To try to raise awareness of the shocking state of the Probation Service?

[ScaryTimes]

I’ve name changed for this for fear of being sacked, so that tells you a lot about the Probation Service already.

In June (or possibly July) a Probation Officer was stabbed at an office near to me. She was very lucky to have survived and is not recovered, as far as she will ever be able to. A “full review” was due in August which was released in October and NOTHING has changed. We work with some of the most dangerous people in the country and I think most people would be shocked to hear we have NO security guards, NO metal detectors, NO bag searches, NO training in how to respond to a situation like this. All we have is CCTV and panic alarms. I’ve just received an email that the inevitable has happened and another Probation Officer has been stabbed at work.

Like the previous incident, I’m sure this will be played down and ignored. The first incident barely made the news.

At the same time, the endless prison release schemes are adding unmanageable pressure to the Probation Service. Everyone I know is beyond stressed and burnt out, we’re running on fumes. We are also 10000 out of 17000 officers short and staff retention is impossible. Many staff have a 160% caseload!! We are regularly working at night and weekends to try to meet targets as we get in trouble if we don’t.

Of course all other services are struggling so we are not able to help with things like housing, mental health support, drug and alcohol services, which is making the people we supervise angry and when they have nothing to lose, they don’t care if they go to prison.

To top it all off, our annual pay deal ran out this year and the unions have been trying to sort a new one for 11 months but the government and HMPPS are ignoring them completely. We should have had an annual pay rise in October, backdated to April but we’ve had nothing and no sign of anything. Some support staff will be on minimum wage, if that (obviously if that’s the case something will have to be done) once the new minimum wage starts.

So yeah, it’s all a very big mess and there is very little media interest in it.

YANBU.

Through voluntary work I’ve met some amazIng and dedicated probation officers. Ones who really go the extra mile to look after their clients. It’s staggering the lack of security and care PO’s face. You can’t even take a hot drink with you when signing on so why PO’s are so overlooked is a mystery.

You have my full sympathy.

it’s rubbish I agree! Nobody should go to work and be attacked

dangerous times. For us all.

It sounds appalling, but I'm afraid I'm not surprised.

Probation staff do amazing work, often with very challenging clients. They deserve better.

It went downhill when the Tories part (?) privatised the service over 10 years ago. I know it’s supposed to have been brought back to become one national service again, but it’s never going to be the same as it was.

YANBU for wanting to make a fuss about this but YABU for thinking that this is new and that’s its new or newsworthy.

I’m not sure the public cares because I don’t think the public understands what a vital service this is.

No metal detectors? Yes I am shocked. Even our local college has metal detectors!

I know no one cares about us but I would have thought a near fatal stabbing would at least make the news! We’ve been told many, many times as if that’s mitigation but 2 stabbing a in a few months shows a worrying trend. People think we’re not helping them but it’s actually that there’s nothing available! That’s not new I guess but I think it’s getting worse.

No nothing, even the Lidl next door has security guards in stab vests! And we’re working with known offenders. People can come straight from the courts or prisons where they have security and metal detectors (not saying it’s any easier for prison officers) to us where there’s nothing, often with large holdalls that could contain anythingZ

My friend is a probation officer.

Her first week on the job she was left in rooms alone with men who had raped women and beaten up their partners. It’s horrible.

Ex-PO here - I left 2 years ago and miss it every day, but would never go back. Probation staff have always, always been an afterthought and it's not good enough.

I used to be a PO, left about 18 years ago. I couldn't deal with the excessive case loads, the aggression from offenders, the constant stress of worrying what my cases were up to.

The public have no idea what a crucial role the probation service plays in public protection.

Nobody cares, yes that much is true

you are a hidden service along with us. I’m in prison service so appreciate how challenging it all is

Completely feel your frustration.
The service has been unloved and under resourced for over 10 years now. It's not the same organisation I joined, and it's not safe due to the constant reactive management of clients.

I used to work very closely with the probation service and you are not wrong. It has been run into the ground and the old two tier system was the beginning of the rot.
I would not want to be a PO but take my hat off to those that do.

Can I ask where a PO sits salary wise?
I would have been attracted to it as an excellent worthwhile public service job, in my younger, fitter years.

I’m sorry you are under protected. 😢

Yes, they say we’re good at de-escalating situations with our words, and we are but when our only defence is words what happens when our words aren’t enough? We’re not trained in de-escalating situations, we’re just expected to know how to do it and with so many brand new people coming into the service and expected to manage cases almost immediately, it’s a pressure cooker that is now exploding.

I do genuinely enjoy working with the people on probation, even the challenging ones but so much of our job is paperwork, meeting targets and arse covering, the actual working with people is getting less and less.

A fully qualified PO earns between £35k and £42k dependent on experience and performance related pay rises. A PSO, who is not qualified but basically does the same job with low and medium (known) risk cases starts at £26k which is disgraceful. I’ve rounded those figures as I can’t remember the exact amounts.

11 months, why are you not all working to rule and /or threatening to strike, is it PCS? Surprised if they are not threatening this?

I was a victim of a serious sexual assault and the support I got from Probation after my attacker was released on licence was exceptional. Needless to say he breached his licence conditons and went AWOL which had the potential to put me at risk as one of his release conditons was to stay out of the area I lived in. Probation were brilliant at keeping me updated from the minute he disappeared to the minute he was rearrested . They also supported me to successfully oppose his next application for early release. It is such a vital role and I am horrified but sadly not surprised to read about the lack of protction for them

I wonder what those on £100k who feel hard done to think of this?

I feel for you OP and agree there is very little media spotlight put upon probation services, in contrast to care/ education sector etc. I have a very close friend who works in an ancillary service for people on probation and is surrounded by colleagues who left probation who simply burnt out and had breakdowns due to the pressure. You're dealing with some extremely dangerous people so security should be their first concern. Would you consider writing to a newspaper like the guardian to try and get some media coverage? I'm sure they would be very very interested in what you have to say and you could remain anonymous? Change can only happen when enough people kick up a fuss and whistle blow.

Because when my union balloted only 46% (I think) voted 😡. God knows why, maybe people are too stressed to do it. I filled mine out straight away and posted it off!

@HalfMoonRising I actually would write to the papers if I could remain anonymous. They’ve done all they can to cover up what’s happened, even inside Probation itself!

I'd do it OP, write to the papers. I mentioned the guardian specifically as they seem to publish a lot of human interest stories, especially around breakdowns in the system and safeguarding failures. There's a link on their website where you can get in touch with them - maybe give a brief outline and see if they pick up on it. What have you got to lose? I have such admiration for you - you're doing a job which is undervalued, but so important. I know from my friend that you're often left to pickup the slack where other services have failed and in effect, become an unpaid social worker. It must be very difficult.

Thanks @HalfMoonRising I’m going to do it this weekend! We are basically social workers who also have to try and determine people from committing further offences. Oh and if they do, we are heavily scrutinised so we live in fear of one of our cases committing a serious further offences. I literally get anxiety reading the local Police Facebook page, even at weekends. Oh and the worry that our homeless people will freeze to death, literally, that actually happens or take a drug overdose. I’m always worried about someone, or multiple people at a time.

I used to know someone who was working as a probation officer, but she took early retirement

The things she described to me were pretty awful but she wasn't a member of a union and just found the whole thing pretty hopeless, was holding out for early retirement.

Would it be the case that people feel it's too much of a risk to public safety to go on strike?

My impression is that this service, and the prison service, are in dire need of help. But it's not something we hear about very often and that does surprise me.

is it the case that you need whistleblowers or just a strong leader to speak up and get attention from the press?

The leaders in MoJ is pretty shocking! But to be fair to them, same for the government. 13 changes of minister over 15 years, and one of them was Liz truss