Reviews : Parkhurst Tales Norman Parker Smith Gryphon, 1995; pp 256, £4.99 hbk
| DOI | 10.1177/026455059504200113 |
| Published date | 01 March 1995 |
| Date | 01 March 1995 |
| Author | Frances Ablitt |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
but then deals with examining a
heed the advice offered in their own
Probation Service’s own information in a
recommended reading (Keith Hawley,
cursory manner. It does not suggest
From Grants to Contracts, 1992) on the
looking at the information used by the
role of statutory funders on a
local authority Community Care plan
Management Committee and the clash
housing strategy or health authorities’
with role and duties of a charitable
audit of need.
committee trustees.
This lack of thoroughness spills into
It is the lack of examination of some
Chapters 3 and 4 where the local
of the key shifts in the Service as it
probation officer knows the best model is
moves into administration of partnership
pushed. THere is no debate about the
funds that is frustrating about this book,
tensions between local initiatives and the
eg discussion of the Probation Service as
centrally driven need for equitable
a ’purchaser’ and dangers of different
service delivery across a Probation area.
types of monitoring throughput v
No mention of joint planning with Social
outcome v output. More detail on
Services, Health, Housing. Ideas around
changes in the voluntary sector would all
being part of a commissioning group
have enhanced the book and made it far
with other statutory agencies process is
more relevant for those working in the
ignored. The reader could easily end up
partnership world.
developing a drugs partnership that
should be funded by a health
Len Cheston
authority.
SPO (Housing), Inner London
An underpinning criticism of the
book is that it fails to examine and use
the lessons learnt in accommodation fora
where Probation Services have been able
to develop new provision and have
dialogue with the voluntary sector and
other statutory sectors. The weaknesses
of a voluntary sector determination of
client needs without cross-referencing
with other sources of information has
been examined in a number of
accommodation fora.
Again, work in the accommodation
field means that...
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