How many people does it take to change a probation service lightbulb? Only one ... but he has to drive 175 miles to do it!

Published 30th Dec 2009

How far would you expect someone to drive to change your lightbulb?

An electrician told to drive 175 miles to change a lightbulb? A plumber being sent on a 320-mile trip to fix a toilet seat? This has to involve a government department.

A report released by probation officers' union Napo today details examples of how the Ministry of Justice's much-ridiculed National Offender Management Service is 'wasting millions of pounds' every year.

The electrician made the eight-hour journey from London to Cheshire and back to change a bulb at a probation service office because of the way contracts are awarded centrally, the report claims.

The plumber drove from Birmingham to Norwich and back to repair a toilet seat at a hostel, while window cleaners were sent from Preston to work at offices in Leicester and Lincoln.

Other long-distance electricians revealed by probation staff included one who travelled from Manchester to Aberystwyth in Wales to change light fittings and another who drove from Newmarket to Birmingham to fix an electrical switch.

Napo says the offender management system is wasting millions by insisting on centralised contracts rather than using local tradesmen.

Union assistant general secretary Harry Fletcher said: 'Millions are being wasted by the National Offender Management Service on incompetent maintenance contracts. Contractors are travelling hundreds of miles to carry out simple tasks.'

The union also criticised the use of consultants, which cost the Ministry of Justice £54million last year.

Unnecessary examples it alleged included advising staff in Manchester on how to complete spreadsheets, and 'inspirational' sessions for workers in London which involved telling them there was no such thing as stress.

A further waste of money, it claimed, was a new layer of bureaucracy featuring such job titles as 'business process managers', ' performance monitoring managers' and 'performance and information unit business improvement managers'.

Mr Fletcher said: 'The amount spent on consultants is extraordinary and they seem to be hired to tell managers what they knew already.'

Earlier this year, the National Offender Management Service was accused of 'kindergarten mistakes' over a database meant to track criminals from sentence to release.

Matthew Sinclair, the research director at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said last night: 'With money tight in the recession, taxpayers want to know that their money is being spent carefully, and they'll be shocked the last two years appear to have seen drastic increases in bureaucracy and waste at the probation service.

'There have been a never-ending stream of problems at the National Offender Management Service and serious reform is needed.'

Source: ' Daily Mail '

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