Guidance

Probation Service Change Bulletin Issue 19 – August 2023

Updated 15 December 2023

1. Foreword

Welcome to the bi-monthly Probation Service Change Bulletin – keeping you updated on what is happening across the Probation Service. I’m Jim Barton, Executive Director, HMPPS Change.

It’s another busy issue with updates from One HMPPS, Electronic Monitoring and Community Payback among others.

I’m looking forward to visiting the Probation Exhibition which has just opened in Cheshire (23 August). The exhibition tells the story of the Probation Service’s foundation, following a charitable donation of just five shillings, in the Victorian police courts of London.

It also brings our important work across England and Wales right up to the present day with information about Electronic Management, Approved Premises, Community Payback and other great work taking place.

I’d urge you to take a look if you get chance as the exhibition will be touring venues across England and Wales in the next year.

There’s also a fascinating blog providing information and updates that’s linked to the exhibition.

Community Payback’s 50th anniversary celebrations continue and I’m delighted to read about the partnership plans officially launched with Forestry England which means offenders will gain skills and knowledge to help them towards employment as they repay their communities.

I’ll also be visiting South Wales in the next few weeks to help out at a beach clean in Glamorgan and a cookery project in Barry as part of the 50th anniversary events.

2. Probation Exhibition Opens

Root and Branch – How five shillings, faith and belief inspired the beginning of the Probation Service has opened in Cheshire.

The exhibition contains information boards and artefacts and tells the story of Probation’s roots in the Temperance movement of the Victorian era (abstaining from alcohol) and the work carried out with people appearing before the Police Courts, initially in London.

The journey of the Service is told through a timeline and includes the initial donation, the links with Primitive Methodism, the hostels set up to help residents and teach them skills such as farming and gardening.

The work of the modern Probation Service, including Approved Premises and the work of Community Payback, currently celebrating its 50th anniversary, also feature.

The exhibition is run in partnership with Englesea Brook Chapel and Museum, in Cheshire.

It opened at Englesea Brook Chapel & Museum on 23 August and goes on to tour venues for a year, including Nottingham, Bristol, Bradford, Cardiff, Doncaster and London.

We’ll share more details and information around forthcoming venues and dates in the exhibition blog.

3. One HMPPS Update

One HMPPS has been launched to make sure our Probation and Prison frontline staff have the right support to be able to deliver the very best services. Part of the plan is a new Area Model where Regional Probation Directors (RPDs) and Prison Group Directors (PGDs) come together under the line management of a new Area Executive Director for each of the six Areas in England, and Wales.

Four new Area executive directors have now been appointed through our internal restructuring process (see last issue).

The advert for the remaining three Area Executive Director roles closed on 16 July.  We anticipate the roles to be confirmed by early September with Area Model officially launching in October, when AEDs will formally take up post.

4. Electronic Monitoring

The latest electronic monitoring statistics have been published, with figures showing that a total of 17,822 individuals were being actively monitored at 30 June 2023. This is an increase of 22% per cent on the previous year (30 June 2022), driven by extensions to the use of location (GPS) monitoring tags for new offender cohorts, particularly for immigration bail, as well as the continued rollout of alcohol monitoring tags.

5. Community Payback launches partnership with Forestry England

A partnership agreement has been launched with Forestry England where offenders will learn new skills while repaying their communities.

The scheme was launched in Drinkwater Park, Manchester, as part of Greater Manchester’s 50th anniversary celebration of Community Payback.

Following successful pilots in Greater Manchester and Nottinghamshire the partnership agreement will be initially rolled out for three years across England.

Offenders will gain skills and knowledge through a wide variety of work including coppicing, ditch clearance, fence installation and removal, invasive species removal, path widening, pond clearance, sapling/tree care/weeding, scrub clearance, tree guard removal and woodland thinning.

The scheme is being rolled out across the 11 English Probation regions and six Forestry England districts. A Community Payback supervisor will be embedded in each Forestry England region to share skills and training and coordinate activity.

Each month this year a golden shovel – symbolic of Community Payback work – is being passed from region to region as stories of current and historic projects and long-serving staff are shared.

In August the shovel was handed to the West Midlands region where regional probation director Sarah Chand worked with Community Payback at a churchyard in Henley-in-Arden helping to tend graves and cut grass and clear weeds.

“It was a great way to celebrate the 50th anniversary and to be part of what Community Payback does best,” she said.

“The team is making such a positive difference for local residents as well as visitors to the area.”

Sarah also visited work to repair footpaths, create drainage, build steps, create a pond viewing platform, paint bollards and clear undergrowth.

The public can nominate Community Payback projects in their local area via the nominations page.