Editorial: Probation: Peering Through the Uncertainty

AuthorPaul Senior
Pages1-8
1
EDITORIAL
PROBATION: PEERING THROUGH THE UNCERTAINTY
Paul Senior, Hallam Centre for Community Justice, Sheffield Hallam University
"Uncertainty is the worst of all evils until the moment when reality makes us regret
uncertainty" (Karr)
During the five hour, often high-quality, debate in Parliament on 12th Novemb er it was
hard to see disagreement on the key features of Tran sforming Rehabilita tion (TR) -
reducing re-offending, supervision and support for under 12 month of fenders, peer
mentoring, specific service s to women, prisoners resettled in prisons near to their ho mes,
involvement of the private and voluntary sector , and the potential for innovative solutions
to the problems of crime in commu nities. Most of the prescriptio ns for change, probation
commentators and the Trusts themselves would support - and have in the past endorsed -
and they are backed by persuasive and rich research evid ence, some of which is presented
in this timely double issue of the journal. However, nearly all the specific mecha nisms and
organisational arrangements proposed by government in its TR proposals, are not backed
by evidence and moreover fly in the face of that evidence. The cacophony of noise now
being heard across the country surely cannot be ignored. A pause, a rethink, even an
abandonment of the current TR competition must be put in place to avoid a potential
disaster, given the thr eat to public safety predicted by the rushed application of the
current plans. To dismantle a century-old, high performing, probation service is policy-
based evidence not evidence-based policy.
There appear to be three ostensible motivators to change: reducing re-offending, savi ng
money and process innovation. But clearly, given the climate of austerity and the public
sector cuts elsewhere, this is most obviously about saving mo ney amidst a rush to
marketise public services treating offend ers as commodities. The other t wo goals are
relatively uncontroversial and are already provided by current service delivery. This is
something that we must pause and reflect upon. The threats attendant on these changes
are well documented - fragmentation, loss of expertise, conflicts of interest, inconsistent
practices and the danger to public safety that would result from confusion on risk
categorisation. Many of the gains of the last d ecade will all be negated by this rush to
change. Clearly forgotten in this unseemly rush to change was the golden thread inherent
in the 2007 Offender Managemen t Act which was the public sector manag ement of all
offenders. The attempt to use this legislat ion for different purposes by the Coalition
government should rightly be subject to public and political scrutiny as it alters the
British Journal of Community Justice
©2013 Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield
ISSN 1475-0279
Vol. 11(2-3): 1-8

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