Recommendation 5

HM Government Acknowledged

HMPPS has developed a programme of work to capture and share learning as we respond to Covid-19, which is feeding into probation reform and recovery. A set of evidence and quality criteria is being applied to ensure learning will add value, inform planning and practice, and helps us to “build back better”. The programme pulls together data and learning activity taking place across HMPPS. It incorporates the perspectives of staff and service-users, and combines these with reflections from the evidence base, data and learning from scrutiny bodies, and our own internal assurance activity. Delivery partners, working directly with service users, and frequently in the voluntary sector, are also involved. International practice has also been researched, to determine whether we can learn lessons from other jurisdictions. Priority areas have been staff and service user experiences of remote supervision and alternative models of delivery of requirements, how we can best support staff working remotely, and staff and service-user experiences of remote pre-sentence interviews and how this has affected proposals to Court. Care is being taken to distinguish between individual’s immediate experience and reflection, and what will be more clearly evidenced learning around outcomes, which will take more time to emerge. This exercise is feeding into recovery plans for each division and lessons learned will translate into our business-as-usual activity, where they demonstrably improve effectiveness and efficiency. We are also benefitting from the work and associated learning of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation. Work commissioned on the impact of the remote supervision methods implemented under the Covid-19 Exceptional Delivery Model (EDM) has informed our planning for service delivery in the future. This looked at the benefits and challenges of different types of remote working, as well as the barriers to their use. Our findings suggest that digital technology works well for some individuals, for some elements of supervision. Telephone and video contact offer more flexibility for service users, which has been particularly helpful for people who were shielding, have mental health difficulties, or who have childcare responsibilities. On average, across the NPS and CRCs, compliance with telephone calls was higher than for office or doorstep supervision. Staff also benefitted from increased flexibility, allowing them to manage their workload and attend multi-agency meetings safely. Staff and service users agreed that some face-to-face contact is essential for relationship building, which research has consistently shown to contribute toward desistance from crime. Not all service users have access to digital technology, and doorstep visits have provided an extra layer of risk management, allowing staff to check on service users’ wellbeing and living situation. We plan to implement a ‘blended’ approach to future supervision models, allowing staff to make a professional judgement about the most useful types of contact to use with individual service users, based on risk and personal circumstances. Further detail on this approach, and the wider learning we take from Covid-19 responses, will be set out in an updated Target Operating Model to be published in February 2021. On 30 July 2020, we published the Probation Workforce Strategy, which outlines our vision for the future probation workforce over the next three years. The strategy learns from the existing model and outlines the changes and improvements we will make as a result. In addition to boosting recruitment, investing in the career development and supporting the skills staff need, the strategy also reflects the challenges the workforce has faced during Covid-19 and so includes our emphasis on staff wellbeing and creating an inclusive working environment. Alongside the digital changes that have and need to take place, the strategy focuses on staff wellbeing, and providing psychological support for staff, as well as a commitment to host a series of engagement events about the future of the probation service, which we anticipate will include staff reflections on what aspects of the recent change have and have not been welcomed. Specific commitments in the strategy include support for the psychological wellbeing of staff through tips for managers on spotting potential psychological boundary issues, information on how to detach from work and a further package of tools and advice including webinars, videos and evidence reviews. Other changes include prioritising the adaptation of our digital services as part of a larger IT strategy to ensure staff have modern, fit-for-purpose tools to allow them to perform some of their work remotely, and publishing a new diversity and inclusion strategy. We will update the Committee on the progress of this work.