This week saw my favourite event of the year – our annual Prison and Probation Officer awards. I was delighted to have the opportunity to meet so many of our fantastic staff and to present some of the awards during the ceremony in Leeds on Wednesday.

Hearing all the nominations made me continue to feel so very proud and privileged to be your Director General so a huge well done and congratulations to all our nominees and our winners on the night: Debbie Cox, Shoshi Khan, Emma Winston, Laura Gomez-Fernandez, Linda Davies-Llewellyn, Michelle Fraser, Paula Turnock, Humayun Shouib and our team of the year Gwent Community Payback.

Staying on the theme of awards, this year sees the launch of the new Inspire Justice Awards, delivered by Skills for Justice. These awards are set to celebrate and shine a light on the wider justice workforce, including our Probation Service, that keeps our criminal justice system running smoothly.  There are ten categories including Probation Staff Member of the year and the closing date for nominations is the 8 August. Find out more about the awards and how to nominate by visiting: www.skillsforjustice.org.uk/inspire-justice-awards

I was really pleased that Jo Farrar, Second Permanent Secretary and HMPPS CEO was able to officially open our new Approved Premises in London last week – Joyce Meggie House.

It is great to see another site opening in London as we work towards our pledge to create an extra 200 beds in Approved Premises.

The Approved Premises was named to commemorate Joyce Meggie, who sadly passed away during the coronavirus pandemic. Joyce worked as a chef at Ellison House AP for 17 years and taught cookery skills to people in APs across London.

You can take a virtual look around Joyce Meggie House here.

Looking ahead to next week, the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) Act comes into effect on the 28th of June 2022. Alongside other measures, the Act introduces changes to Electronic Monitoring requirements on Community Orders and Suspended Sentence Orders for those convicted on or after the 28th of June 2022. These changes will apply across England and Wales.

The Electronic Monitoring Business Change and Stakeholder Engagement team have delivered briefing sessions to Probation staff to raise awareness of the change. A recording of the session and FAQs will be available on the HMPPS intranet and Probation Hub prior to these changes taking effect. EQuiP is also being updated to provide guidance and to reflect the recent process changes.

If you have any questions about the Electronic Monitoring changes introduced as part of the PCSC Act, please email emchange@justice.gov.uk.

As always, thank you for all you are doing.

Amy