ABSTRACT
In 2015 Cameron, with a new Conservative majority, initially took a more liberal stance but it was soon to sink without trace. This was a period of the highest churn of Ministers with four Justice Secretaries in four and a half years. Policy changes were mostly short-lived or never came to fruition and there were the first signs of recognising the depth of the crises in both prisons and probation and eventually the probation service was a reunified public service. Meanwhile, Brexit dominated parliament. A new functional model of government was rolled out as a ‘bonfire of the quangos’ was extended to Agencies. A newly reconfigured Agency – Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) – was an Agency in name only, having lost most of its autonomy. The Chair of the Parole Board and CEO of HMPPS lost their jobs. Part One analyses these events through interviews with Justice Secretaries, Michael Gove, Liz Truss, David Lidington and David Gauke as well as Junior Ministers, Andrew Selous and Rory Stewart. In Part Two the view from the operational managers comes from interviews with Michael Spurr, Roger Hill and Phil Wheatley.
