An analysis of inspection in probation and its impact on practitioners, practice and providers
| Published date | 01 June 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/02645505211041577 |
| Author | Jake Phillips |
| Date | 01 June 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
An analysis of
inspection in probation
and its impact on
practitioners, practice
and providers
Jake Phillips
Sheffield Hallam University, UK
Abstract
This article analyses the impact of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation on practice,
providers and practitioners. Since 1936 HMI Probation has aimed to improve prac-
tice through independently inspecting probation services. However, no research has
looked at its impact on those it inspects. This is important not only because the evi-
dence on whether inspection improves delivery in other sectors is weak but also
because oversight has the potential to create accountability overload. Following a
brief overview of the history, aims and policy context for probation inspection the art-
icle presents data from interviews with 77 participants from across the field of proba-
tion. Overall, participants were positive about inspection and the Inspectorate.
However, the data suggest that inspection places a considerable operational burden
on staff and organisations and has real emotional consequences for practitioners.
Staff experience case interviews as places for reflection and validation but there is
less evidence of the direct impact of inspection on practice. Ultimately, the article
argues that inspection can monitor practice whilst also contributing to improving
practice and providing staff with a way to reflect on their work, yet this balance is
difficult strike. Finally, the article considers the implications of these findings for the
Inspectorate and the probation service.
Keywords
inspection, probation practice, policy, accountability, governance
Corresponding Author:
Jake Phillips, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, UK.
Email: jake.phillips@shu.ac.uk
Article The Journal of Communit
y
and Criminal Justice
Probation Journal
2023, Vol. 70(2) 124–142
© The Author(s) 2021
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/02645505211041577
journals.sagepub.com/home/prb
Introduction
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation (HMI Probation) inspects probation services
to improve practice as part of a wider system of oversight of probation services. HMI
Probation has been carrying out this role since 1936 but no research has sought to
understand how staff experience inspection, nor what impact it has on policy or
practice. This is important because the way people experience inspection is likely
to affect the legitimacy the organisation has, thus shaping its ability to effect
change. In this article, I analyse data collected through observations of inspections
and interviews with practitioners, managers and leaders within the National
Probation Service (NPS) and Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRC) to
explore the ways in which the Inspectorate impacts them –both professionally
and personally –and their organisations.
Since its creation in 1936 the Inspectorate has undergone various changes but
retains its core remit: ‘to highlight good and poor practice, and use our data and
information to encourage high-quality services’(HMI Probation, 2021c). The
Inspectorate was put on a statutory footing by the Criminal Justice Act 1991 and
is part of the Ministry of Justice’s‘three lines of defence’approach to overseeing pro-
bation providers. The three lines of defence model has its roots in the financial sector
which has sought to embed risk management throughout organisations rather than
relying on single regulators to manage risk. In the context of criminal justice, such a
model is not about preventing a financial crash but about improving practice and
ensuring that public is money is spent well. Thus, we see a similar model adopted
in the context of prisons (Behan and Kirkham, 2016) and probation. In probation,
the first ‘line of defence’is Her Majesty’s Prisons and Probation Service’s
(HMPPS) Contract Management team and the HMPPS NPS line management func-
tion. The second ‘line of defence’is provided by the Operational and System
Assurance Group (OSAG) which provides internal assurance on the quality of deliv-
ery through regular targeted audits. HMI Probation forms part of the third line of
defence with its main function being to independently inspect probation services.
HMI Probation has considerable power to influence the work of probation provi-
ders, practitioners, and the experiences of people under probation supervision.
Inspection can improve practice and the delivery of practice through a range of
causal mechanisms. In the field of education, Gustafsson et al. (2015) identify
three ways in which inspection influences practice: (1) through setting expectations
defining good education; (2) by providing feedback to schools during inspection
visits and/or in inspection reports and (3) by providing information on the inspection
process to a broad range of stakeholders. This has not been fully explicated in the
field of probation, yet each three of these mechanisms are present in the
Inspectorate’s work.
Under the current inspection regime, probation providers are inspected annually,
and their work is assessed against the Inspectorate’s standards of practice which
cover three domains. The Inspectorate also carries out thematic and joint inspections
and undertakes and commissions research to develop evidence around good prac-
tice. The Chief Inspector can be asked to conduct inquiries into high profile serious
Phillips 125
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