Pay offer under consideration by our sister unions

It was a little frustrating that we were not able to provide some of the detail contained in the NPS pay offer that we will be recommending to members in a ballot after the AGM.

As was made clear in last week’s mail out, the principle reason for this was that the other unions involved have yet to take the offer to their own equivalent of our Probation Negotiating Committee (PNC). That means we had to respect that position and not reveal details before each union had completed that important first stage of the consultative process. It was however important that you should know that the PNC, who are elected by members, were extremely thorough in calling the negotiating team to account for our work. For our part we were obviously delighted that they felt confident that this was very much the best and final offer that could be secured.

Now the hard work starts for the Napo HQ Communications team as we start to plan  our comprehensive communications for NPS members and those working in the CRC’s who are not part of the proposed deal but have more than a vested interest in where it leaves them. Added to which are the steps that need to be put in place to maximise turnout in the ballot. This will include creating our own Pay ‘landing page’ as well as preparing for the AGM briefing for Branch reps that will take place on Friday and the ballot material itself.

This will mean that we have next week to finalise things at this end before launching the formal consultation with members. I well understand that after a 10 year wait, members are champing at the bit to know what this all means for them, but I intend that we get the presentational material and ballot arrangements absolutely tied down so that the full facts and figures behind the offer are properly laid out before you.

Rushing that process will do no one any favours. 

AGM - A time to be proud of your profession  

As is always the case I am looking forward to seeing as many members as possible arrive at our Annual Conference later this week in what we all hope will be a sunny Southport, and it’s not too late to book in advance. You can of course just register on the day, but if you book online up to the evening before we can have your credentials, etc. waiting for you to collect, so you can avoid the queues. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER ONLINE.

The number of motions on the order paper suggests that we are going to have a lively series of debates, aided I hope by the fact that there have been a number of significant developments since we gathered at Nottingham last year.

The theme of AGM this year is ‘Your profession- your union’ and in that respect I wanted to mention how pleased I was to be invited to last week’s seminar at Birkbeck University organised by the Probation Journal. Here we heard a highly topical speech from Dame Glenys Stacey, which was the focus of an absorbing debate where the knowledge and dedication of the practitioner community shone through.

Shortcomings in DV interventions  

So, yet another hugely damning report by the HM inspectorate for Probation last week on the quality of service provision for perpetrators of domestic violence. Unfortunately, this arrived during an especially busy week with the Labour Party Conference and the latest developments on Brexit being top of the mainstream media’s agenda.

Nevertheless, we have had some useful interaction with a number of journalists and here is what I said to BBC Radio Wales last week in response to the report. My interview starts at 7.16am - at 48.00

BAME members asked to respond to an important survey

Napo has joined forces with UNISON, ABPO and RISE to find out more about the workplace experience of our Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic members who work in the National Probation Service, a Community Rehabilitation Company, The Probation Board for Northern Ireland or in CAFCASS.

All Napo members who self-identify as Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic who work for any of these employers, or for private or voluntary sector organisations providing services to any of these employers, are invited to complete the following questionnaire:

This questionnaire is completely confidential, and we will not seek to identify you as a result of your answers.

Please help to keep your answers confidential by not referring to the name of your employer, place names, or the names of individuals.

I am told that the questionnaire should take no more than 10 minutes to complete.

Please complete the questionnaire by no later than Friday 19 October 2018