David against Goliath: WOCAMP (West Oxford Community against Mega Probation centre): we need your help!
Introduction
We are a community living around a residential cul-de-sac (Mill St, Oxford). But our community risks being bulldozed and destroyed by Government - namely Thames Valley Probation Service1 and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), headed by Jack Straw. These bodies are intent on building a mega-probation centre to deal with the full range of offenders (including sex and violent offenders) in a narrow residential cul-de-sac populated by young families (50+ children), older citizens and other vulnerable groups such as students and lone residents.2
The Proposal
The Probation Service, backed by the MoJ plans to centralise 4 probation centres from across Oxfordshire in one Mega Probation centre on an unbuilt site, to achieve ‘organisational efficiencies’. This is proposed without any consultation or proper debate or process or transparency. If this breathtakingly ill-thought out proposal goes ahead it would mean:
• Around 350 to 650 ex-offenders per week visiting, within office hours and beyond (including evenings up to 9pm and weekends). This includes those released on licence or graded by MAPPA
• A hugely expensive fortress type building with “necessary secure offender area away from the staff working area”, one-way mirrors, a holding cell, and alternative exit routes, for staff and users
• Offenders including paedophiles attending a vast number of group-work programmes including internet sex offender programmes
We discovered of the plans by a leak in late March 2009, and have tried to obtain information from our MPs and under the Freedom of Information Act. All along, MPs and campaigners have received incomplete, contradictory information and/or refusals to supply information on the proposals, including whether they made a proper search for sites in the first place and getting best value for the taxpayer.
Why we oppose the proposal
We’ve obtained an expert barrister’s opinion that under planning law, there is a change of use so planning consent from Oxford City Council (the planning authority) is required. But the MoJ are arguing there is no change of use on the site from office use and so planning consent is not required. We continue to challenge Oxford City Council on this as a large probation centre is clearly in no way similar to offices.
Thames Valley Probation (TVP), backed up by the MoJ (Jack Straw), are persisting with a proposal which has not been properly researched or costed. We are to be part of a social experiment thought up to further advance the careers of TVP’s ‘leadership’. This decision flies in the face of common sense, is a great waste of money to the taxpayer, has cross-party opposition from local MPs and is opposed by local Councillors, local residents and a strong local campaign. The strength of WOCAMP was recognised by the County Council, when in 20 May 2009 it abandoned it’s plan to site its youth offending service on the same site, because it was too costly . 3
We demand that the Probation Service and Ministry of Justice abandon their plans for probation centre in Mill Street and consider cheaper and more suitable sites in a non-residential area (e.g. a city centre or ring road). An operational probation centre is entirely inappropriate in a residential family neighbourhood, with many young children and older residents. The proposal is causing great fear of crime for residents. The probability of a serious incident occurring in the Mill Street area with 350-650 probationers arriving each week MUST increase beyond reasonable norms. The Probation Service and government owe our community a duty of care to the residents. They are unable to show they have properly researched their proposal before putting the community at such a significant increased risk of incident. We do not believe any such research has been conducted. The Probation Service refuses to acknowledge evidence of crime, disorder and anti-social behaviour in the vicinity of probation centres. However there is overwhelming evidence that it exists4. Residents will do whatever it takes to stop this centre destroying our neighbourhood and are mounting a forceful legal challenge.
Whilst we fully support the work of the probation service all the evidence from probation officers and research demonstrates that centralisation will not benefit anyone, least of all those on probation. Equally we know offenders will not want to ‘run the gauntlet of a residential street’. The cost and time of the police re-arresting offenders who never make their appointments will be borne by the taxpayer.
We are supported by:
• Approximately 2000 petitioners, local businesses and others
• Dr Evan Harris MP
• Tony Baldry MP
• Local councillors (including Susanna Pressell and Alan Armitage)
• Bobby Cummins Chief Executive of Unlock (Ex-Prisoners Association) who is against centralised services for offenders on supervision
• Privately by probation officers (who have been gagged by TVP), the police and youth action workers.
What's been said so far
“The main problem is the placing of the centre in a residential area at the end of a residential street, which is simply not appropriate.”
Dr Evan Harris MP, Westminster Hall Debate 28 April 2009 5
“In the more than a quarter of a century that I have been a Member of Parliament, the process that the Thames Valley probation had conducted in recent months is one of the most dismal performances by a public body that I have ever come across.”
Tony Baldry MP, Westminster Hall Debate 28 April 2009
A similar but smaller proposal went ahead in 2007 in Kitts Green, Birmingham, but Jack Straw was forced to apologise. Straw said6
"We accept the handling of the re-location of the probation centre to this site has been appalling. It has been dreadful and I'm sorry it happened this way. We got it wrong and the probation centre is still learning lessons from this." However, the MoJ is refusing to learn any lessons and trying to deny this apology was ever made.
On 9 June 2009, Ex-chief probation officer David Scott, who resigned over the horrifying recent Sonnex student murders case (which Jack Straw again apologised about), spoke out about ministers making 'charges of ineptitude' to mask lack of resources. 7
Evasiveness, contradictions and weasel words?
TVP ((Malcolm Fearn) has had to apologise to Evan Harris MP for “unwittingly misleading” him about the date they fixed on this site.
Prisons Minister, David Hanson admitted in a meeting (13 May 2009) with Evan Harris MP and councillors at Whitehall that the process had been far from ideal. Local resident Matthew Savage said, “We were given the assurance not only that the lease on the building in Mill Street will not be signed by the Government for the time being, but that the Home Office will conduct a proper search for alternative sites.“ Dr Harris added, “The Minister acknowledged that there was a real question over whether the Home Office Property people had ever done an adequate search of the area for better sites and also whether the Probation Service had settled on Trajan House too early in the process”.
Following the meeting TVP/MoJ has backtracked on Mr Hanson’s commitment that the Home Office would conduct a proper search for alternative sites. We understand that Mr Hanson has now stepped in June 2009 down as Prison’s Minister.
Wasted tax-payers money
David Scott says when it comes to the difficulties of dealing with high-risk offenders released from prison, "ministerial policy has been to keep quiet wherever possible, and to resort to damage limitation when things go wrong".
If the proposal proceeds, decisions taken in the knowledge that central government are picking up the tab are likely to lead to at least £2.6 million of expenditure in excess of the cost of a comparable building elsewhere.
IF YOU LIKE 2000 OTHERS (SO FAR) AGREE THIS SHOULD NOT GO AHEAD, THEN SEE WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW!
Notes
1. Stated aims include ‘protection of the public’ and ‘reduction in re-offending’. TVPS recently emerged from special measures; and are now seeking trust status.
2. The area has 3 nurseries and a school within ¼ mile.
3. https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/8059953.stm
4. https://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article6493529.ece This includes a man appearing at Cowley probation "office" with serious stab wounds, drug related. Evidence from Kitts Green and other centres strongly suggest there is both an increase in crime and anti-social behaviour (e.g. urination, drunkenness, obscene language, nuisance,). Public bodies are under a duty to consider crime and disorder implications and exercise their functions so that they do all they reasonably can to prevent crime and disorder in their areas (including anti-social and other behaviour adversely affecting the local environment) (s.17 Crime and Disorder Act 1998)
7. https://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/jun/09/french-student-murders-straw"
Financial planning within the ministry has been so abject that it has been impossible to predict what level of expenditure probation areas could expect. Therefore money had to be kept back so that it could be carried over into the following year's budget to meet exigencies, including potential redundancies."
He says that "this haphazard approach to financial affairs" is a symptom of the Cinderella or subordinate status assigned to probation by the government and NOMs”.