Use Your Voice – Use Your Vote

Whatever your political views are, this years general election is the most undecided in a generation and is probably the most significant since 1945; this means that it has never been more important for people to use their democratic right to vote. Make sure you take a few minutes to attend your polling station (open from 7am – 10pm) and have some say in the UK's future government.

Politics, Napo and the Coalition

On the eve of the election I thought it timely to reflect on the last five years of the coalition. To say the last administration has had a big impact on the criminal justice system would be a huge understatement. The Probation Service has probably taken the biggest hit from this ConDem government than any other, changing the shape of the service forever. Notwithstanding a future return to public ownership the service is unlikely to ever return to its previous form.

It seems like a lifetime ago when Crispin Blunt and Ken Clarke first mooted the idea of selling off unpaid work, splitting it up into ridiculously large package areas to appeal to the private market. We feared then that an ideology juxtaposed to the values of the service was beginning to filter into our  practices and profession. If only we knew then what we know now. Ken was at least  progressive in terms of the current agenda, and now it turns out even Crispin didn't want to go as far as his successors have.

Chris Grayling took over the post of Justice Secretary in 2012. In two years he has wreaked havoc on the justice system imposing his ideology against rational argument from a broad range of professionals and stakeholders. His introduction of LASPO has hacked away at legal aid, leaving many with no access to justice, representation or rights to appeal. Professionals have done their best to pick up the pieces on the front line with many of our FCS members having to support ever increasing numbers of litigants in person. The saddest part about these cuts though has been the impact on women and children who are being denied representation even if the there is clear evidence of domestic abuse. Napo, PCS and the judiciary are seeing a shift in family court cases with hearings becoming less and less child focused as parents desperately try to represent themselves in the unknown territory of a Court room. Its unlikely that Grayling will ever be held to account for the damage he has caused to families, women and children and we can only be thankful that he has failed to to do the same to criminal legal aid whilst still in post. I hope that the public do not give him the chance to come back into post to continue his relentless rampage against the justice system.

The Probation Service has been the hardest hit section of the CJS with his savage "reforms". Grayling's untried and untested social experiment known as TR triggered Blunt to come out in public and criticise them. Napo has witnessed untold changes to probation over many years that we have largely opposed or challenged as consecutive governments attempted to leave their mark. So much so that the saying "this is the hardest fight we've ever faced" has almost become a mantra and is beginning to feel like the boy who cried wolf. But over the last two years it has been absolutely true; a fight for the profession, its values and effective practice. Academics, stakeholders, professionals, justice unions, politicians, campaigners and charities have come to our aid in a desperate attempt to get the ConDems to listen to reason and not be fooled by Grayling's rhetoric. But despite our best efforts and support, the ideology of failing grayling has won through, at least for the time being.

Grayling's kick in the teeth won’t keep us down

While we have also been in a fight for our lives to maintain our union and professional association, Grayling's parting shot to cancel check off for NPS staff was nothing more than a vicious last minute kick in the teeth to the union and its members. But the adage that if you kick a dog when its down, you've got to be prepared for it to bite back is exactly what we will do. Whoever forms the next government and whatever their promises are to Napo, we will still make the move to direct debit because it is better for our members in the long term and we haven't just been through 18 months of hell to give up over what is essentially an administrative task. We will show our strength and sign members over to direct debit and make sure that whichever party or parties forms an administration (give or take a few weeks of horse-trading) they will know that Napo is a strong union with a big voice in Justice. That's why we have written and issued our "Manifesto Asks" document. It clearly outlines what our key priorities are for the incoming government. Napo will be in a position to influence policy rather than react to its imposition and that will put us in a much stronger position with regards to the private sector.

But in order to make this happen we need a government that will work with us and not against us. A government that will talk and meet with us, unlike Grayling who has still never agreed to meet with Napo!  Who knows what the new government will look or what colour it may be?

Commentators talk of a 'rainbow coalition' and maybe that's the kind of shake up British politics need. One thing we can be sure of though is that another 5 years of a Tory government will decimate the justice system even further. Grayling is not all to blame, his party and the Lib Dems have supported his "reforms" from day one, and still do in their manifestos for future justice policy. That is why your vote is so important on May 7th. Please use it so we can get Justice back on track.