SSCL failures writ large

Last week saw a meeting (at last) between the Probation Unions and the HMPPS senior managers in charge of the shared services division (SSCL). This is the organisation who are responsible for paying NPS staff correctly and administering the deduction of pension contributions to the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).

There have been a number of mail outs from Napo over the last couple of months which include details of how members should complain if they spot an anomaly in their pay.

The letter below to the Secretary of state is published as part of our audit trail and to provide transparency to members about Napo’s formal claim for the department to make reparation and our efforts to get to the bottom of the systemic failures by SSCL which our estimates suggest is impacting on 1 in 5 of NPS staff.

I also want to record appreciation to Assistant General Secretary Dean Rogers for his tenacity in helping to expose the shambles that has been going on for too long and for dealing with numerous enquiries from worried members.

We await formal feedback from the meeting where we were given assurances that SSCL are on top of the problems, but given what has been going on it’s hardly surprising that we are some way for being convinced.

If these current issues can now be resolved quickly then we obviously welcome that, but   the key questions that we intend to continue pursuing are will we see a repetition and  why can’t the NPS be designated as a stand-alone Agency responsible for administering its own payroll and pension arrangements.

More news to follow as soon as it is available.

Letter to Secretary of State for Justice
 
Probation Journal call for contributions

As the Head Office team make final preparations for the forthcoming Napo AGM in Nottingham on 13/14 October, the results of the members’ ballot indicating the importance of the motions due to be debated, will be published later this week.

Among the many interesting things that you will hear about at AGM will be the annual report from the Editor of the Probation Journal which is sent to Napo members through our partners at SAGE Publications.

The PJ website is without doubt one of the best I have seen of its kind, and provides a superb reference source for academics and practitioners alike.

At last week’s review meeting hosted by SAGE I heard about the exciting programme of upcoming work and also had the opportunity to learn more about the hard work that the Editor (Nicola Carr) and her Board colleagues put in to ensure such a high quality product.

Of course that’s only half the story, as without the contributors there would not be a Probation Journal. With that in mind here is the link to the call for submissions on punishment, sentencing and probation. I am more than happy to point members, who would like to assist, in this direction.

http://journals.sagepub.com/pb-assets/cmscontent/PRB/Call%20for%20papers...