Agenda item

Lucien Spencer (Head of Service: Bromley and Lewisham Probation Delivery Unit) addressed the Committee. This followed his recent presentation to the Safer Bromley Partnership Board on the 12th of January. The HMIP had conducted an inspection of the  Lewisham and Bromley Probation Delivery Unit during the Summer of 2022. Forty two cases had been scrutinised and six PDUs were audited across the South London region. Mr Spencer reported that four PDUs had been assessed as  ‘inadequate’ and this included Lewisham and Bromley. The South London ratings were reflective of the national picture. In terms of the national ratings, the Bromley and Lewisham PDU was somewhere in the middle. The inspections focused on the management of risk of serious harm. Subsequent to the audit, an action plan had been developed and a further audit took place and some improvement had been proven.

Mr Spencer explained that since the Probation Service was split into Probation Delivery Units and Community Rehabilitation Centres (CRC), the organisation had in effect experienced 10 years of disruption. There had been recruitment difficulties and operational challenges. With the CRC units folding, there was a general deficiency in trainee and experienced officers. No quick fix existed for the Probation Service. The current vacancy rate was in the region of 25%. On the positive side, Community Payback and  Integrated Offender Management (IOM) were working well and there was a good relationship with the local authority and other partners.

A Member asked why there were problems with recruitment and retention. The Head of Service for the PDU responded and said that this was a multifaceted problem that dated back some 10 years. There had been a framework change in 2012 which had resulted in a significant reduction in the number of probation officers being trained. There was now however, a significant uplift in the number of new officers being trained. Some officers left naturally and others moved on into other services like the police or the health sector. Nationally, there was now a significant uplift in training. Three new cohorts would be coming to London in March, this would mean that 125 new officers would be entering into the service then. It was acknowledged that the Probation Service needed to look at staff working conditions, particularly with respect to manageable workloads.

Reference was made to the Jordan McSweeney case and what safeguards existed to prevent a similar incident occurring in Bromley. Mr Spencer responded and said that there was better communication now between the Probation Services and the Police and a new framework for reporting. The process for recalls was now more robust.

A document had since been drafted which was relevant for the whole of London. This document was referred to as ‘the action plan for London’. This document detailed recommended actions subsequent to lessons learned from the Jordan McSweeney case. The actions were live and open to review and HMIP was very much involved in this.

It was expected that the next inspection of Lewisham and Bromley PDU would take place in approximately two and a half years. Mr Spencer informed the Committee that Lewisham and Bromley PDU had developed its own internal quality improvement programme which was based on the recommendations from the HMIP report on the Jordan McSweeney case; this noted their performance against the recommendations of the report. This was not a public document but it was shared  with HMIP.

The Chairman noted the ongoing work being undertaken to improve the performance of Lewisham and Bromley PDU and he thanked Mr Spencer for attending. Mr Spencer agreed to supply another update in a year’s time.

The Chairman referenced page 87 of the agenda pack which was the Crime Performance Dashboard data provided by the police. The Chairman commented that he was not happy with the format of the data as it was difficult to read. He requested that the police be made aware of this.

(Post meeting note: An email was sent by the Committee Clerk on behalf of the Chairman regarding this matter on 23^rd February 2023).

A concern was raised regarding the increase in knife crime and the fact that Bromley now had seven active gang nominals.  The Chairman responded and said that these concerns would be noted for the attention of the police. The Chairman of the Safer Neighbourhood Board hoped that because Bromley had now been allocated a dedicated Superintendent, the situation may improve.

RESOLVED:

1) That the Head of Service for Bromley and Lewisham PDU attend the Committee in a year’s time to provide a further update on progress made by the Probation Service against the recommendations of HMIP.

2) That the police should be made aware that the format of the data provided with respect to the Crime Performance Dashboard be provided in a manner that was easier to read.

3) Concerns should be raised with the police regarding the increase in knife crime and in the number of gang nominals in Bromley.