Judicial Review - teamwork in action

There was never any doubt in my mind or the Officers and Officials that we would eventually have no option but to go to the courts to seek relief; but the persistently nagging question that has exercised the leadership since as long ago as last year, was when?

 

Anyway, as I explained to the AGM last month that’s academic now; and the volume and quality of the evidence submitted by members in support of our quest has been quite extraordinary. It leads me to one inescapable conclusion: some people are lying about the current operational state of the service. I have already ruled out the possibility that it could be our members. 

 

GEO walk, will others follow?

 

The hastily contrived announcement that EOS (known now as Avanti but nobody at NOMS  seems to have noticed) were replacing GEO as preferred CRC bidder in Warwickshire and West Mercia, had all the hallmarks of another stitch up in what has to be the most shambolic and corrupt procurement exercise ever seen. Actually, make that not seen as in: secret, underhand, dodgy etc. (insert as appropriate according to your regional dialogue). 

 

The most obvious question on the back of this visible display of no confidence by one of the chosen few is: when does a previously unfit bidder (Avanti) suddenly become 'preferred'? While the TR spin doctors scrabble around for an answer, the portents for all those smaller fish in the CRC pond must be somewhat uncomfortable.  Perhaps it is now a bit clearer as to why the lion’s share of the proposed contracts have ended up with the likes of Sodexo and Interserve who, as we know, have the financial clout to take the expected losses, but would still get to keep keep their size 15’s in the criminal justice system door as it were.

 

The MoJ spin about why GEO pulled out of the impending marriage cannot mask the possibility that the prospective bidder took another hard look at the shambles they were being asked to buy, and failed to renegotiate terms. One could also suggest that Napo's impending legal action has 'spooked the market' as they say in the City.

We will probably never get to know which of the above scenarios is true, given the secrecy surrounding the whole shabby bidding process, but this dramatic development will not have gone unnoticed by the other bidders. Hopefully they may already be thinking about whether these contracts will actually produce a financial return that is going to be worth the effort and grief that awaits them. They might be well advised to obtain the number of GEO's preferred Taxi carrier and get out while they can.

 

A legitimate public interest question

 

It’s clear from postings in Twitter-land which is referencing loads of media stories, that the furore around the potential conflict of interest involving the HM Inspector of Probation and a senior director at Sodexo is not going to go away any time soon.

 

Napo has a tradition of distancing ourselves from baseless stories so we will leave it to the above parties to explain themselves to those in the wider political and media world. That said, there are some legitimate questions to be asked such as: why has the timetable for the publication of some HMIP reports relating to key aspects of the post-split operational state been moved from November to December - just as Napo announced that we were going to the High Court? Perhaps Justice Minister Simon Hughes might muster enough energy to ask the question for us, but then again its unlikely that he will; given his public statements suggesting that HMIP thinks TR is safe when all of us await any evidence to prove it. No,it doesn't really stack up does it?

 

Pay latest 

 

In the midst of the operational chaos out there it’s easy to forget the fact that the 2014 pay claim was submitted by Napo and Unison way back in April. We have yet to get any meaningful negotiations underway due to the usual Treasury obfuscation and the fact that your pay is well down the coalition’s list of priorities.

It would have been useful for a discussion on this and other issues to have taken place at the scheduled meeting of the National Negotiating Council (NNC) last week, but senior NOMS management decided that the CRC preferred bidder announcement was a much more important attraction.

 

Meanwhile, the unions have served notice that in addition to our claim, we have doubts about the consistency in the way that Holiday pay has been calculated within the service. Early days to reach any sort of conclusion and we will call for evidence if we need to, but I am sure that the employer will be hoping that it has got this right over previous years or it could land them with something of a problem.  

 

news.sky.com/story/1366498/holiday-pay-should-include-overtime

 

Jay Barlow - a trusted voice for Napo's FCS members

 

The National Executive Committee meets later this month and among the recommendations that they will be asked to endorse will be the nomination from our Family Court members that Jay Barlow take up the vacant position of FCS National Vice Chair. I never make assumptions but I join with all Napo members in wishing Jay well and thanking her for offering to step up to the plate.

Jay’s experience, dedication and tenacity will be a valuable asset to the Napo leadership team. Jay has already shown during an introductory session with Officers and Officials this week, that she is well aware of the key issues that impact on FCS members and is raring to get stuck in to the challenges ahead. It will be great to have a full crew once again!

 

Cheer yourself up one year on - you deserve it

 

Finally, at the end of an exhausting week, and for those who have not yet picked up this link on social media, here is a montage of photos celebrating 12 months since the November 2013 strike action which helped to massively raise the profile of Napo's campaign against TR. Most of the accompanying music is terrific, as well as being entirely apposite; and it was good to see that our own National Official Tania (the Voice) Bassett, has been reminded of her starring role in the TUC’s smash hit: ‘Let’s work together’. 

 

Enjoy.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvJlTHY3SB8