Tough on crime? Why Sheffield's probation service isn't working

Good afternoon members — and welcome to today’s Tribune.

If the criminal justice system was a family, then the probation service would be its ignored middle child. Despite there being more than double the number of people on probation than in the nation’s prisons, the general public rarely gives this vital service much thought, unless it’s railing against it after someone on licence reoffends. As a case in point, the news that Sheffield’s probation service was deemed thoroughly inadequate last year went largely unreported. The news that it is still thoroughly inadequate this year attracted even less notice.

So what is going wrong inside the service’s main office on Division Street? While the service refused to answer our questions, those familiar with probation services across the country describe how the odds have been thoroughly stacked against it.

But first, we’ve got a bumper round up of all the big stories in Sheffield this week, featuring a special politics segment. And for our wonderful members, things to do at the weekend are after the main story. If you want to become one of them — backing our journalism and getting our full range of meaty reporting — then you just need to click that gorgeous orange-red button below.

Your Tribune briefing 🗞️

🏭 The CEO of the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre has had enough. Former Siemens boss Steve Foxley — who was brought in four years ago to replace AMRC founder and “godfather” Keith Ridgway, after he retired following a clash with university leadership — told employees of his own intention to leave in an all-staff email on Thursday. While no official reason has been given, a well-connected source told The Tribune that Foxley had become disillusioned with being CEO in name but not in practice, since figures at the University of Sheffield have ultimate control of the organisation. “He’s been at best the general manager,” the source claimed. “He’s been hacked off with it for quite some time.”

🚌 Been on a First Bus recently? Noticed it’s a bit dirtier than before? If so, you’re looking at the consequences of a months-long strike by the staff responsible for cleaning and refueling the company’s fleet each night, who are furious at contractor Bidvest Noonan for paying them the same minimum wage as staff working the day shift. (The company has yet to comment.)

This is particularly galling for staff, since they used to be directly employed by First Bus, which became an accredited real living wage employer back in April, meaning all its in-house staff are paid £12 an hour. The bus company, which has not responded to The Tribune’s request for comment, told the BBC back when the strike began that it is “actively encouraging” Bidvest Noonan to give staff a pay rise, but those on the picket line told us it has been lending its contractor staff to minimise disruption.

🪹 Earlier this month, The Tribune reported on Roost Rent, the London-based tech start-up hoping to solve Sheffield’s housing crisis with an app, only to make it just that little bit worse. Roost Rent, founded by Andrew Bailie and Ben Dunn Flores, took over The Marples in the city centre and transformed it into a venture-capital funded “housing co-op” — against the wishes of many existing tenants — albeit one that still owed a considerable amount of rent to the building’s landlord.

Since The Tribune’s article came out, the team behind Roost Rent have “realised a problem with the leasing model,” changed their approach and “[taken] the chance to pick a new name” that better reflects the company’s new direction. Instead, they will be called Stead, conveniently distancing their brand from our reporting. But a quick rebrand is unlikely to fox Sheffield Council’s housing standards team, who we’re told have now taken a keen interest in The Marples…

🥪 We divided opinion when we last reported on Pret A Manger, with some telling us they “loved the puns” while others felt we had indulged in the “journalistic silly season”. Well, for our critics and fans alike, it’s official: Pret is opening this weekend. Just head for the new bit of the city centre — you can’t miss the white and maroon balloon arch.

🚒 Were you, or anyone you know, in Sheffield during the blitz? We’d love to speak to you for a story. E-mail editor@sheffieldtribune.co.uk to get in touch.

Politics latest

🗳️ Woodhouse residents went to the polls yesterday to elect a new councillor, following the death of long-serving councillor Paul Wood last October. While Wood spent years representing the Labour party, he defected to join the Sheffield Community Councillors group last year and Labour will be disappointed that they failed to regain the seat. Instead, 19-year-old university student and Liberal Democrat Willis Marshall will join the council, after beating the Reform candidate by an uncomfortably close margin of just 10 votes.

📜 In the next hour, Sheffield’s MPs will vote on one of the most significant bills likely to come before this parliament — on whether to legalise assisted dying in some circumstances. Olivia Blake and Clive Betts have said they will vote for a change in the law, while Abtisam Mohamed and Gill Furniss have said they will vote against. Louise Haigh said last week she was “leaning towards” voting for the bill while Marie Tidball has said she will announce how she has voted after it takes place. The vote is considered a matter of conscience, meaning MPs are not being told what to do by their parties and can vote whichever way they wish.

📵 Louise Haigh might have other things on her mind, however, since she’s just resigned as Transport Secretary. This was after it was revealed that she’d plead guilty to fraud by false representation in 2014, for wrongly reporting her work phone as stolen while employed by Aviva. Haigh disclosed the incident when she was appointed to the shadow cabinet in 2020, although it has not been public knowledge until now. Sky News cited two sources alleging that Haigh had reported her phone stolen in order to gain a newer model from her former employer, although a source close to her told the Guardian this is “absolute nonsense” and it was an honest mistake.

Tough on crime? Why Sheffield's probation service isn't working

On Division Street — amongst all the students, vintage shops and a pub offering “digital darts” — sits a large three-storey building used by less than 2,000 local people. The work that goes on inside this building is hugely important, not only to these people and their loved ones, but also to the safety of Sheffield as a whole. Unfortunately, despite what are often the best intentions of the staff inside, it’s not being done very well.

45 Division Street is home to the Sheffield Probation Office, a service intended to “prevent victims by changing lives” or, in other words, to stop future crimes by tackling the root causes of past ones. During the service’s last inspection, carried out in July this year and detailed in a report published last month, this city’s Probation Delivery Unit (PDU) was responsible for more than 1,000 people serving community sentences and around 600 people who had been released from prison on licence. But the inspection was damning, deeming the service thoroughly inadequate.