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Jim Brown @jimbrownblogger.bsky.social · 7h

Clash of Cultures #probation #prison
probationmatters.blogspot.com/2025/10/clas...

I saw this cartoon from Private Eye online in August and I've been pondering how to use it. For me it epitomises how huge chunks of the Civi...

probationmatters.blogspot.com

Jim Brown @jimbrownblogger.bsky.social · 7h

Clash of Cultures #probation #prison
probationmatters.blogspot.com/2025/10/clas...

Clash of Cultures

I saw this cartoon from Private Eye online in August and I've been pondering how to use it. For me it epitomises how huge chunks of the Civi...

probationmatters.blogspot.com

Jim Brown @jimbrownblogger.bsky.social · 8d

Decision Must be Reversed #probation #prison
probationmatters.blogspot.com/2025/10/deci...

Decision Must Be Reversed

Lets return to this nonsense of photo graphing, naming and shaming offenders given Unpaid Work Orders, a process bugun of course by Louise C...

probationmatters.blogspot.com

Jim Brown @jimbrownblogger.bsky.social · 15d

"The fact the blog is still going, that contributions keep flowing & that there are impassioned posts means that the Probation ethos of "everyone has the capacity for change" will not rest, that making the effort to advise, assist & befriend is not a lost art."

Jim Brown @jimbrownblogger.bsky.social · 15d

13 Million #probation #prison
probationmatters.blogspot.com/2025/09/13-m...

13 Million

I've just noticed we've passed another milestone with 13 million visits recorded over the 15 year life of this blog. I guess there's no way ...

probationmatters.blogspot.com

Jim Brown @jimbrownblogger.bsky.social · 16d

A Reminder #probation #prison
probationmatters.blogspot.com/2025/09/a-re...

A Reminder

Once gain thanks must go to long-time reader and supporter 'Getafix for ferreting-out the following article from 2020 and published on an A...

probationmatters.blogspot.com

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Jim Brown @jimbrownblogger.bsky.social · 17d

Dear Mr Jones #probation #prison
probationmatters.blogspot.com/2025/09/dear...

Dear Mr Jones,

We’ve all read your cry for help on behalf of probation. And yes, it must be heard. But I can’t help wondering, who exactly are you talking ...

probationmatters.blogspot.com

Jim Brown @jimbrownblogger.bsky.social · 29d

A Good Question #probation #prison
probationmatters.blogspot.com/2025/09/a-go...

probationmatters.blogspot.com

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Jim Brown @jimbrownblogger.bsky.social · Sep 8

Indeed! I notice increasingly that HMIP is filling a vacuum with its Insight research and practice papers, however this seems strikingly at odds both with political moves and a crumbling service riven with bullying, racism etc.

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Jim Brown @jimbrownblogger.bsky.social · Sep 7

"That is the true picture: a service on the brink, obsessed with bureaucratic compliance while neglecting its workforce, its purpose, its identity, and its integrity. Ignorant to everything positive the Probation Institute or anyone else has to say." 5/5

Jim Brown @jimbrownblogger.bsky.social · Sep 7

"And yet, the overriding national priority, the one thing managers insist on is ensuring every practitioner completes mandatory training and professional registration by the end of the month." 4/5

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Jim Brown @jimbrownblogger.bsky.social · Sep 7

"While deckchairs are endlessly shuffled at the top, around 10,000 vacancies remain unfilled." 3/5

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Jim Brown @jimbrownblogger.bsky.social · Sep 7

"...then the service is staring into a very bleak future (with a crass and dangerous looking Reform leader grinning back with a pint in hand)." 2/5

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Jim Brown @jimbrownblogger.bsky.social · Sep 7

"Reading the Rademaker report alongside recent HMIP findings is sobering. If probation cannot get a grip on racism, bullying, and harassment, and continues to be rated universally inadequate (while probation senior managers and leaders remain silent)..." 1/5

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Jim Brown @jimbrownblogger.bsky.social · Sep 7

Guest Blog 103 #probation #prison
probationmatters.blogspot.com/2025/09/gues...

Guest Blog 103

A Service on the Brink Let me explain the predicament. Nobody speaks with authority for probation, and nobody listens to or recognises those...

probationmatters.blogspot.com

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Jim Brown @jimbrownblogger.bsky.social · Sep 6

"The PI was regarded with great suspicion at its inception. Now might be a good time for probation staff to reconsider that."

Reposted by Jim Brown

Disillusioned With Conservatives @neverevertory.bsky.social · Sep 5

Can we take a minute to recognise Angela Rayner has taken accountability by owning up to her mistake, correcting it, referring herself to ministerial standards & now resigning.

Not one single Tory MP did this & was always backed by the prime minister especially Boris Johnson.

#UkPolitics

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Jim Brown @jimbrownblogger.bsky.social · Sep 5

"Probation does not shy away from the control aspects of the work, but does place such controls in a context of care and concern." 3/3

Jim Brown @jimbrownblogger.bsky.social · Sep 5

"Probation practitioners recognise that a key aspect of their work is putting clear and firm boundaries in place, alongside creating supportive and motivational relationships with those under their supervision." 2/3

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Jim Brown @jimbrownblogger.bsky.social · Sep 5

"The Probation Service has more than a century of working with people with criminal convictions to enable them to reform, and to reintegrate into their communities." 1/3

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Jim Brown @jimbrownblogger.bsky.social · Sep 5

"These structural disadvantages seem likely to be further entrenched by the provisions of the Sentencing Bill. The Probation Institute regards this as a golden opportunity to forefront a rehabilitative narrative and agenda - in its current form, the Bill appears to be a missed opportunity." 2/2

Jim Brown @jimbrownblogger.bsky.social · Sep 5

"Any probation practitioner will be acutely aware that many of the people they are supervising have been victims of crime themselves, with consequences of trauma and diminution in opportunities to achieve, notably in education and work." 1/2

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Jim Brown @jimbrownblogger.bsky.social · Sep 5

'Punitive, stigmatising and discriminatory' #probation #prison
probationmatters.blogspot.com/2025/09/puni...

'Punitive, stigmatising and discriminatory'

I notice the Probation Institute, quietly, politely but thoroughly, pours copious quantities of cold water over the Sentencing Bill proposa...

probationmatters.blogspot.com

Reposted by Jim Brown

Aurigny.bsky.social @aurigny.bsky.social · Sep 3

I share your despair. It is almost as though there is a determination to prove all the evidence about effectiveness wrong with recent policy announcements.

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Jim Brown @jimbrownblogger.bsky.social · Sep 3

I Despair #probation #prison
probationmatters.blogspot.com/2025/09/i-de...

I Despair

Listening to Radio 4 last night, I became aware of yet another story I'd missed, namely that concerning the Safer Living Foundation based ...

probationmatters.blogspot.com

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