March of the machines

Following the discontinuation of the Judicial Review application last December, we wrote to all of the TR contractors pointing out the core elements of our evidence and that which the Secretary of State had offered as proof that he and his officials were on the ball when it came to staffing, workloads and ICT.

It quickly became clear from our initial meetings with the new CRC owners that they had been asked to construct bids without having been provided with much in the way of useful operational data, especially that pertaining to the above, as well as future forecasts of service need based on the complexities involved in the client interface. Much as we had suspected beforehand, this meant that the major part of their bid construction would have been predicated on how much profit they could make, and how they could replace skilled and experienced staff with lesser paid and unqualified people, and (as we have seen from the dreadful news emerging from Sodexo owned CRCs) biometric machines.

Aficionados of The Terminator movies may see a sinister similarity here to the central plot where the machines run the people, but perhaps we are closer to that dystopian nightmare than we would all like to think? It's almost as worrying as putting a catering company in charge of probation clients.

The potential impact of all this is starting to emerge in the form of huge numbers of job cuts within the Sodexo CRCs of around 500, which have understandably outraged our members. I have been tracking developments and ensuring that our resources are being channelled in the right way as we build our response and make arrangements to consult with members at the earliest opportunity.

Such media coverage that we have been able to secure despite the start of the General Election campaign, has been pretty good considering, and has involved: ITV, BBC North West, The Guardian and Independent, a number of regional newspaper outlets in the CRC Areas concerned and local radio. This focussed  on the dangers to the public as well as the shoddy, sneaky and downright cynical manner in which senior Sodexo leaders launched the news about their plans.

As I said on the two live BBC Cumbria and Lancashire interviews that I did yesterday, perhaps it was not a surprise that the company chose to decline any public comments to justify their plans and answer the claims from our members that they are seeking to wriggle out of their responsibilities in terms of honouring the Early Voluntary Departure scheme agreed by the Secretary of State.

I also see that a number of Napo branch representatives were able to engage with their local media and help get the message across and thanks to all of you for doing so. It's an issue that all members should be raising with prospective Parliamentary candidates in the run up to May 7th.

As you would expect, the Probation unions are about to finalise a date to meet with Sodexo and there will be a combined gathering of Sodexo union reps in the week immediately after Easter.

Life as you know it

Sodexo are the first of the CRC providers to break cover and announce what most of us have dreaded ever since the share sale; but a simple analysis suggests that aside from the draconian number of job cuts, their operating model is ambitious to say the least. Napo's Professional Committee will be going through it forensically.

Shedding staff before contact centres and biometric machines can even be in place raises serious questions about service delivery and their contractual  requirements. Members have already asked us if we know what methodology  was used to identify the number of jobs to be cut, and I have to say no, at this stage we do not.

Such drastic personnel policies will inevitably involve closures of offices and unwelcome relocations for many staff, which will merely heap more misery on top of that which Napo members have suffered this last 18 months.

All of this compounded by the lack of an ICT interface between nDelius and new case management systems which seem no nearer to being resolved than they were before contract sign off.

It's a shambles whichever way one looks at it, and it seems that Sodexo  have signalled an end to the concept of face to face contact with clients as part of a comprehensive rehabilitation package.

Shame on them and the cowardly politicians who signed up to all this.

'Check off' to end

The news that we were expecting came through this week in the form of a letter to all unions within the MoJ that the deduction of union subs at payroll is to end.

Here is what a retired Napo member had to say about it.

To: Napo Information
Subject: re Check Off email 31-3-15
 
'Dear Ian et al,
 
Thanks for today’s message concerning the above.  Although, as a retired member, it won’t affect me I’m still angry about it, as I agree it’s nothing other than part of the vindictive and ignorant Tory attack on trade unions generally.  When one reflects on the Tories’ being openly supported financially by big business interests, their unwarranted attack on Unions being legitimately supported by members, as they always have been, is hypocritical and outrageous.  As they’ve already largely destroyed the Service’s caring and supportive ethos in favour of an ideological preference for surveillance and control let’s hope the party’s days in government have now expired.'

Quite. But at least we have six months in which to encourage our members in the NPS to help us overcome this obstacle and sign up to Direct Debit. Let’s show Grayling what we think of his pernicious attempt to shut Napo down.

Pay

At long last we have received the formal final pay offer and while it provides a small non-consolidated award for all those stuck on their maximum, it is underwhelming. We are being totally up front in saying it’s the best that we have been able to secure in an impossible bargaining climate, and you will be asked at a members office meeting to concur with that view, or tell us if you want us to do something other than to accept it. From the articles that have been posted in Napo News we are clear that we should look ahead to discussions on a new pay structure, although that will largely be governed by the complexion of the next government. Please look out for details of your consultative meeting.

More news on the above and lots more after Easter.