Monthly reports from the Senior Management Team –November 2016

Every month the Senior Management Team (SMT) hold a meeting to discuss and agree key aspects of RAPt work and strategy. Each member of the SMT submits an update on their directorate ahead of the meeting. These are edited to remove any commercially sensitive or confidential information and published here on the intranet. For that reason not all departments have a report included.

Please note that these reports are not intended to be a comprehensive list of all the work of each department.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

Gail Jones, November 2016

Research and Development

Work continues on the cross-directorate projects. The Theory of Change model is now almost complete; data has been mapped across the organisation and departments have been asked to reduce the number of fields they collect (R&D have streamlined the data we collect by over 50%). I’ve circulated a more detailed report on progress and next steps to the SMT.

We’ve started work on developing standalone workshops and modular learning from our programmes. These fall into two categories – health and wellbeing and substance misuse. We are hoping to produce a suite of workshops that can be delivered according to SU need and commissioner requirements. This also fits in with the 4 levels models.

The Levels model has been implemented at Send; measures to evaluate the effectiveness of it have been agreed with the commissioner and prison governors. We are also implementing the model at Rochester - go live date 12th December. R & D and G & Q are currently supporting the implementation process, using lessons learnt from Send. We will appoint a psychology graduate on a 1 year fixed term contract to undertake an evaluation of the impact of each of the 4 levels.

We have just completed two more In Cell Packs – Continuing the Steps after treatment and Stress and anxiety management. Four more are currently being development and are due to be completed by Christmas – Sleep problems, exercise, stop supplying and family work.

We were approached by Open Door to partner with them for a whole systems contract in Thurrock.

We are still waiting for the release of East Kent Community Contract, have held several meetings with potential partners including WDP, Rethink and Nacro.

We have now submitted our applications to CSAP for the re-accreditation of the ADTP and The Bridge programmes. This was a significant amount of work and required a review and update of all programme manuals. We haven’t been given a date to meet with the panel but it should happen in the next couple of months.

Governance and Quality

The CQC inspection at The Bridges on 31 Oct/1 Nov was successful – lots of hard work from Governance and Operational staff went into getting it ready for inspection.

G&Q recently attended an HMIP/CQC inspection at Gatwick IRC. This appeared to go well and we are hoping for positive feedback, RAPt has received praise from the KSS Commissioner regarding this visit.

A new Duty of Candour Policy was recently launched and Jason has drafted a brief training aid to support the roll out of this.

The continuing rise of violence in prisons and the publicity surrounding the subject is of concern and aligns with our incident reporting trends. Jason has started conversations with Heads of Services to see what support can be offered (eg better promotion and delivery of the ‘Staying Safer in Prisons’ package).

SERVICES

Sean Cox, November 2016

General update

•Middle management review across all service is near completion. Brixton and the Mount are to be completed over the coming weeks.

•Recent prison officer strike - this effected all our services in the way that we could not access any prisoners. Clinical services were able to be delivered in a safe and controlled way. Some units reported that prisoners were setting cells on fire and some fights broke out. A few units felt it was unsafe for staff to remain in the prison so it was agreed that these staff should leave the prison.

• Across the prison estate our teams are experiencing large amounts of change. These include prisons doing accommodations reviews, which means some of our service are having to move location. Some of the prisons are changing the type of offenders they will receive, for example Swaleside will be taking around 180 sex offenders and Elmley will become a reception prison and will hold remand prisoners only. With these changes we will need to review what we deliver in these prisons to meet the need of the new population. On a slightly larger scale, some prisons are changing completely. For example,Highdown will move from a local remand to a C cat sentence prison. This will see a big change in the type of offenders they will receive. We already know that Wandsworth and Coldingley are reform prisons and we await to see how the white paper is delivered regarding more reform prisons coming in line.

•Surrey has now started the process of taking the clinical service in house. Addaction have been informed and they have informed their staff. The date we go live is currently the 1st April 2017.

•Blue Sky and RAPt are looking at more creative ways to increase referral pathways between services and Blue Sky

Performance and Data

•Q2 data is now collated. I am in the process of reviewing this date and cross referencing performance against business plan targets as highlighted in the quarterly review. I am wanting to compare last year’s figures on case management and completion rates on our accredited programmes. Once I have reviewed this I will update SMT.

Contractual/Service delivery

•HMP Lewes – we continue to deliver a good service under very difficult circumstances, we have recruited the band 7 nurse role and have recruited the service manager role

•Tower Hamlets – this service has now finished as from the 31st October

•HMP Wandsworth - we continue to work with the prison regarding the regime issues, our SDTP programme as seen an increase in referrals. No major changes regarding the reform part of the prison. We are still waiting to hear about our tender, we feel we may get an extension to July maybe.

•HMP Brixton - the governor is looking at having a second type of recovery wing. This will house our graduates from D-wing and house other clients in recovery. The service is running well. Like Wandsworth we are awaiting news on retendering

•Norfolk - Still no further news on commissioning direction for the healthcare services. All 3 service continue to deliver quality services.

•Kent –

Elmley - as you know the main area for concern is the recent whistleblowing complaint about the service in Elmley.

Swaleside/East Sutton Park - Swaleside has experienced some violent out bursts from prisoners. We have just relocated to a different wing to meet the need of the new prison population.

Rochester/Maidstone - new service manager in post. We are currently reviewing the service in Rochester. Helena and Hattie are supporting on this. Maidstone has needed to make some changes to the length of group work we run due to quick churn this prison now has.

Very supportive and positive contract review meeting.

•Surrey – we should now have written confirmation of the 2 year extension.

Downview– we are still recruiting staff. We now Have Jo from Wandsworth staying as Service Manager. The prison is slowly starting to fill up. We now have around 40 clinical clients on scripts.

Gatwick - we are now offering a small service. Due to the length of time security clearance takes at Gatwick, we have lost two members of staff that were due to start with us. New team leader is due to start early December.

Send – the key here is to keep the staff motivated to continue promoting the revised model.

Highdown - very much struggling with the regime. Staff and the service are doing their best to still deliver some elements of the service. Highdown is in the process of moving away from being a remand prison and being a C-CAT prison.

Coldingley service is going well

•Scrubs - the team continue to work with the new model.

•Feltham – business as usual. We are looking into creative ways to spend the innovation budget we have within this contract.

•Stokeheath - contract due to end 2018. We are waiting for more formal conformation.

•Renew - business as usual. The commissioner as asked us to review what we do with the family service. This is being led by Cristina and the local manager.

•The Mount – the unit is working with the prison to have peer mentors to help reduce the risk of self-harm and suicide within the prison.

•The Bridges – had there CQC inspection. Early indications show we should get a positive report. We need to review the staff profile going forward so we can assure ourselves that we keep on top of things such as Housekeeping and H&S. We are also in the processes of improving the smoke alarms etc.

•Recovery support - we are currently reviewing this service and seeing where the over laps are with employment pathways. The Hub is starting to grow, with a full timetable of activities available.

BLUE SKY
Kate Markey, November 2016

Employment Services:

Much of this month has been about engaging with the primes. It’s important note that – in terms of primes – the justice and welfare to work markets are converging. Primes are targeting and working across both to increase economies of scale and market share. As such our conversations with some primes have been broader and long-term. For brevity, I have focused on two immediate priorities and market insights that will be relevant to the SMT.

Work and Health Programme (W&HP):
Engagement with primes to date has been positive. Many know Blue Sky given its involvement in Work Programme but are interested to understand the end-to-end offer afforded through RAPt. We have completed the service model and now working on key strategies needed to go alongside it (employer strategy, local engagement strategy, technical requirements). We are trying to balance work against W&HP with wider opportunities – knowing there are still significant unknowns for the W&HP and likely risks that we are yet able to analyse and mitigate. Primes had to submit onto the framework on November 8th and we should hear in January the 5 shortlisted primes per Lot area, when we can commence more detailed discussions and understand financial values / payment structures.

What we do know / targeting:

  • Geographies – London (pending devolution), Kent and potentially Hull / Manchester
  • Cohorts – people in recovery, offenders, primary mental health needs
  • Products – end-to-end specialist, employment only (Blue Sky), health and wellbeing only (RAPt)
  • Payment structures – currently primes are intimating it will be PbR based. We need to understand what element is PbR (if it is job outcomes only, this will be a significant risk with the client group we are working with). But we hope there will be some element of a fee for service offer

OLASS:
What we know about commissioning of OLASS going forward:

  • It will move to a framework approach (though we expect the two big providers to maintain a significant share)
  • Greater autonomy to governors over specifications and how Lots are carved up
  • Outcome-based (expect some element of PbR) – employment and re-offending (although exactly how this will work is unclear)
  • Directly linked to employers’ needs and local economy – this aligns with the community prisons approach outlined in the White Paper on Prison Reform

In addition, both Blue Sky and RAPt have submitted applications to be on the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers (via Skills Funding Agency). Opportunities are mostly for RAPt on this but we have submitted Blue Sky also as a sub-contractor provider to other training providers.

Summary Update on Blue Sky:

  • We have had a flurry of new commercial clients and interest (impacted by uncertainty of Brexit on entry level labour) – businesses cover food manufacturing, construction
  • Referrals however remain challenging and as such we are unlikely to hit our annual target
  • Onward jobs (Blue Sky employees securing employment after us) are going really well. We normally see a pick up this time of year but I suspect it is also down to the fact that we don’t charge a success fee from temp-to-perm (this against our competitive hourly rate would likely not be attractive to our commercial clients)
  • Training under NOMS CFO is expanding
  • We have recruited two P/T 3-month trainers to work inside and outside prison (NOMS CFO 3)

EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

Hannah Fox, November2016

Current staffing

Recruitment to find a Fundraising Manager is underway, a short term fundraising consultant has been appointed to help us try to meet target.

Fundraising

Summary of income this financial year:

Target:£1,045,167

Received (as at 17th November):£711,901

Received since Oct SMT:£3,864 through a combination of individual unrestricted donations (including an individual’s challenge event) and Hull Quiz.

Remaining:£331,452

Fundraising general April 2016 – 2017

  • A Christmas fundraising appeal to previous and current donors (including carol service donors) is in the final stages of completion (currently with a fundraising agency for design). The appeal will be posted to over 900 people, and will also include an opportunity for donors to forward the fundraising appeal onto friends they think are interested in supporting our work.
  • We are continuing to fill our seven places for the London Marathon in April 2017. We have recruited three definite runners and one possible who have committed to raising £2,000. Regular internal and external communications have been planned to recruit the final places.
  • An individual supporter (no record of previous donation) has raised £2,051for us by undertaking ‘Stoptober’ for RAPt. She has also indicated that there is up to £2,000 more to be potentially donated.
  • Research has been done on the Ambassadors structure, which will be taken forward by the Fundraising Manager when are appointed.
  • Our Senior Fundraising Officer Anika Patel is attending a planning meeting for the London Quiz (12th January) at the venue (The Tabernacle) on 17th November.

Trusts and foundations April 2016-March 2017

Submitted and waiting response

  • Following the June application to City Bridge (Recovery Supportfor approximately £40,000 a year for three years)Hannah Fox, Cristina Fernandez and Amy Williams met with a representative for a formal project visit on 2nd November. We are hopeful that our application will be submitted to the November committee meeting (held on 24th November). The Trust have indicated that if this happens, they will inform us of the decision as soon as it is made.
  • An application to Garfield Weston (Recovery Support for £250,000 over three years) has been submitted.
  • An application to the Charles Hayward Foundation (Family Support work at HMP Send, £10,000)was submitted at the end of October.
  • The outcome of the application to CHK Charities (Recovery Support, £13,421) will be known in December.
  • The application to the John Murray Family Trust (£9,000) is still being considered.
  • A progress report for the Rausings on the Apprentice scheme and for the Bramalls on The Bridges have been written and sent.
  • An application for Safe Ground group work (delivered as part of the Lewes contract) was written and submitted to Sussex Community Foundation for £4,500 and is still being considered.

Bridges

Target:£100,000

Received (as at 17th Nov):£ 70,201

  • Planning for the Northern Quiz (23rd November) with Tor Carver is progressing well. Sponsorship for the venue has been secured (reducing the cost to RAPt) and table heads are being finalised. We have received £1,950 to date (a total of six tables and five individual places paid for) and expect to have a total of 18 tables on the night.
  • Immediate prospects for continuation funding and re-engagement have been identified with Rory Wardroper, prioritising high level donors and those who have previously given multiyear grants. These will be developed further when the new Fundraising Manager is recruited.
  • £25,000 is already pledged for the remainder of 16/17 bringing their total to £95,201.

Communications

Brand and web development

  • The proposals setting out how these projects will be approached has been agreed with SMT and Trustees
  • A tender process will now begin to appoint agencies by end of November
  • A date in December for SMT and Trustees to do first round of consultation will be agreed by 18 November
  • Agencies will be briefed to build in opportunities for consultation with key external audiences, staff, trustees, SMT and service users

Marketing our services

  • Work is continuing with external consultant, Natasha Roe, to market our services to commissioners and primes
  • This work includes an interim refreshed logo and strapline, key messages for each of the service areas, updates to our website and a suite of materials
  • We hope to begin distribution in November

Business plan

  • The external version of the business strategy has been put on hold so that we can incorporate the above work into the messaging and use the distribution as part of launching our services

Living Proof day at HMP Elmley

  • Following discussions with HMP Elmley, the Living Proof day has been postponed until January. The new date does conflict with the tendering of the Elmley contract which may have implications for the event. Sean is liaising with commissioner, Kate Morrisey, with regard to the date
  • In the meantime the invite list, materials and plans are being finalised

Recovery support

  • Russel Brand has confirmed his availability for the launch of the London Recovery Hub on 18 January 2017 and a proposal is being developed for SMT about the launch.
  • We are also now working towards the launch of the Recovery Hub in Hull, including marketing materials and a launch event.

HMP Send Café