Napo HQ Blog

Since the probation split, the number of members experiencing problems progressing Ill-Health Early Retirement (IHER) applications has grown significantly. There has been a particular problem in the NPS – one of the consequences of rushing the TR programme. These have been amplified by failings in their computerised shared-service centres ability to appreciate the differences between the local government scheme (LGPS) and the civil service scheme. However, there have also been some problems in CRC’s, especially where the LGPS is unfamiliar to HR leads and/or employers.

Napo AGS and pensions lead Dean Rogers explains in an indepth article in Napo Magazine Online

If you joined the Local Government Pension Scheme before 1st October 2006 and your age and length of service add up to 85 or more you qualify for some potential benefits under it’s so called 85 Year Rule. However, the scope of the rule have changed over-time, becoming more open to interpretation and difficult to understand. Here, Napo’s pensions lead, Dean Rogers, summarises how it used to work and how it works now. CLICK HERE

So far in the Brexit debate, scant regard has been paid by the government to workers’ rights. The government has not consulted with trade unions about the terms or implications of Brexit and only when facing certain defeat in Parliament did the Prime Minister belatedly pick up the phone to some trade union leaders. This is not genuine engagement with trade unions, nor a genuine desire by the government to protect workers’ rights.

If there is to be consideration of workers’ rights, it is essential to be clear about what is required to provide adequate protection. It is also important to distinguish between the measures that would require negotiation with the EU, and those that can be agreed to unilaterally by the government.

Thompsons Solicitors have prepeared A DETAILED BRIEFING NOTE with an outline as to the minimum protections required.

On 23rd January, the MoJ sent out an update on the IT issues (see blog story Hacking Rumours Squashed).

The MoJ say: "Today, most Ministry of Justice (MoJ) staff have access to their usual computer systems. Work continues with our main suppliers Atos and Microsoft to restore services, and we expect all court sites to be fully operational by the time they open tomorrow morning".

READ THE UPDATE IN FULL

Napo and UNISON members have voted to accept a pay offer for the five Interserve-owned CRCs.

Napo members voted to accept the pay offer by a margin of 66% to 34% with a 25% turnout. UNISON members voted to accept the pay offer by a margin of 65% to accept 35 % to reject with a 27% turnout.

The Offer is as follows:

• One incremental progression point from 1 April 2018 for all those not at the top of the pay band (this has already been paid)
• An increase of 1.5% increase for all pay points in Bands 2 and above, back dated to 1 April 2018
• Removal of pay band 1 from 1 April 2018, staff on Band 1 at that date would move to Band 2  
• A commitment to explore a reduction in the number of pay points in forthcoming pay discussions which the Interserve CRCs would want to achieve from 2020 onwards

The Trade Unions did not recommend the deal as it fell short of our claim and the NPS settlement. We did however think it was the best that could be achieved at this time by negotiation and that the prospects of securing a possible further increase would require significant industrial action including strike action.

Members chose to accept the offer. However, the percentage of those in both unions who wanted to reject and fight for more was significant and Interserve must do much more to meet the expectations of their staff around pay.

We expect the payment to be made in February.

Both unions will update members as to progress with the 2019-20 award in due course.

Napo's GS, Ian Lawrence, described yesterday as "absolutely frenetic" as he was pulled into one media interview after another when the press got whiff of the latest issues plaguing probation.

The NPS IT chaos kicked things off, with Live Sport Radio and The Times running stories on the failures that could impact on the delivery of justice.

Speaking to Richard Ford for his article Courts in chaos as trials halted by IT breakdown, Ian said: "The bottom line for our members is that it is making their job next to impossible in terms of being able to provide relevant information for the courts, including reports which could help inform sentence decisions."

Ian also contributed to an in depth package for ITN on the same issue which was due to air as part of the 10 o'clock news. What a great opportunity it would have been to receive national coverage for our members on something as important as this. Sadly it wasn't to be as developments in the speedboat killer case meant our item was dropped in favour of more breaking news.

Napo HQ also received multiple calls from a range of media outlets around sex offenders, and of course, your general secretary made himself available to ensure the voice of Napo members was reflected in the stories. Ian featured in news items with BBC and LBC this morning, and at the time of writing this, more media requests still pour in.

This week (Monday 21 January) saw the publication of what the government is hailing as a landmark Bill on Domestic Abuse. The draft Bill is aimed at supporting victims and their families and pursuing offenders. It comes as it is revealed domestic abuse issues cost the country £66 billion a year.

The government says the new legislation will:

• introduce the first ever statutory government definition of domestic abuse to specifically include economic abuse and controlling and manipulative non-physical abuse - this will enable everyone, including victims themselves, to understand what constitutes abuse and will encourage more victims to come forward
• establish a Domestic Abuse Commissioner to drive the response to domestic abuse issues
• introduce new Domestic Abuse Protection Notices and Domestic Abuse Protection Orders to further protect victims and place restrictions on the actions of offenders
• prohibit the cross-examination of victims by their abusers in the family courts
• provide automatic eligibility for special measures to support more victims to give evidence in the criminal courts

The Home Office has also published a report into the economic and social cost of domestic abuse, which reveals the crime cost England and Wales £66 billion in 2016 to 2017.

According to the research, the vast majority of this cost (£47 billion) was a result of the physical and emotional harm of domestic abuse, however it also includes other factors such as cost to health services (£2.3 billion), police (£1.3 billion) and victim services (£724 million).

Napo’s campaign to reunite the Probation Service starts now. The campaign is to be launched on the back of recent media coverage of the dangers of a split probation service evidenced by the shocking rise in SFOs since TR.

Napo will be urging Ministers to halt the current remarketisation exercise, following the MoJ ‘Strengthening Probation’ consultation. and crucially to bring the whole of the service back together under one agency - as is now proposed in Wales.

The first stage of the campaign will be to get parliamentarians on-board. The arguments we will be making will focus on 8 reasons for a unified probation service:

• We have a two-tier workforce for pay, conditions and professional standards.
• Marketisation has failed for clients, staff, public and CRCs themselves as none have made a profit.
• Public safety is compromised with a massive increase in SFOs and community safety completely undermined by a divided organisation.
• No local accountability or meaningful involvement with stakeholders by the NPS or the CRCs.
• NPS in paralysed by bureaucracy, inefficient and centralisation of processes. A one size fits all approach does not work.
• Staff burn out in the NPS from working solely with high risk and complex cases are having a detrimental impact on staff wellbeing.
• No end to end offender management which is proven to be the most effective for desistance.
• The need for profit has driven out the third sector organisations vital for local support.

Napo will be producing briefings for parliamentarians and the media on each of the 8 reasons over the coming 8 weeks.

We also hope to secure a date for a drop-in event in parliament, where MPs will be invited to meet with Napo Officials, Officers and Members at the event and to hear directly about the dangers of the split service and the need for this to end.

Napo has also produced postcards outlining the campaign and these are going out to branches now. We will be asking you to send a card to your constituency MP asking them to support the campaign.

The probation unions are secheduled to meet with Secretary of State for Justice, David Gauke, and Probation Minister, Rory Steward on 29th January. This will be the first meeting of its kind with the ministerial team and a longer than usual meeting has been provmised in light of the many key issues the unions wish to raise.

It is very likely that top of the agenda for discussion will be the Ministers recent annoucement on the possibiity of ending short-term prison sentences, which attracted huge media interest recently, with Napo's General Secretary interviewed on national TV and radio.

Beyond that the unions will be wishing to express serious concerns at the rational and pace of the Government's intention to remarketise the Probation Service, as set out in the Secretary of States consultation paper. The unions will be urging Ministers to halt the current remarketisation exercise in order that further consideration can be given to the imepending report by the NAO and to allow for further, public, consideration of Government's own response to the consultation, which is due to be published in the Spring.

Other issues on the agenda will include:

• The current operational state of the NPS and the CRC providers;
• The outsourcing of night cover in Approved Premises;
• Proposals around Offender Management in Custody; and
• The need to esnure consistent professional standards across the whole of Probation in future.

The unions will also be vigourously persuing our intention to see harmonisation of pay for our members working in the CRC estate following the NPS pay awrd and the need for adjustments to current CRC contracts and, if awarded in 2020, to any new contracts - should this come about.

Napo will be reporting outcomes as soon as possible following the meeting. So keep abreast of the news on the Napo HQ Blog.

Napo members in the NPS and CRCs have been left feeling more than frustrated since chaos gripped IT systems this week.

Napo GS Ian Lawrence and National Chair Katie Lomas tackled the employer at yesterday's Trade Union Engagement Meeting, who quickly put to bed any rumours that the system had fallen victim to external attacks. Instead it seems that a glitch resulting from a system upgrade of 45,000 members is to blame.

The employer offered apologies and assurances that there will be minimum disruption going forward, and in return, Napo asked for measures to be taken to ensure staff were not held responsible for failing to meet targets during periods of IT failures.

A full briefing was issued to all Napo members today including advice for members who have been affected by IT failure.

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