Published 11th July 2014
Workloads hit crisis point in Probation
Since the 1st June Napo as gathered considerable evidence that the probation service is in chaos as a direct result of the Secretary of State’s rushed plans to split the service ready to sell off 21 Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) by October this year. Despite public announcements by the Ministry of Justice and the Secretary of State that these are simply teething problems following the reorganisation, Napo firmly believes that the evidence provided by our members indicates that the service is at crisis point in both organisations.
There is now a high risk of harm to the public with staff trying to cope with unmanageable workloads and a significant cost to the taxpayer.
- Officers in London NPS have caseloads of 70 plus which is 150% above the workload management tool used by the previous Trusts.
- One officer reported that whilst he was able to give 21 cases to a temporary officer, this officer left last week due to the working conditions and as yet the 21 high risk of harm cases, including sex offenders, is currently unallocated and therefore not being supervised.
- In one office they have five temporary probation officers, being paid a significantly higher rate than permanent staff.
- A National Probation Service (NPS) probation officer who has 70 plus cases is also being paid £125 per session in overtime by the CRC to deliver the domestic violence programme, as the CRC has no trained staff to deliver it itself.
- In the South West cases are being transferred from the CRC to the NPS right in the middle of their parole process. This means that a new officer with no knowledge of the case will be expected to attend the Oral Hearing on high risk of harm prisoners. They will be expected to provide a full risk assessment on an individual they have never met before. This is potentially very dangerous and could lead to an inappropriate release or move to open conditions due to a lack of information.
- Manchester area has officers with cases of 70 plus in the NPS and one manager having to manage an office with 25 vacancies.
- Offices around England and Wales are reporting high levels of sickness due to the stress staff are under; and in many cases staff crying at their desks, unable to cope with the sheer volume of work and the chaos the fragmentation has caused.
Questions you may wish to ask
- When will the probation service in both the NPS and the CRCs be fully staffed?
- When will a new nationally agreed workloads measurement tool be in place; and, in the meantime, what does the Secretary of State deem to be a safe and manageable workload for staff?
- How many temporary staff are currently working in both the CRCs and the NPS and what is the total cost of this?
- What is the total cost of overtime and sessional work being carried out by permanent staff?
- What are the sickness figures for the period 1st May 2014 to 1st July 2014?
- How many serious further offences have occurred since 1st June 2014?