In what must be the worst example of denial in the face of compelling empirical evidence that I have seen in a long time, the BBC decided to ignore the 50,000 people who assembled right outside their ivory tower (aka Broadcasting House) last Saturday, prior to the march through central London to the magnificent rally in Parliament Square.
It always makes me laugh when I hear some Cabinet Minister complain of BBC bias against the Conservative Party when events like the People’s Assembly fail to make the airwaves. The BBC were eventually forced to place a lacklustre piece on their website to acknowledge that the event had actually happened, which was in stark contrast to the positive efforts made by the Guardian online to acknowledge the size of the march and rally and to provide a summary of the issues that featured.
A subsequent Twitter posting by Nick Robinson (assuming it was he of BBC fame) seemed to verify that a deliberate decision had been taken by the Corporation to simply ignore the People’s Assembly. If so, that’s sad; but the establishment needs to understand that this movement will definitely not be going away any time soon.
A number of pictures are available on Napo News online which feature the hardy Napo members who came out to enjoy the brilliant sunshine, along with their friends and family members. My thanks to all of you for your support.
Being invited to speak on behalf of Probation and Family Court members in front of a jam-packed Parliament Square was a privilege, and if you are interested here is my contribution:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10203324735372555&set=vb.1035687445&type=2&theater
Unions fear 1000 civil service jobs could leave Newport
The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) represent staff working in the MoJ Shared Service Centres and aside from their obvious opposition to the plans to privatise them, they have been regularly voicing their concern that this could be sent off-shore.
PCS have announced a hugely positive ballot result for strike action ahead of this week’s announcement to staff that the Shared Services centre at Celtic Springs Business Park, Newport, that this thret is looking like it might become reality. The intention is to reach a deal with Steria in August, (yes the same Steria that runs the probation IT systems).
News reaching us suggests that 700 staff performing so called ‘back-room’ functions like payroll and human resources (which includes those for Probation, Court’s and Home Office staff) are employed full-time at Newport with around 300 others doing the same jobs on temporary contracts. There are also around 130 jobs at Bootle in Merseyside, which are also thought to be at risk of privatisation.
Salient lessons
PCS plan to call a walk out all day on Monday, June 30, in protest against the plans, and as you would expect I have written to PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka to indicate our support for their cause.
While it is unlikely that Probation functions could be sent off shore even in Graylings wildest dreams, (unless he envisages a re-run of the Tolpuddle scenario as another innovative solution), the number of temporary contracts already in operation at Newport should be an issue of concern to Napo members in CRC’s who currently face the prospect of a share sale.
For this possibility is one of the key strands of privatisation: the division of the existing workforce into a two-tier structure so that the shareholders can make a profit. The other major concern is what happens to all your personal data if it falls into the hands of Steria if the deal takes place sometime in August as expected? Two reasons, along with scores more as to why all staff whether you are in the NPS or a CRC, need a trade union.
As you would also expect, I will be making it clear to the Moj later today that we are demanding that contingency plans be put into place so that the Probation payroll run will be unaffected by any industrial action.
The Sentinel approaches
A strapline that is redolent of some of the best horror movies you have probably already watched; but sadly this is no fantasy. As can be seen from the report below, this company is out for a stake in the great Probation jamboree and it has no scruples whatsoever about the methodology it employs in its offender funded programmes in the USA. We have already formally written to the MoJ to say that this is a totally unacceptable scenario and it has prompted a response that such regimes are illegal in the UK. That’s good news but do we really want these types of companies anywhere near our justice system?
TR The missing millions
As we continue to press for information about the true cost of the TR Omni-shambles, the Moj have released their accounts which will keep you all enthralled I am sure. Oddly enough I cannot see anything that might prove or deny that TR has eaten up at least around £150 million of the taxpayers hard earned, but maybe there is an eagle eye out there among our membership that can spot the hidden answer somewhere in the numbers?
Napo communications hitting the spot
It’s been a good couple of weeks for us on the media side of the anti-TR campaign with big features recently in the Times and Independent on Sunday, and some hoped for follow up’s too if the ‘journos’ involved deliver on their promises. Well done to Tania Bassett for this and the efforts she has made to get Sadiq Khan and the Labour Front Bench onside by way of joint press statements.
I don’t expect that too many members will appreciate that getting a prominent story in the press can often take a considerable amount of time and even after a lot of hard work can be scuppered at the last minute by something leftfield. The same applies to the TV and Radio leads that regularly come our way often at some unusual times of the day or night and which we will always try to close on if we can.
The media world has changed significantly and is continuing to do so. It is also a fact that institutions like the Probation and Family Court Service are not seen with same respect that they once were by a new generation of the media who are all too often interested in quick and easy sound bites for a social media audience rather than good old fashioned investigative journalism.
Stop press!
This just in from the Justice Select Committee. Napo will issue a commentary as soon as we can.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201415/cmselect/cmjust/307/307.pdf
- ilawrence@napo.org.uk's blog
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