Act in haste: repent at leisure
“It strikes me that in order to get out of this omnishambles that Transforming Rehabilitation is creating, there really does need to be a Plan B. We all know what it is.” Jim Brown looks at the way out of the omnishambles that is the outsourcing of probation.
The morning after
“The House of Commons debate turned out better than I expected, …with some really very good speeches from the opposition benches. By contrast those by Chris Grayling and the government were lacking conviction…” Jim Brown updates us on the political debate on outsourcing of probation.
What about clients?
“There is absolutely no getting away from the fact that life for most of our clients has become considerably more difficult during this period of austerity. They are suffering the triple whammy of benefit cuts, rising prices for food and utilities and a stagnating employment market.” Jim Brown looks at the impact of austerity on ex-offenders.
Doing the Ministry’s bidding
“The Ministry of Justice is absolutely desperate to give its TR omnishambles planned for probation some semblance of credibility by making sure that not all the ‘prime’ contracts are awarded to the questionable big boys…” Jim Brown looks at how charities and mutuals are trying to pick up probation contracts.
Omnishambles on track!
“As Napo delegates head off to the Welsh seaside resort of Llandudno for their AGM, there’s news that Chris Grayling’s TR omnishambles is progressing well on all fronts.” Jim Brown updates us on the progress of the ‘omnishambles’ outsourcing of the probation service.
Omnishambles update 22
“…the Napo Lobby at Parliament yesterday went well with over 270 members packed into two committee rooms along with 40 MP’s and Peers. It would seem there’s still some scope for the parliamentary process to cause trouble for the minister Chris Grayling in the coming weeks.” Jim Brown provides an update on the outsourcing of probation.
Things are turning toxic
You sort of know things are going pear-shaped when you start seeing influential people like Dame DeAnne Julius, a former member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Affairs Committee, rushing to the aid of outsourcing. As quoted in this Public Service website, she remains confident that a little difficulty over G4S and Serco shouldn’t put anyone off […]