Napo HQ Blog

Negotiations between the unions and HMPPS to reach agreement on the terms for transfer of Offender Management work and CRC staff to the NPS in Wales in December this year, and the NPS in England, and other future probation providers in 2021 (should new contracts emerge) have stalled. It was hoped to finalise a staff transfer and protections agreement last week to provide the best possible terms for members to move from their CRCs to the NPS/other providers.

However, we have not been able to reach agreement on some key elements of the transfer arrangements. As a result, HMPPS has indicated that it will need to refer these outstanding issues for further consideration within government.

UNIONS ASK FOR TRANSFER DELAY IN WALES

The outstanding matters will take a number of weeks to resolve. In the meantime, and despite our strong objections, HMPPS has confirmed that it intends to proceed with the transfer of offender management staff from the Wales CRC to NPS Wales on 1 December 2019 as planned. We have therefore written to the Welsh Government and to the Justice Minister Lucy Frazer to urge them to intervene. The unions want the transfer delayed to at least 1 February 2020 to enable the transfer negotiations to be satisfactorily concluded.

Another reason for demanding a delay is that, until the negotiations have been completed  and  CRC members have voted on the final package, the option for CRC staff in Wales to transfer onto NPS pay and conditions at the time of the intended transfer (1 December 2019) and 2021 for CRC staff in England, will not be available. This will mean that Wales CRC staff will transfer on their existing CRC pay and conditions to NPS Wales until such time as we have balloted CRC members on a package of measures that we want to see retrospectively applied for staff in Wales to 1st December 2019.

This situation is regrettable and certainly not the fault of the unions. We have prioritised and applied ourselves to the negotiations in good faith and have not been able to close the gap between us and HMPPS in relation to the full package of measures that will be needed to underpin the overall transfer of OM staff to the NPS.

Unions agree employment protections for non-transferring staff in KSS (Wales) CRC

Meanwhile our union reps in Wales have worked to secure an agreement that staff who are not transferring with OM work to NPS Wales, and who are remaining with the above employer, will be matched to jobs in the new operating model being introduced across the whole of that CRC  until the end of its contract in 2021. This is a significant achievement, but it does not give the longer term protection that the unions are seeking for all of our members who remain with their CRC until these contracts end in Wales and England in 2021, and who will then transfer to new providers of Probation as per the government’s plans.

Consultation with members

The unions are now considering how and when we should consult with our CRC members in terms of the ballot on the outcome of national negotiations. Please look out for further updates as soon as more news becomes available.

Last week Branches were notified of the dates of two TUC Equalities Conferences coming up early in 2020.

• TUC Women's Conference - 4th - 6th March 2020
• TUC Black Workers' Conference -  25th and 26th April 2020

Both at TUC Congress House in London

Branches were invited to submit motions and nominations for Napo’s delegation to both with a deadline of 12 noon on Friday 15 November 2019.

As decided by the NEC some years ago, due to budgetary constraints, Napo currently is only sending its entitled two speaking delegates to each of the Equalities Conferences, one of which might be a National Officer/Official and to not send further visitors.

If you think you might be interested in attending as a speaking delegate and/or if you have thoughts on the motion(s) Napo should put forward, do contact your branch.

For more information contact Annosjka Valent avalent@napo.org.u

Napo will meet the travel expenses of those on the delegation and provide hotel accommodation and a subsistence allowance during the Conference.  The Conference provides crèche facilities and also facilities for disabled people.

Behind the political drama of the last week (month/year/three years…) one thing is clear. We desperately need a new deal for working people. At TUC Congress the trade union movement set out an ambitious agenda for how to deliver that, with new rights for workers to organise and bargain a ban on class discrimination, and a just transition to a greener, fairer economy.

Read more in the TUC Economic Bulletin

This week saw the issuing of a communique and supplementary documents by the NPS to divisional leaders containing details of Phase 2 of the Offender Management in Custody Project.

In August, Napo formally served notice of dispute on the NPS following numerous expressions of concern by our members about many aspects of OMIC. These included:

• Inadequate staffing levels and Probation work being undertaken by untrained and unqualified Prison Staff
• The impact of OMiC on end-to-end client supervision
• The need for continuity of Offender Manager
• OM supervision in ‘For Profit’ Prisons being below the quality and standards we were told would exist

Click here for the link to the website with what has been been exchanged so far, and while it is fair to say that constructive discussions have taken place with Sonia Crozier and her team, we are some way short of securing the assurances that we are seeking to satisfy our members concerns.

This means that Napo is not in agreement with the Phase 2 roll out of OMiC. In our latest reply to the Executive Director we have again indicated that we are prepared to meet and try and find a way through, but if this does not succeed then Napo will need to consider other options that may be open to us.

Members should look out for more news on this important issue which we will issue as soon as it becomes available.

Napo’s campaign and negotiating teams have joined up to produce the latest ‘no holds barred’ position statement around the future of Probation. In a document that will form the basis of our contributions at the upcoming TUC and Labour Party conference fringe events, cross-party MPs, Peers and the media, the union sets out its negotiating demands on behalf of all members working in the NPS or a CRC as well as outlining Napo’s vision for the future structure of Probation under full public ownership and control.

The report focusses on:

• The restoration of all probation work back into public control and ownership
• The need to ensure that the earlier and already scheduled transfer of offender management work to the NPS in Wales becomes the benchmark for the process to follow in England
• All probation staff to be placed on NPS pay, terms and conditions in advance of the move to transfer offender management work and the letting of any new contracts to so-called Innovation Partners and sub-contractors who would form part of a Dynamic Framework.
• Continuity of employment for the appx 8,000 CRC staff transferring into the NPS

Beyond these immediate priorities, the report sets out a progressive agenda for the reform of Probation and its return to full public ownership and control. In re-designing Probation it is vital that lessons are learned from the profound failure of “Transforming Rehabilitation” (TR); yet simply re-drawing the line between public and private provision is not enough to repair the massive damage to the service. Napo's key demands for the future Probation Service include:

• A fully integrated and unified service, with all core functions, including unpaid work and interventions, delivered from a single organisation in an integrated way;
• A Probation Services that exists outside of the Civil Service but in the public sector, as a non-departmental government body in the same way as organisations like Cafcass and many others. This would allow for a degree of consistency through a national structure but would enable the development of culture and values that support Probation Practice.
• Probation Practice to be based on evidence and 'what works'. Changes need to be made to ways of working when indicated by research and evidence and best practice should be modelled on this research and evidence, not the convenience of the organisation or the needs of a contract.
• The link to the community to be prioritised. What works in one village, town or city might not work elsewhere. There must be a facility to respond to local needs and priorities and to shape service delivery to suit. Frontline practitioners must be empowered to work in a way that meets the needs of both their client and their community rather than to an agenda set central. There should not be a separation between Probation Services and other services and for this to work in a joined up way there needs to be local control of the system.

Then the full briefing can be read HERE

Napo at the TUC

Napo has a high profile composite motion due for debate at the 2019 TUC being held in Brighton from the 8^th to 11^th September. This focuses on the reunification campaign but also includes the call for a Public Enquiry into TR. Details of any links for livestreaming the debate will be issued nearer the time.

Napo in the form of National Chair Katie Lomas, General Secretary Katie Lomas and National Press and Parliamentary lead Tania Bassett will also be attending the Labour Party Conference in Brighton later in the month as guests of Shadow Justice Minister Richard Burgon. They will be making keynote contributions to various fringe events at both of the above conferences.

The TUC has set out its key priorities for energy and climate change policy, which trade union members could find particularly useful in the context of the government’s commitment to a net zero carbon economy by 2050. The TUC statements contains four key asks: a clear and funded path to a low carbon economy; workers must be at the heart of delivering these plans; every worker should have access to funding to improve their skills; and new jobs must be good jobs.

DOWNLOAD A COPY OF THE TUC STATEMENT

A new report from the TUC Rights, International, Social and Economics Department finds that 3.7 million people in the UK are in insecure work due to being among the ranks of the low-paid self-employed, agency, casual and seasonal workers, or on zero-hours contracts. This is one in nine of the workforce.

Insecure work is widespread in certain occupations, notably caring and leisure, the skilled trades and elementary roles such as kitchen assistants and security guards. But it has a profound effect on the workers involved who often have no idea what hours they are going to work or how they will pay their bills.

Despite this, there has been little decisive action against insecure work. What is required is a significant shift in workplace rights to ensure that all that all workers have a decent floor of rights and can benefit from the protection of a union.

FIND OUT MORE

Prime Minister, Boris Johnson’s, call today for an urgent review of prison sentencing policy – which would see 10,000 extra prison places - has been all over the news today. Napo General Secretary, Ian Lawrence, spoke to Sky News’ lunchtime programme about the proposals.

Ian told Sky News that there were already too many people in prison; people who should not be there like those with mental health issues. What was really needed in terms of sentencing policy, he said, was a return to ‘what works’, and proper rehabilitative work from more, skilled, probation officers in the community.

Grayling’s TR reforms were an acknowledged disaster, he told the programme. The part-privatisation of the probation service had failed on all counts and resulted in the government U-turn and the return of ‘offender supervision’ into the National Probation Service.  Napo welcomed this and was committed to working with the MoJ to deliver but, he told Sky, the proposed changes were not enough: we need all probation work brought back into under public accountability. He also said that we needed more resources and more skilled probation staff. There were currently over 1,000 vacancies across the country – HMPPS needed to motivate and recruit staff as a matter of urgency and the current, two-tier pay system that was the result of the TR system was not the way.

Was Boris Johnson listening? Ian said he hoped so. Napo had a good working relationship with Justice Secretary, Robert Buckland, and we believe he understands the situation. But, Ian stressed, the way forward is properly resourced supervision in the community, to deliver rehabilitation and to keep communities safe: and this was only possible if probation was in the hands of skilled professional practitioners not private companies interested only in profit.

Sentencing review to look at most dangerous and prolific offenders

As a result of the government’s announcement, members will undoubtedly have lots of questions to ask about the consequences of this major change in direction and the impact on their future. You can access Napo's FAQ blog in the Members' Area of the website. NB: You will need to log in to access this page. Not registered yet? It's easy. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER