Chris Grayling’s review of probation work, Transforming Rehabilitation, looks like it will require leading providers to be aligned with the Merlin standard of Supply Chain Management, or similar,  as used in DWP.

Merlin is a model with a stated aim of helping successful, high-performing supply chains to evolve, and to champion positive behaviours and relationships in the delivery of provision.

Merlin has lots of positives but, as it stands, the jury is out about whether it can add much more value in this new and complicated landscape.  Simply put, much greater depth in partnering and alliance working is essential for success, given the greater need for multi agency working going forward.

It should be remembered that the probation service and its partners across the public, private and third sectors have already been collaborating for years, albeit not always as efficiently and effectively as this new model requires.

This will take more investment in partnering capacity and capability building, as well as shared systems to avoid duplication, gaps, and to drive out costs. (See our video.)

Here at Alliantist, we feel there are opportunities to drive a different way of working that is not framed as ‘supply chain’ – although there will be tiers of providers sitting underneath the successful probation prime contractor.

Supply chain is an inappropriate metaphor for this new world: it will be much more of an integrated ecosystem, and reducing reoffending will need much less linear delivery than is normally associated with supply chains.

Care also has to be taken that fledging agencies in the new system are not overloaded by attempting to achieve ineffective accreditations.

We have to make sure they are given the chance to grow commercially and operationally.  Some form of action learning and award for ‘doing’ would be better.

Now, critics of the review suggest that it is merely an exercise in shifting the cost burden and head count away from the public sector balance sheet, with little material difference in what is delivered.

Whatever the value of the review, it can be seen as a vehicle to drive change, and design a service for the 21st century that still has its core values intact, but delivers with better technology, better tools and better rewards for staff and management – who perhaps have not had the best treatment in recent years.

And those that see this as an opportunity early on will have the best chance of flourishing in the future. And no one would argue about the need for better outcomes for offenders, victims and the communities in which they reside – in these core areas, improvement is always on the agenda.

But we also must not forget the great work being done under the existing model to enshrine great working practices.

An example of an existing and excellent quality management system that is already being used is the EFQM model Merseyside Probation Trust is working with.

Late last year MPT became the first public sector agency to win the prestigious British Quality Foundation’s UK Excellence Award, which recognises organisational excellence – ironic in the circumstances.

Alliantist is proud to say that we played a small part in this – much of the hard work that MPT put into achieving this great accolade was co-ordinated using our platform for achieving more, pam.

Of course, there are other continuous improvement and compliance standards around too, such as ISO 270001 – which, incidentally, Alliantist has achieved. We are one of only around 200 SME’s to do so, and the first to achieve the UKAS accreditation with an innovative online solution.

All this work by Probation Trusts on improving standards is arguably more valuable now than ever, and must not be allowed to get lost in the transformational changes about to occur.