Today marks the start of what is a defining moment for your union as we move towards the conclusion of this vital part of our campaign to try and prevent the part privatisation of the Probation service. Whatever happens to our quest for Judicial Review, it won’t signal the end of our campaign which is to achieve reunification of the probation service to something which resembles what we had before, but builds on the ethos of public service and public partnerships.
The parties are due to appear in the High Court tomorrow afternoon and following what we expect to be a 90 minute directions hearing, we will hopefully be clearer about the timetable for the JR process. Meanwhile, the Defendants legal and media teams are doing their utmost to try and discredit the welter of evidence that our members have supplied us with to support our case.
A pathetic press statement from the Minister has been issued suggesting that the latest statistics from NOMS covering the performance of probation from the time of the staff split to 30th September (which has just appeared on the Gov.UK website), justifies the reforms.
I am sure that it is just a coincidence that it has been published the day before legal proceedings commence, but it provides a commentary and tables of figures for a number of key operations undertaken by the NPS and CRC’s since the division of the service. You will draw your own conclusions about the picture that the report portrays, and as you would expect we are going through this forensically to see what there might be for us in terms of the JR, but my quick read through shows the following:
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A claim that SFO’s are down, in comparison to this time last year.
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Long term sickness on the increase by an average of 2:0% (AWDL now 11.9% from 9.9%
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Staff split just about 50/50 between NPS and CRC’s
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200 Leavers from NPS in the period of the report and 30 Joiners
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Use of Oral and Fast PSR’s on the increase
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PAROM1 reports within the agreed time limits show a fall in completion
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Offenders in employment at termination of Orders or Licence continue upward trend as per last two years
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Offenders in accommodation at termination of Orders or Licence shows 4% drop in NPS
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Unpaid work orders show a decrease attributable to less use by sentencers
- Fall in OBP completions
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Only 57% completion of RSR assessments taking account of data in October (50% at end of September)
- 82% achievement of case allocation - NPS to CRC’s by end of 2nd working day/ 65% by next working day/ 15% on same working day
NOMS also say that ‘this management information release is one-off and ad-hoc, and is not representative of how future probation performance information will be published. Regular publications of probation data will be made, but not necessarily limited to, or covering all areas covered in this release.’ They add: ‘These data are presented at national level to examine performance across the probation system, with distinctions made between the NPS and CRCs where appropriate. Comparisons to historic information have also been made where appropriate.
That’s all straightforward then.
PQF Pay
Apologies for the unusual post-blog editing that I decided to do last week on this issue. I will have a big rethink about publishing management briefings which Napo have not been consulted about before they are issued. However, there were some useful bits to the one on PQF pay including this section:
“Learners who are former CRC staff and who start work in the NPS before Service Commencement are covered by the National Agreement which offers them important protections. “
As I said last week, the pay shambles surrounding new graduate entry starters on the PQF will have impacted on some of our members, notably PSOs transferring to the NPS from a CRC. There is some comfort for these former CRC staff in that they will be covered by the National Agreement which offers important protections. This doesn’t overcome the fact that some of them have been badly advised about their move into the NPS with a consequence that some are faced with an unexpectedly long gap between pay dates. This might have been less of a problem had they known about it well in advance and had they been able to seek pay advances in a timely manner. The actions required to rectify these problems are really the last thing that learners need as they embark on their training.
Who needs Counselling?
Here is an extract from a letter to their MP copied to me by a retired but seriously angry member that, even by Ministers current standards, takes the biscuit in terms of patronage and self-denial. This one is from Andrew Selous (he of: ‘your members are excited by TR’ fame).
‘ With regard to your points about staff morale, we recognise that this is a very important issue and we have sought to engage probation staff in the reforms at every stage. Probation Trusts, as the employers of probation staff until 1 June, and subsequently the NPS and CRCs, have worked hard to ensure their workforce was effectively engaged and provided them with as much information and reassurance as possible throughout. The Ministry of Justice also worked closely with the probation staff to support them through the transition and is continuing to provide support to staff in both the NPS and CRCs. Probation staff are also routinely provided with professional supervision, combined with access to confidential counselling on request.’
Yes, it’s incredulous stuff from Mr Selous once again; but perhaps everyone should consider seeking an appointment for this valuable facility so kindly provided by the employer?
Essentially, the whole letter is the latest in a long series of attempts by the Ministers to portray our members as fantasists and liars, when in fact it’s they who ought to be looking closely at themselves in the mirror.
A put down for the ‘pick up’ artist
Much media coverage has been given to the furore surrounding two walking examples of misogyny in action. First, a sexist comedian known as ‘Dapper Laughs’ who thinks it’s fun to glibly talk about the threat of sexual assault as a means of generating so called humour; and someone equally sinister in the form of a self-styled ‘pick up’ artist by the name of Julien Blanc. ITV have had the decency to drop the former from their listings but it begs a question as to why they promoted this sort of trash in the first place?.
In the case of Mr Blanc, the online campaigning group Avaaz are promoting the petition from Voices in the UK to Home Secretary Theresa May to deny him a visa to the UK. They say:
'A self-described “pick up artist,” Julien Blanc and his associates are due to tour the UK on November 21st. Blanc and his association, Real Social Dynamics, promote sexist, racist and abusive approaches to women, and the UK shouldn’t play host to events where men are taught how to violate and harass women under the guise of “dating advice."
Julien Blanc charges thousands for his sleazy advice, and his outfit are running a sold out “boot camp” in London. Campaigns in Australia, Canada, Japan and Brazil have gone viral, asking governments to keep him out -- Australia revoked his visa last week. It’s the perfect moment to put his sexist snake oil operation out of business.
To allow this man into the UK sends a message that women are objects to be manipulated and preyed on, and legitimises sexual assault. Not on our watch. Sign now, share with everybody you know, and let’s add the UK to the list of proud countries standing up for the rights of women'.
It’s easy to just click that button and let the politicians know how you feel.
Keeping you posted
The Officer Group and I are obviously anxious to get news of the JR to members as quickly as we can in the coming days. This blog will be updated as soon as there are developments to report on, and we will get members mail outs issued as needs be. I will also be posting breaking news on my twitter account @ilawrenceL
Keep believing.
- ilawrence@napo.org.uk's blog
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