Justice Week 8-12 December 2008

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November 30, 2006

Impressive support for Stop the Bill Lobby

Yesterday's lobby of Parliament was a great launch, within Parliament, of Napo's campaign against the Offender Management Bill. Over 250 members from across England and Wales turned out to see their MPs and to cram into Committee Room 14 in the House of Commons to hear MPs, Peers and other supporters condemn the Government's plans and pledge support.

As Judy McKnight said in her speech at the rally, "when we know the breadth of support we’ve got it is just the boost we need to keep up this fight."

She continued: "Because there is no doubt the message we have to give today to Tony Blair, to John Reid, to Gerry Sutcliffe – they’re all banking on the fact that after all these years, nearly 3 years now that the Carter report came out, they’re probably assuming that we’re going to start to give up... But we are still here, we haven’t flagged, we will stay fighting our corner, defending our service, speaking out for what is proper, what is just, what is evidence based and what is true.”

Speakers at the rally included Tony Benn, Lord Ramsbotham, Baroness Stern, Frances Crook (Howard League), Brendan Barber (TUC), Martin Wargent (PBA), and MPs Neil Gerrard, John Grogan, David Drew, Elfyn Llwyd, John McDonnell, Austin Mitchell and Nick Clegg, and Judy McKnight and Harry Fletcher from Napo.

Baroness Stern, who is a member of the Board advising the Scottish Executive on the setting up of Community Justice Authorities, told members of the 'new levels of cooperation' in the Scottish system, contrasting this to the Home Office's belief that 'competition will drive up performance'. Read her speech in full here.

More pictures and speeches to follow over the next few days.

Posted by kfalcon at 12:01 PM

November 23, 2006

Offender Management Bill published

The Offender Management Bill was published this morning.

Download a copy here.

Napo put out the following press release to coincide with the publication.

Embargo – Thursday 23rd November 2006

National Offender Management Bill

Commenting on the publication today, 23rd November, of the Home Office’s National Offender Management Bill, Harry Fletcher, Assistant General Secretary of Napo, the Probation Union, said:

“This Bill will, if implemented, lead to the abolition of the National Probation Service and its replacement with a competitive market. Local accountability would be lost, information sharing between agencies will be diminished by competition, and public protection compromised. The Bill is not about improving standards, it is about privatisation, yet to date no business case has been produced by the Government to show how the replacement of Probation by a market will actually work and improve the delivery of service. Whole probation Areas could be sold off under the arrangements, including the supervision of high risk offenders.

The experience of privatisation in probation work so far has been a disaster. The management of property and hostel facilities such as cooking and cleaning were privatised three years ago and resulted in a 30% hike in prices and a dramatic fall in standards. Indeed, the contracts are currently being renegotiated.”

He added:

“ The sale of the Probation Service was first justified by Ministers on the grounds that it was failing. Yet, this experiment comes at a time when Probation is performing better than ever. Ministers then said that reconviction rates were too high. In reality the rates are significantly lower than those for prison. Adjusted figures show that during the two-year period after completion of probation between 41% and 46% are involved in a further offence compared to 67% from custody.

Statements by Ministers that the re-offending rates are the same are totally inaccurate. The Probation Service is an agent of justice and the courts and must not become an agent of commerce and profit.

The way forward is through partnership with the voluntary and private sector not competition. The Government should look to arrangements in Scotland for offender management where there is a statutory duty on agencies to cooperate with each other to reduce re-offending.”

He added:

“Napo will be urging MPs of all Parties to vote against the relevant clauses which remove the power from local Areas to commission and give them to the Secretary of State, and therefore pave the way for privatisation. A lobby of Parliament has been organised for 29th November and a meeting will be held in Committee Room 14 addressed by MPs who share Napo’s concern.”

Ends

Further biefings on the Bill will be sent to MPs, branches and members in the coming days.

Posted by kfalcon at 03:37 PM

November 17, 2006

Impressive turnout expected for Stop the Bill lobby 29 November

Signs indicate an impressive turnout for the rally and lobby of Parliament on Wednesday 29 November, with a number of branches organising coaches and many individual members reporting that they will be meeting their MPs on the day.

Committee Room 14 has been booked from 12.00 for a rally with speeches from 12.30 to 14.30 from, among others, Tony Benn, Brendan Barber (TUC), MPs Neil Gerrard, Elfyn Llwyd, Nick Clegg and John McDonnell, Baroness Stern and Lord Ramsbotham.

Following discussions with Police Operations we are advised that everyone will have to join the lobby queue - even if you have a specific appointment with your MP. Members are advised to start queuing from 11.30am (if possible).

- If you DO NOT have an appointment to see your MP at a specific time but know they are around, you should fill out a green card at reception when you get in, to have them called, then wait in Central Lobby. (The police advise waiting no more than 30 minutes to avoid blocking others getting in, as numbers in central lobby are restricted). You can then go to the rally in Committee Room 14. Please note you will not be able to go to the rally first then return to Central Lobby to fill in a card. If you try you will be made to queue again.

- If you DO have an appointment to see your MP, you should start gueuing at least 1 hour before the set time. If you are early you can go to the rally then keep the appointment and return to the rally. If the appointment is outside the Houses of Parliament, however, you will not be able to leave then get back in without queuing.

- If you want to come to the rally but will not be lobbying your MP because you know they are not around you can go straight to Committee Room 14.

Important: The police advise people to take as few personal belongings with them as possible to speed up security and therefore the queue.

All members planning to lobby should write to their MP in advance. A short letter is fine and some suggested wording can be downloaded below.

model letter

You should also tell your branch you will be lobbying so we can make sure of an efficient lobbying process.

Posted by kfalcon at 03:42 PM

November 14, 2006

New leaflet - 10 reasons to oppose the Bill

A new 'Stop the Bill' leaflet is available now from branches and from Kath Falcon at Chivalry Road. It sets out Napo's arguments for opposing the Bill and can be used when lobbying MPs and also to give to contacts and colleagues in the justice field, local councillors, solicitors, judges, and others.

Download a copy here

Posted by kfalcon at 10:11 AM

November 06, 2006

Lords criticise Statutory Instrument on Boards

Friday saw a debate in the House of Lords on SI2664, proposing changes to the set-up of Probation Boards in advance of the Bill, led by Baroness Joyce Anelay and Lord Avebury.

Read the debate in full here

Posted by kfalcon at 02:09 PM