Latest news with #MartinJones
BBC News
5 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Leicestershire probation service rated 'inadequate' by inspectors
The probation service in Leicestershire and Rutland has been rated "inadequate" for the second time in three years following visits by Leicestershire and Rutland Probation Delivery Unit (PDU) was inspected by HM Inspectorate of Probation in inspection found the delivery of services to reduce the risk of harm posed by people on probation "insufficient" in most Jones, chief inspector of probation said there had been "encouraging signs of improvement" since the 2022 inspection which concluded that services in the area were "inadequate". The HM Inspectorate report said the PDU was one of the "largest" by overall caseload in England and Wales, with offices in Leicester, Coalville and Loughborough. 'Lack of liaison' Mr Jones said: "Since the previous inspection in 2022 the PDU has faced ongoing challenges including high staff turnover, elevated sickness rates and, like all PDUs and regions, a prolonged period of significant and frequent changes linked to early prison releases."Only in the past six months has there been a noticeable shift towards improvement."The inspection found the leadership team at the PDU was "well-respected" and staff across all grades said they felt able to provide feedback to senior according to the report there was "a lack of professional curiosity" with practitioners not responding to new information when they received it as well as a "lack of liaison" with other inspection also found in 24% of cases where child safeguarding information should have been requested it had not been, and in 15% of cases no request had been made for domestic abuse information when it should have report made six recommendations to the PDU, including to improve the quality of work to assess and review risk of harm, and to develop practitioners' confidence and skills in the use of professional Ministry of Justice, which has overall control of the probation service, said the government is "on track" to recruit 2,300 more probation officers nationally by March next year.A spokesperson said: "This will help ensure offenders receive robust supervision and improve the work probation does to keep the public safe."
CTV News
7 days ago
- General
- CTV News
‘I'm here to survive': WWII vet celebrates turning 100 years old
The Edmonton Veterans Association Food Bank celebrated volunteer Martin Jones ahead of his 100th birthday on Friday. 'The gun barrels got so hot you had to bury them in sand.' Marty Jones told a few stories about his time in the Second World War to people at his 100th birthday celebration, hosted by the Veterans Association Food Bank (VAFB), on Tuesday morning. Martin (Marty) Jones birthday celebration Martin (Marty) Jones shares stories with people at this 100th birthday celebration hosted by the Veterans Association Food Bank Edmonton on May 27, 2025. (Evan Klippenstein/CTV News Edmonton) He was born in Lamont, Alta., and grew up in Lashburn, Sask. - serving with his brothers as a volunteer reservist in the Royal Canadian Navy, where he was involved in the Juno Beach landings in 1944. 'We just got the job done as fast as we could and got out,' Jones said, remembering how they made it out of the war. Lindsay Mac, food program manager at VAFB, said taking the time to celebrate one of their oldest members is 'big and meaningful.' 'Marty and his family sacrificed a lot for us during their career in the military … and it's really nice to take the time to celebrate him,' she told CTV News Edmonton during the festivities. 'Something huge like turning 100 – this doesn't happen every day.' Old picture of war veteran Martin Jones An old photo of Martin (Marty) Jones was on display at the birthday celebration hosted by Veterans Association Food Bank Edmonton on May 27, 2025. (Evan Klippenstein/CTV News Edmonton) Mac said a colleague asked Jones how he made it to the centennial milestone and his answer was to be kind to everyone. 'To be able to take a moment and recognize somebody who sacrificed so much and can still come in here and put a big smile on his face and bring a smile to all of us, it's really touching memories,' she described of the occasion. The VAFB helps Canadian Forces veterans, RCMP veterans, and active military members by providing food and emergency financial assistance if they need help making ends meet. 'We really try to do everything we can to support Canadian veterans and give back for what they've given for us,' Mac said, adding the VAFB is always in need of cash donations and non-perishable food for their hamper program. According to Mac, about 70 people attended the birthday party and a blanket was presented to Jones through the Quilts of Valour program. Jones said he doesn't bear any grudges to his former opponents in the war. 'We're all in the seniors place I'm in now,' Jones said. 'Some older people, they're from Germany and I said, 'Well, the war is over now. You people are my friends.'' 'You know I'm here to survive.' He added that the celebration with other veterans and current military members is a special reminder as they celebrate his 100th birthday a few days early. 'We're all in the same leaky boat. We patch each other's water holes. We work together and we bring the young people up with us in love and caring.' With files from CTV News Edmonton's Evan Klippenstein
CTV News
7 days ago
- General
- CTV News
Celebrating food bank volunteer's 100th birthday
Edmonton Watch The Edmonton Veterans Association Food Bank celebrated volunteer Martin Jones ahead of his 100th birthday on Friday.
BBC News
22-05-2025
- BBC News
Inspectorate rates Nottinghamshire probation services 'inadequate'
Probation services in Nottinghamshire have been rated "inadequate" following visits by inspectors. The Nottingham City Probation Delivery Unit (PDU) and the Nottinghamshire PDU were separately inspected by HM Inspectorate of Probation in services were found to be understaffed with "urgent improvements needed", and a number of recommendations for change were put Jones, chief inspector of probation, said both PDUs would be "undoubtedly disappointed", but he was confident improvements could be made. The inspections were the first to take place of each service since PDUs were established under the unification of probation services in Nottingham, inspectors had "serious concerns" about the quality of work to keep people safe with "insufficient focus on public protection". Mechanisms in place for sharing information with the police and children's services were too often ineffective, Mr Jones said. The report said there were failures to identify all potential children at risk and that practitioners did not seek out information from necessary local authorities. On one occasion, a practitioner made safeguarding inquiries in relation to a 31-year-old father who had received a suspended sentence for drug-related offences - but a response was not received for three months during which time the man's contact with his child was "not clearly assessed". Despite a range of available services and efforts made to meet "diverse needs" of people on probation, the inspection found there were "worryingly low rates of referrals across almost all the services on offer". The report made six recommendations to Nottingham PDU, including to improve the quality of work to assess, plan for, manage, and review risk of harm, and to ensure domestic abuse and safeguarding information was complete and sufficiently analysed in all found the Nottinghamshire PDU was understaffed despite there being positive team morale and a "healthy culture". 'Insufficient' Workloads were also sometimes unmanageable with staff covering for sickness or vacant posts, inspectors said."Staff were also struggling with the impact of large-scale, time-pressured changes to process which meant they were often fatigued or overwhelmed," the report said. Similarly to the city's unit, the quality of work to keep people safe was found to be "insufficient". Work to reduce reoffending was low in most cases that were looked at during the inspection and flagged in the report as a weakness for the unit. The report added that less than half of the people that needed it received sufficient help with alcohol and drug PDU, which has contact centres in Nottingham, Worksop, Mansfield and Newark, received five recommendations for included requests to ensure facilities to interview people on probation were safe and private, and to devise and implement arrangements for monitoring and improving the quality of sentence management work delivered by practitioners.A statement from Mr Jones said: "Given the improving resourcing picture at Nottingham City and the strong staff culture at Nottinghamshire, there are some potential building blocks for success in each PDU. "With an increased focus on the quality of service delivery and work to protect the public, I am confident improvements can be made."
The Guardian
21-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
More community sentences in England and Wales could be ‘catastrophic', warns watchdog
Plans to allow thousands more criminals in England and Wales to serve their sentence in the community risk 'catastrophic consequences' unless the Probation Service is overhauled, a watchdog has told the Guardian. Martin Jones, HM chief inspector of probation, said government plans to hand responsibility for overseeing offenders from prisons to probation officers meant the risk 'is carried directly into the community'. He called for extra funds, greater staff numbers, a slashing of red tape and better retention of experienced staff, saying that 'any response to simply shift demand from prison to probation will be ineffective at best, and dangerous at worst'. His comments come as Shabana Mahmood prepares to announce an overhaul of criminal justice on Thursday after the publication of an independent review carried out by David Gauke, a former Conservative justice secretary. Judges and magistrates in England and Wales will be told to move away from handing out short custodial sentences in favour of community based alternatives, increasing pressure on the probation service. Tens of thousands of criminals are expected to be tagged and overseen by probation officers in the community instead of being kept in jail. In comments before Gauke's formal announcement on Thursday morning, Jones said: 'Tomorrow's independent sentencing review has the opportunity to set out proposals to rebalance our criminal justice system, ensure those who commit crimes are properly punished, and keep our communities safe – this opportunity must be seized. 'However, if any reforms are to succeed, they must follow urgent improvements to tackle ongoing failings within the Probation Service, which remains under immense pressure. Too few staff, with too little experience, managing too many cases, means inspections routinely reveal significant deficits in work to protect the public, and missed opportunities to tackle reoffending. The clock is ticking to address these issues, and we have seen no evidence of improvement.' Jones, a former chief executive of the Parole Board, said government plans will expose the public to greater risk. 'My concern as chief inspector is that probation's risk, unlike prisons, is carried directly in the community, which means avoidable mistakes can have catastrophic consequences. Therefore, any response to simply shift demand from prison to probation will be ineffective at best, and dangerous at worst.' The government must pile more resources in so there are more staff, with more experience, and with better services to tackle the underlying causes of offending, he said. 'Detailed attention needs to be paid to ensuring the Probation Service has the capacity to cope with the work required, and the expertise and funding to ensure better delivery, interventions, and outcomes,' he said. Ministers must also cut through red tape and form-filling for probation officers if they are to spend more time monitoring dangerous criminals, he said. 'The Probation Service will need to work much more closely and effectively with the police and other agencies to protect the public from harm. Our inspections find that complicated and ineffective systems too often prevent probation officers from communicating and sharing information about risk effectively,' he said. Gauke's recommendations are expected to include allowing prisoners to earn their freedom after serving a third of their sentences under new minimum and maximum sentence plans. He will also say that magistrates should be encouraged to defer sentencing for some offenders for up to 12 months, instead of the current six, and encourage wider use of deferred sentences for pregnant women or those with substance dependencies. Reports this week claimed that the government had ordered tens of thousands of extra tags, which will be used to monitor offenders in the community. Gauke will call for suspended sentences to be made available for custodial sentences of up to three years, instead of the current two. Projections have shown that prisons are on course to run out of space by November.
