think again!
Since being privatised under Sodexo, HMP Northumberland has shed 39% of its staff, down from 588 to approximately 388 via redundancy packages, which has lead to increased incidents of prisoners going missing, attacks on prison officers, and a major emergency incident a couple of months ago when an entire wing erupted in riot. One officer was quoted in the press as saying, “It is rife with mobile phones and drugs. There are insufficient staff to deal with the situation.”
Fears for safety
This is backed up by reports from Probation Officers who fear for their safety when having to visit their offenders in prison. NAPO General Secretary, Ian Lawrence, stated that, “We have become increasingly alarmed at the reoccurring difficulties at HMP Northumberland…..We are aware that there are insufficient staff to run the prison safely and the information coming from prison officers evidences this point.”
Of course Sodexo refutes all these claims and tries to paint a picture of efficiency, financial savings and calm; but anyone who knows anything about the criminal justice system will tell you that aspects of the service are descending into chaos. There are also calls for inspections by a number of MP’s but, more than likely, this will be an attempt to paper over the cracks and give the impression that, yes, there were problems, but that they are being resolved for the benefit of both staff and inmates.
The core problem will still remain, despite all efforts to dress it up as something else. The morale of the probation staff is at its lowest ebb ever. Confusion over case loads; which offices serve which function; problems with IT and admin: all of these continue and, to make matters worse, there has been the case of a probation officer committing suicide partly because of the changes. Sarah Kane, an officer in Kent stated in her self-penned eulogy that Chris Grayling had “Murdered the Probation Service” and friends have also said she had expressed a series of worries about her changing role and higher risk offenders.
This tragedy underlines the stress and strain being placed upon staff, which are further backed up by comments I have heard across the offices I work in alluding to increased levels of confusion, larger case loads and a lack of motivation, something which was unthinkable within previously highly dedicated teams.
Privatisation = cuts
Many in the service see this as a complete fate-accompli; a done deal which, after January 2015 will be put to bed and all forgotten about. But this is when the proverbial will really begin to hit the fan.
Current wages, terms and conditions have been preserved for now but this will all come under the hammer very quickly as the new CRC companies will want their rationalisations and cost savings. For, like all predators, they always look for ways to make an extra kill. Switching to PbR (Pay-by-Result) business models, the staff will be asked to perform miracles, to record “outcomes” and client successes, to monitor and measure their performances in financial terms so that more money can be made.
These companies will drive down wages, will shed jobs and run the service into the ground in search of ever greater profits without the due diligence which exists in the public sector. One only has to look at the profits made by G4S, who counted dead and homeless offenders on electronic tags. Has this money been refunded to the tax payer?
The task of the staff in the coming months therefore will be to defend themselves. NAPO needs to encourage all the staff to get involved in a series of meetings and discussions as to how best to fight these companies and to get the message out to the wider community and other unions on how risk will increase as offenders lack the proper support and management which the PO’s provide.
For a socialist transformation!
Ultimately, the service should be brought back into public ownership immediately after the general election next year; this should be a commitment of the Ed Miliband and the Labour leaders – to halt the privatisation with immediate effect.
The current Labour leaders have little, if any, intention of carrying out a reversal of these damaging reforms. So it falls to the probation officers themselves, who will need to fight for public ownership once again and will need to draw behind them the public and other unions in their fight.
The wider task should therefore be to push to bring the probation service – and all public services – back into public hands; to defend jobs, defend terms and conditions and to protect our communities from bungled management and the lust for profit.
The entire service, and all privatised services and utilities, need to be re-transformed; transformed back into publically owned companies under workers control. Linked to the wider demands for nationalisation of the commanding heights of the economy – the banks and the major monopolies – this will be the only means whereby we can all bring an end to the chaos of privatisation, the madness of rapacious capitalism, and the greed it brings. We need to demand a real transformation: the transformation of society along socialist lines.
