Amy’s message 19th August

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Amy Rees – Director General Probation, Wales and Youth


Update message to staff – Friday 19 August


This weekend sees our second annual Probation Day take place on the 21 August, giving us an opportunity for us to celebrate and tell others about the important work you do every single day across the Probation Service. I hope you were able to join our launch event this morning and are taking part in one of the many events happening across teams and regions over the next few days.

As part of the lead up to Probation Day, I really enjoyed visiting our Newport office in South Wales yesterday and spending some time with one of our trainee probation officers Karen Olding-Sims. It was really insightful to hear first hand from Karen about

her experience of training with us and I am so pleased we were able to recruit over 1500 trainee officers like Karen last year as they will be integral to growing and shaping our future Probation Service and continuing to deliver our vital work. Thank you to Karen and the team in Wales for the warm welcome I received.

I also want to highlight how grateful I am to everyone who is playing a role in supporting our trainees across teams and know how much this is also valued by them too from speaking to Karen – thank you all.

We are continuing to recruit many more PQIP learners this year so if you or any of your family or friends are interested in applying for one of these important roles please do look at the vacancies here at Justice Jobs.

A big well done to two colleagues from the South West region, Bryony King and Angela Auty who recently received “Highly Commended” certificates from the Confederation of European Probation for their public protection work. Bryony and Angela were both nominated for awards by their Regional Probation Director Angela Cossins, the awards panel highly commended them both so congratulations Bryony and Angela – flying the flag for the Probation Service across Europe!

Looking to the future, many of you will have read Jim’s article on One HMPPS setting out our very early thoughts about opportunities for closer regional working and improving the focus on the frontline. We spoke to senior leaders about this on Monday at our quarterly event with them and are keen for you to let us know what you think too so look out for events coming up in the autumn.

I am sure you will have also seen Jo Farrar’s message this week about changes to the senior leadership structure in HMPPS announced by the Permanent Secretary which Jo describes as our first step towards becoming One HMPPS through a more integrated leadership structure.  You will be kept updated on this over the next few weeks but please be assured that everyone’s focus continues to be on front line delivery and ensuring there will be absolutely no disruption, as a result of these changes.

Thank you as ever for all you do and enjoy Probation Day – I am very proud of you all

Amy

Amy’s Message 13 May 2022

/in /by

Amy Rees – Director General Probation, Wales and Youth


Update message to staff – Friday 13 May


Amy Rees - Director General for Probation

I have enjoyed seeing so many of you in person whilst working from some of our buildings during the last fortnight and hearing how you are making hybrid working a success across teams. Just a reminder that all our office based staff should be working from one of our buildings at least two days per week.  We are progressing really well in moving on from the very restrictive ways we had to work during the height of the pandemic so thank you for the roles you have all played in making this happen.

This week is Mental Health Awareness week, giving us an opportunity to discuss this very important subject.  Chris Jennings (Executive Director for HMPPS in Wales and Public Protection Group) chairs the HMPPS Wellbeing committee which brings together colleagues from a range of teams to make sure we are providing staff with the right support.  They have been reviewing the results of recent wellbeing surveys completed with staff across the Ministry of Justice and you can find out more about this along with the resources available to support discussions on mental health here: Mental Health Awareness Week

I also wanted to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to all our Mental Health allies across teams for the valuable role they play.  You can find out more about their work and how to become an Ally here: Mental Health Allies

Wednesday this week was National Staff Networks day and an opportunity to learn more about the networks available across HMPPS. We have great staff networks and I am grateful for the work they do each day in supporting colleagues.  Find out more about all the staff networks we have and how you can get involved as a member or an ally by following this link:  National staff networks day.

Next week is Learning at Work week with this year’s theme being Learning Uncovered where we are being encouraged to uncover learning potential; uncover hidden powers and uncover new dimensions.

There are a range of events taking place across MoJ to coincide with the week giving us all an opportunity to think about our own learning and professional development.

Insights 22 will also continue to run during Learning at Work week and it is not too late to get involved. There are still lots of events taking place and opportunities for you hear more about innovative projects taking place across HMPPS, find out about the work of our partners and many other great learning opportunities.

One very crucial area of practice for us to maintain up to date skills and knowledge in is Child Safeguarding and on Monday we are launching the Think Child campaign which aims to raise confidence and understanding of the very important role probation practitioners play in safeguarding the wellbeing of children.  There will be a range of informative through live and pre recorded events taking place during the fortnight of the campaign so please do get involved.

Finally, a reminder that the next internal recruitment campaign (PQiP13) opens on the 30 May and is open to staff qualified to level 3 (existing Probation Services Officers who have passed their six month probation period) or level 5 for all other staff. There are three webinars planned where you can find out more about the process and how to apply – please see details below and book your place if you are interested:

Introduction to becoming a trainee probation officer – programme overview including course details and part-time option:

Wednesday 18 May, 9.30am-10.30am

Hints & tips to completing your application – guidance on completing your application:

Thursday 19 May, 2pm-3pm, or

Wednesday 25 May, 2pm-3pm

As always, thank you for all you are doing.

Amy

Amy’s Message 1st March 2022

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Amy Rees – Director General Probation, Wales and Youth


Update message to staff – Tuesday 1 March


Amy Rees - Director General for Probation

I wanted to firstly focus upon wider global issues and acknowledge that the conflict in Ukraine will undoubtedly be a source of concern for many of you and for many of the people on probation we work with.  Please do remember that we have the Employee Assistance Line available for staff members which can be accessed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on: 0800 019 8988 and speak to your line manager if you have particular personal concerns. For people on probation impacted, please consider any additional support which could be factored into their sentence plan and think about the locally based organisations which may be able to assist in your region.

Along with all government departments, we are closely monitoring the situation and reviewing our business contingency plans as a matter of course.  You will be informed of any updates or changes to how we work resulting from these reviews.  In the meantime, please do continue to support each other and those we work with in the way you are all so fantastic at doing and do speak to someone if you are finding things difficult yourself.

Turning back to Probation, I recently held my quarterly update event with senior leaders from across the organisation.  These discussions are an opportunity to reflect on what is happening, where we want to put our efforts and what we need to think about going forward.

When I became Director General three years ago, I set three priorities for us – getting the change right, professional recognition and maximising influence.

For the most part we have done well, especially given the backdrop of a global pandemic.  But to ensure we hold ourselves to account, we will be doing some work with external colleagues to identify what has been delivered and where we still need some focus.  There will be an opportunity for some of you to contribute to this review and we will share the details with you of how you can get involved.

Looking forward however, and in discussion with senior leaders, we believe the time is right to move away from these priorities and instead move to a single new priority of ‘Delivering excellent practice’.  We know the last three years have been all about transactional change, but the time is now right to move away and refocus on our delivery and all of you, our frontline staff.  Everything we do now must be about quality and ensuring the work we are doing is the right work, that we have the right numbers of staff and you have the right tools and environment to deliver that important work.  I will be discussing this with you in more detail at our next all staff live event on the 30th March and look forward to hearing your thoughts then.

Another area of discussion at the event was the recently released People Survey results.  This was of course the first time the Survey had been held post-unification and we do not therefore have a previous baseline to compare findings with but based on your feedback, two of the biggest areas of concern you have are Pay & Benefits and Resources & Workload.  Given the complexity of these areas, we are going to be taking these forward centrally through the Workforce Programme and the Prioritising Probation project. Alongside this, we have asked all regions to also identify two areas for regional/local focus.

Only a third of respondents believed we would act on the findings of the People Survey and I would like to personally assure you that we will act and, provide regular updates to keep you informed as to how this work is going.

In other news, I am delighted to update you on our Reduce Reoffending (RR) plans. In November’s Spending Review, we secured £550m to reduce reoffending – a transformational investment that gives us the opportunity to make a genuine difference by providing the people in our care with the support they need to lead a crime-free life.

Last year the RR team launched a new scheme to provide transitional housing to prison leavers.  We are working with education providers to create a new Prisoner Education Service and roll out local Employment Boards and Hubs across the country.  We are also strengthening the continuity of care for people with substance misuses issues.   To support all this work, we will be recruiting over 500 new staff – some based in prisons and some in the community – who will be responsible for driving this agenda at a local level.

This is exciting work being led by Matt Grey and his team in the Reducing Reoffending, Partnerships and Accommodation directorate and we will be keeping you up to date with progress.

Finally, today (1 March) is St David’s Day so wishing all Welsh colleagues Dydd Gwyl Dewi Hapus – A Happy St David’s Day and I look forward to joining the HMPPS in Wales awards ceremony being held today to celebrate the achievements of some of our staff in Wales.

As always, thank you for all you are doing.

Amy

Amy’s Message 11th February 2022

/in , /by

Amy Rees – Director General Probation, Wales and Youth


Update message to staff – Friday 11 February


Amy Rees - Director General for Probation

Thank you to everyone who joined the event we held on Tuesday to discuss the findings of the Race Survey we jointly conducted with our staff network RISE and our Trade Unions NAPO and UNISON.  Over a thousand of you were on the call and shared your thoughts and questions with us.  As I said during the call, I am saddened and disappointed by the findings of the survey – I want everyone who works for us to feel included and valued and able to be their very best at work. My senior team and I are absolutely committed to taking positive action across the Probation Service to achieve this.

We will continue to keep you updated on the action we are taking throughout the year and you can find details of regional and national events taking place here.  We are really keen to ensure these events are useful for you so if you did join us on Tuesday, please take a couple of minutes to let us know what you thought about the event by completing this short survey. This survey is entirely anonymous and the information will only be used to help us improve future events.

A few of you asked during the call how you can become involved with RISE and become a Race Ally.  I would really encourage you to do so and you can find the details of how to here

Please also remember we have established the Tackling Unacceptable Behaviours Unit (TUBU) – this is a confidential service to support any staff member experiencing unacceptable behaviour.  The helpline can be contacted on 0300 131 0052 Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm (excluding Bank Holidays).  You can find out more here: Confidential Helpline – HMPPS Intranet (gsi.gov.uk)

Last week I was invited to join a ‘Confident about Cancer’ session to mark World Cancer Day.  It was incredibly moving to hear staff members with lived experience of cancer share their stories.  Thank you so much to the amazing Lou Horton for organising the event and the great work she is doing. You can read her story and find out more about sources of support for anyone with concerns about cancer here.

On Monday, Phil Copple (Director General for Prisons) and I launched the programme for Young Adult’s Awareness week. Phil and I were really pleased to have the opportunity to talk about our joint approach to this important work.  By working together across the system, we can make a real difference to the experiences of young adults and achieve better outcomes for them and the communities in which they live. I hope you have been able to join in one of the events taking place this week but if not, the recordings will be available for you to access on My Learning very soon.

On Thursday I joined the Deputy Prime Minister on a visit to HMP Prescoed. The visit focused on apprenticeships and employment outcomes and we went to Cilwrgi Farm where many of the men carry out purposeful activity. The visit was a brilliant reminder of the importance of our work to reduce reoffending and support the people we work with to change their lives. You may be interested to see some of the media coverage today (Friday) about the introduction of apprenticeships in English prisons.

Finally, as I have previously mentioned, this month is LGBT+ history month with lots of events happening to raise awareness and celebrate the history of our LGBT+ community.  I enjoyed having a sneak preview of some of the brilliant and very creative artwork, poems, films and models sent in by staff, people on probation and people in prisons for the art exhibition taking place on 24 February. It is organised by the Pride in Prisons and Probation (PiPP) staff network and NOVUS and centres on the theme of Inclusion. You can find out more about the exhibition and how you can get involved here. There are also many other events still to come this month. I have included details below so do have a look and join in whenever you can.

Thanks as ever for all you are doing

Amy

LGBT+ History Month Events:

14 February

15 February

16 February

17 February

21 February

23 February

24 February

Amy’s Message 28th January 2022

/in , /by

Amy Rees – Director General Probation, Wales and Youth


Update message to staff – Friday 28 January


Amy Rees - Director General for Probation

As I am sure you will agree, it has been pleasing to hear and read more positive news regarding COVID during recent days with infection rates lowering and government restrictions being lifted. Our Gold Command team continue to meet daily and work closely with Regional Probation Directors to review probation delivery and what the changes mean for us.  We remain optimistic that we will be able to transition from Exceptional Delivery Model arrangements from Monday next week, enabling regions to implement the new Prioritisation Framework.  This new tool has been developed as part of the Prioritising Probation project and will give Regional Probation Directors more flexibility in bringing together wider workload management considerations and the ongoing response to COVID in your region.

Staying on the subject of Prioritising Probation, Kim and the team involved are making steady progress with work to reduce pressure on front line teams. You can find the latest developments here, including a review of how we recruit to speed up the process and bring in more recruits than ever for the service.

I really enjoyed having the opportunity to talk to some of you during the last fortnight at all staff calls hosted by Wales and by the Greater Manchester region and at a NAPO event this week.  I always appreciate opportunities to hear directly from you and to discuss examples of the great local initiatives taking place. Thank you to everyone who joined the calls and I look forward to the ones coming up in other regions over the next few months.

February sees two important events taking place which I wanted to highlight and encourage you to get involved in.  It is LGBT+ history month and there are lots of events taking place throughout the month to celebrate the rich history of our LBGT+ community.  You can find the details of these here.

February 7 sees the launch of HMPPS Young Adults Awareness week and I am very much looking forward to joining Phil Copple (Director General for Prisons) at the event we are hosting at 2.00pm that day – please do join us by following this link. There will be a programme of virtual events taking place throughout the week designed to improve understanding of the distinct needs of Young Adults and shine the spotlight on good practice, innovation and available tools. Further information on events taking place can be found here.

Finally, another reminder that the Prison and Probation Awards nomination process is now open.  You have until 23 February to nominate your colleagues for the fantastic work they do every day.  Nominations can be submitted via your PDU Head or your Head of Service so please do get involved – find out more here.

Thank you as ever for all you are doing

Amy Rees

Amy’s Message 14th January 2022

/in , /by

Amy Rees – Director General Probation, Wales and Youth


Update message to staff – Friday 14 January


Amy Rees - Director General for Probation

Happy New Year to you all and a big thank you again to everyone who worked during the Christmas period to keep delivering frontline services – I know this will also have been hugely appreciated by lots of vulnerable people across our communities. Congratulations to all HMPPS and partnership recipients of the Queen’s New Years Honours List 2022 and the Butler Trust Awards including our very deserving Probation winners – Al Reid, Kathryn Munson, Lilian Malama and Vicky Walton – I am really proud of you all.

Nominations have now opened for this year’s Prison and Probation Awards, another opportunity for you to nominate your brilliant colleagues to be recognised for their work.  You have until 23 February to get your nominations in via your PDU Head or your Head of Service so please do get involved – find out more here.

Unfortunately we start the year continuing to respond to COVID in our personal and professional lives.  We have had to reinstate Exceptional Delivery Models for some of our work in England and Wales as a temporary measure but we are keeping this under close review.  There have been lots of developments with staff testing during recent weeks so please do make sure you understand how testing applies to you and your workplace – you can find out more in this week’s Probation News. Finally please can I continue to encourage you to take up the COVID vaccination and booster when this is offered to you – this remains our primary defence against the virus so do get yours and please remember to record this on SOP.

Notwithstanding the ongoing challenges of COVID, there are also positive updates to share with you as we begin 2022.  We have commenced a big recruitment campaign this week to employ  500 new Community Payback staff.  These roles help us make a huge difference to communities and support people to make positive changes to their lives. If you know people who may be interested please let them know we are looking.  Details can be found  here.

Staying with recruitment, January also sees the launch of the PQIP 12 recruitment campaign – for trainee Probation Officers.  We have three strands to this month’s campaign starting with applications for the PSO progression route which is live now and closes on the 16 January.  Applications for other internal MoJ colleagues open on 17 January and the external campaign opens on 31 January – find out more about all the routes and how to apply on the Probation Hub.

Kim Thornden-Edwards and team are making good progress with the Prioritising Probation work which we launched last month to look at practical ways in which pressure on front line staff can be reduced. You can read an update from Kim on the work here.

Finally, looking ahead to February, it is LGBT+ History month.  The Pride in Prisons and Probation staff network together with NOVUS have been working on a collective outcome for the month focusing on the theme of belonging.  This has included an Art Project for which they have had some excellent responses from people in probation and in prisons, but they would also like to include your thoughts on the theme which will take the form of postcards in the final collection. If you would like to share a few words on what ‘Belonging and Inclusion’ mean to you then please send your thoughts to pipp_hmpps@justice.gov.uk (please let them know when sending your email if you would like your name included in the postcard or whether you would prefer to remain anonymous.)

There will be lots of events and other opportunities coming up during February for you to celebrate the rich history of our LGBT+ community so please look out for more information coming soon.

Thank you as ever for all you are doing

Amy