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On Probation
The 5th Commandment of Payment by Results: Thou shall not pay for deadweight

Payment by results is about driving improvement, so no self-respecting PBR scheme will pay for results that will happen anyway, known in the jargon is “deadweight”. The proportion of deadweight in a PbR funded initiative varies markedly across different spheres of operation. Despite all the adverse publicity about reoffending rates which has accompanied the debate about the Rehabilitation Revolution, 65.8% of those supervised in the community and 53.1% of those released from prison do NOT re-offend in the first year. However, when we look at the Work Programme…

Digital Engagement
Police, Twitter and major incidents

Any major incident provokes a firestorm of reaction on Twitter and other social media outlets. In the wake of events such as the terrorist killing of Drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich what should the police be doing online. Amongst the general noise and bot-generated confusion, there are opportunities to keep the public reliably informed and gather some key intelligence.

Payment by Results
The 4th Commandment of Payment by Results: Thou shall not covet milestones

The introduction of milestones exacerbates the problems of complexity highlighted above, requiring even more time and resources from commissioners and providers and even more onerous data collection systems. But even worse is the fact that as soon as you have indicators, people start focusing on them, instead of the intended outcomes.
Which takes us straight back to the culture of micro-management by targets which PbR is trying hard to leave behind.

On Probation
Don’t write off probation in the rehabilitation revolution

There have been better times to be a probation officer. It’s not the easiest job in the world at the best of times and, like every other public service, probation trusts have had to implement year-on-year financial cuts for the last few years. But 2013 is the toughest year yet. 70% of probation’s work is being outsourced and a wide range of large private and voluntary sector organisations are seeking to take over the work. Recently the MoJ has acknowledged that probation trusts could spin out public service mutuals and bid for their “own” work.

Digital Engagement
Promote your event with social media. Step 3: Consolidate

This is the third in a mini-series on how to use social media to extend the reach of your event and take people with you on a journey of discovery about the work your organisation does. There are plenty of opportunities to consolidate learning and engage new supporters after your event.

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Prison, probation, police, substance misuse, commissioning & payment by results.

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