LSC plans major changes amidst uncertainty on future of NOMS

By Dominic Murphy 30/9/7

THE LEARNING AND SKILLS COUNCIL DRAFT PROSPECTUS FOR OFFENDER LEARNING AND SKILLS WAS LAUNCHED 5 SEPTEMBER. 
The Prospectus presents an LSC plan for a “radical change” of offender learning.  The time table is tight.  There are 9 regional road-shows to mobilise consultation, ending in Leeds on October 3rd.   Consultation ends 26th October.   There will be a survey of offender learning and skills throughout the estate later this year.  Based on its analysis, a detailed technical proposal will be published in January 2008.  The new provision will go live in August 2009 when contracts are due for renewal.

The Prospectus states four objectives.  These are:

• To reform the provision of learning to prisoners and prioritise the curriculum for each institution
• Improve learning provision for offenders in the community
• Make sure learning is joined-up with other inputs to resettlement
• Bring the offender learning sector in line with quality management elsewhere.

RESOURCES WILL BE RE-ALLOCATED
The most sensitive issues relate to the allocation of resources on a prison by prison basis.  The Prospectus says:

“The budget available to the LSC for the provision of learning and skills to offenders in custody and in the community cannot meet the full demand from a sector of the population with poor levels of achievement. … the LSC must prioritise.”  [LSC September 2007 p6]

The Prospectus goes on to state:

“Criminal justice area reviews (CJARs) will provide valuable information on current curriculum arrangements. This information will assist with the transition process to the new offender learning curriculum.

Each establishment will be allocated an establishment learning profile (ELP) that indicates the proportion of its provision in each Offender Learning Curriculum (OLC) area. Thus the process is individualised but is part of a complete national picture.”
 [LSC September 2007 para. 79 & 80, p25]
 
The census of activity named CJAR will be very important in deciding the curriculum changes that will take place.  At a Prospectus road-show in Wembley on Tuesday 25th September senior LSC management responsible for the plan stated that the CJAR process will be contracted out to an independent organisation and that it will take place “sometime later this year”.  They also stated that the technical proposal published in January 2008 will be definitive.

MOMENTOUS PROPOSALS NEEDING CONSULTATION
No one should be in doubt that the Prospectus will have a momentous impact.  It will have a significant impact on the working lives of those at the coalface.

The task facing the LSC is very difficult.  They are dealing with a complex interrelated system.  They will need all the advice that they can get to strike a successful balance between the hard facts of cost and efficiency and the soft, but crucial, realities of motivating offenders to change their ways.

SOME OF THE ISSUES FACING THE LSC INCLUDING POSSIBLE END TO NOMS
Having studied the Prospectus and attended the London road-show on Tuesday 25 September, I have views on the key issues.  Here is my list:

• The current overcrowding of prisons causes prisoners to stick in local prisons, thereby blurring the boundaries between the education needs of local and training prisons.  This is not going away.  Average figures for length of stay may hide important detail about offenders ready for work and needing learning and skills to get them into jobs.  So each prison must be viewed case by case, independently of categorisations such as Local or Training.
• Detailed discussion with prison governing governors is vital to achieve a workable solution.  This point was made strongly by a senior NOMS manager at the road-show I attended.
• NOMS itself is rumoured to be unstable.  This may cause unpredictable changes in the context for policy [Times Online 28-9-7] [Guardian Unlimited 28-9-7].
• A balance must be struck between effective control and unwarranted micro-management, which can sap the morale and energy of those professionals responsible for the vital final step of delivery.
• The delivery of Enterprise Skills is important.  A seminal report on reoffending said that for some ex-offenders self-employment may be the only route to work [SEU 2002  para. 8.12 p56].  Of the intake to my large London local prison 26% state that they were self-employed.   A focus on the needs of potential employers when prioritising the curriculum should not disregard the need for offering Enterprise Skills.
• Resources should not be diverted from those most job-ready to support those with further to travel in their learning journey.  This would stop potential quick wins in reducing reoffending and possibly discourage potential employers of ex-offenders, thereby slowing the whole process.  Speaking at a resettlement conference in London on Thursday 27 September (to be reported in our next paper) Jim Narey (of Business In The Community) made two telling points.  Nothing turns off a prospective employer more than being offered inadequate candidates.  For the sake of all, those sent for jobs must be truly ready.  Secondly, early success in increasing job placement will reduce re-offending, leaving more resources for those who stick in the system.
• Proposals to exclude Lifers [LSC September 2007 para. 83 p26] seem inhumane and will cause barriers when learning and skills professionals approach them in the final two years.  I’ve had some success giving long term prisoners vocational training in enterprise skills.  Their work is focused on building social enterprises that can function in their world, now, in prison.   This sustains habits of work during the long haul.  Such opportunities, to use the prison experience of long term inmates to benefit themselves and improve the decency of prison life, should not be ignored.

GIVE THE LSC YOUR VIEWS ON THE PROSPECTUS  
These are some of my reactions to the Prospectus.  The plans outlined by the LSC will greatly change delivery of offender learning and skills.   The job of getting the plans right is very difficult.  So it is vital that you give the LSC the benefit of your views.

You can get the Prospectus, get news of the final road shows and participate in the consultation by going to the LSC website .  The last road-show is on October 3rd.  You have till October 26th to send your views to the LSC.  Don’t delay.

REFERENCES

Richard Ford (28 September 2007), Offender scheme axed early as Justice Ministry tries to save reputation, Times Online, see WWW site at URL: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article2547545.ece  (accessed 29 Sept 2007)

Alan Travis (28 September 2007), 'Disaster area' prison and probation agency to be scrapped in weeks, Guardian Unlimited, see WWW site at URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,,2178937,00.html  (accessed 30 Sept 2007)

Social Exclusion Unit (July 2002), Reducing re-offending by ex-prisoners, HMG Cabinet Office, see WWW site at URL:  http://www.thelearningjourney.co.uk/file.2007-10-01.1714894439/file_view (accessed 29 Sept 2007)

LSC (September 2007), Developing the Offenders’ Learning and Skills Service: The Prospectus, Learning and Skills Council, see WWW site at URL: http://readingroom.lsc.gov.uk/lsc/National/Prospectus.pdf (accessed 29 Sept 2007)

For Prospectus road-shows and consultation documents see the LSC website at URL: http://olass.lsc.gov.uk/NR/exeres/BBCE18C8-4D2A-4340-AEE4-0A0E9E2FAFCA.htm (accessed 29 Sept 2007)