Last week someone stole my old, battered, Pashley bike from a bike loop in Hyde Park Square! I was livid.
It was fastened with a bicycle chain, but it obviously was not strong enough to deter the thieves. Bicycling around Hyde Park every day is my way of keeping fit and to steal my bike interferes with my life. I was annoyed. I did not want to buy another bike for another thief to walk off with but did not want to disrupt my daily routine and exercise.
I thought about reporting it to the police – but what’s the point? The police have far more serious things to do than look for my bike.
England and Wales have the highest incarceration rate per capita in western Europe with a prison population of 84,000. Why is this so high?
Part of the problem is to do with a dysfunctional probation system which oversees the release of offenders back into the community.
Probation officers are supposed to meet with released offenders and provide them with – or direct them to – support and advice to reintegrate them into society. However, in the years from 2010 to 2015 HM Prisons and Probations Service had its funding cut by about 20% under austerity measures.
Then in 2015 the coalition government decided to ‘privatise’ 70% of the service. Contracts worth £3.7 billion were awarded to the private sector.
Since 2015, some of these contractors went bust and other contracts were terminated; they were simply underfunded with up to 40% of offenders being supervised - post prison, by a phone call every six weeks.
Figures for 2017-2018 show that the number of offenders on probation who were charged with murder, manslaughter, rape and other serious crimes rose by 21% in a 12-month period.
Joseph McCann was mistakenly released from prison due to probation failures and went on to commit an horrific series of rapes and kidnaps on 11 women and children.
How is this going to impact post lockdown when not only will there be much less money for these probation services to be improved but an influx of people who cannot make ends meet with nothing to do – turning to a life of crime?
Last week Boots announced 4,000 job loses due primarily from a switch to buying online. What will happen to these 4,000 people and thousands of others like them if they cannot make ends meet, cannot find another job and have nothing to do
The Government needs to stop looking at re-election and start looking at reality.
The backbone of our economy is made up of the entrepreneurs who employ the majority of our workforce – many of whom are our clients. The Government needs to engage with them and make the UK a place where they want to base their enterprise and bring up a family.
Compare life in London where bikes are stolen, and our kids are vulnerable to released offenders - with life on Guernsey.
Podcast Professional - Episode 27
Jo Stoddart, Director of Locate Guernsey is our Podcast Professional for this week, she paints a pretty picture – where the daily commute is a ten minute walk, the evenings can be spent having a BBQ on the beach, houses and cars need never be locked – and parents do not fear that their kids are vulnerable to released offenders.
Remember – it takes just as long to get from the countryside to London as it takes to get to London from Guernsey. Post lockdown – it is not just the green spaces people miss, but also the realisation that they can work and live outside big cities.
Jo of Locate Guernsey says interest in living in Guernsey has never been so high; is this surprising? However, there is one limiting factor. Houses to rent and buy are limited, and demand is high.
So, the message to anyone who wants a better and safer life – ‘move while stocks last’!
In the meantime if you would like to buy my book ‘Reimagining the role of the Private Client Professional – post lockdown’ simply click here, and if you would like to know more about becoming a podcast professional and join Caroline’s Club simply contact deborah@garnhamfos.com