Tuesday 7 April 2015

Bleak Futures Week 14

To my mind redundancy announcements at this time is a tactical move by Sodexo. Many are not going to hang about to see if the axe falls on them, and many will already be looking for alternative employment. Come August, much of the saff reductions wanted by Sodexo will probably have been met by staff leaving off their own back, and of course Sodexo will have to pay them nothing.

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Sodexo are the first to announce, but unlikely to be the last. Extrapolating from these figures is going to put the redundancies in the thousands, not hundreds and so I cannot see alternative employment filling the vacuum.

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Am I right in thinking that compulsory redundancies pay more than voluntary, due to the fact that you are being made unemployed rather than voluntary as you are making yourself unemployed? Also, once you get compulsory redundancies you are entitled to benefits.

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Completely backwards. The vol. redundancy payments are higher to incentivise those who are willing to go 'at a price' before making people compulsorily redundant. Without the higher payments, everyone will just take their chances and play the odds.

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Voluntaries are offered to entice people to go sooner to save company £££ (eg staff like higher management). Sodexo have no real incentive to offer voluntaries.

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Coupled with the fact that the National Agreement clause (16) on enhanced redundancy only applies to voluntary redundancies, I would imagine it is in Sodexo's interest to wait until after end September 2015, when they will be able to make compulsory redundancies without being obliged to offer enhanced terms.

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S.Yorks Napo and Unison formally registered a trade dispute today over failure to apply staff transfer agreement in respect of EVR and apparent denial of VR enhanced or otherwise to over 55s.

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Brilliant! That is what we need. Hope others follow suit. This is what the staff transfer agreement was for. I was really exasperated by all the "it's worthless" "the unions have sold us down the river" bleating. Please get behind your unions.

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Naive - We had local disagreements foiled by poorly voted strike action. Sodexo consulting on the agreement won't bind anything. They can still sack. It will just cost a little more now lose a little profit overall. Oh no you're right they will see their insensitive approach and give us a rise and less work. Wake up the fight was lost already.

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Keep an eye on Catch 22, who will be delivering through the gate services for CRCs within months. Case manager role at HMP Doncaster paying £16,489 to £22,673.Senior case manager, from £19,527.37 to £26,849.36 per annum.

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Bloody disgraceful. I doubt at that price you are going to get anyone with passion and commitment. You pay for what you get.

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You will though. What you may also get is inexperience and a less well trained staff group. You may get staff that become quickly disillusioned or see their post as a "means to an end", maybe a step towards a public sector job... one day. Catch 22 have been a threat waiting in the wings for a while now.

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Gutless CRC CEO's and SMT going along with the Sodexo salami slicing. Ultimately it is the CRC who is our employer and the contracts sit with the CRC. When are they going to wake up and grow some balls and realise the risk sits with them if delivery goes tits up because they have no skilled staff left. I've already heard them whining about it not being their fault and blaming the private company. The private companies have shares but it is the CRC management who are accountable for employee matters and delivering on contract. It will be the CRC who faces a tribunal and are expected to deliver. Come on NAPO it's time to wake up, you've been caught with your trousers down again.

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I left Probation 5 years ago just when this bollocks was kicking off and moved into a completely unrelated field. It was the best move of my life. I am happier and healthier. There comes a point when you just have to accept the government sees the Probation Service as 100% expendable and move on. Stop flogging a dead horse.

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But what "unrelated field"? I know people say they have moved on but where to? Apart from a few who have gone into Social Work no-one has said what they are doing now. I am genuinely interested in knowing. I accept the notion that we have lots of transferable skills but can anyone show where they have proved the point, especially if they have no other experience than Probation?

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It's hard to answer this without 'outing' former colleagues if you want the detail that I think you are looking for. However, substance misuse agencies, children's charities, mental health agencies, arts organisations, travel agencies, big solicitors firms, universities and colleges and own businesses have all snapped up people I've worked with very quickly. Most of them now earn more than they did in probation. Hope that helps a little bit, check out indeed or some other big job sites and you might be surprised at what's out there. Good luck!

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What you learn in Probation is how to think quickly, navigate incomprehensible IT systems, solve problems, communicate on all levels and interpret a myriad of laws and policies. You'll be welcomed by many, many employers. Don't panic!

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I'd steer clear of substance misuse and mental heath. They're hardly a bag of laughs or gold. I think people in Probation are so worn down they've lost the confidence or energy to make a move out. If they make you redundant after all of this you should be thankful that someone has made the move for you. Sorry if that pisses some people off but I think there's a lot of Stockholm Syndrome about. JUST GET OUT!!!

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I work in IT now. I re-trained. It was totally worth it. My years in Probation gave me anxiety the doctor said PTSD. I don't know about that but I was medicated for the first two years after I left. Even reading this blog is raising my blood pressure. This isn't a smug "look at me & my better life" post but really really there is a better life out there. Just leave. It's not worth it, I promise you.

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Thank you. I agree with comment about confidence. I think I have done this for so long it is hard to see a role outside of Probation.

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I understand. You're so very qualified for so many things out there. It's going to take a paradigm shift away from you holding your nose to the grindstone and feeling the constant fear that if you stop, all the cards will fall to loving yourself enough to take a little time to plan a future. Book holiday now, use the time to fix your CV and apply for other things. And for Gods sake see a counsellor privately. The toll this job is taking on you can in no way be underestimated. Not just you, every PO reading this.

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I think it's disgusting what they're doing. Essex had a meeting with the Chief Officer yesterday and its bleak, 50% of admin staff to be axed, a central "hub" aka Contact Centre in Chelmsford, OM3 and 4 grades are alleged to be "safe" but for how long? It just stinks and to add insult to injury, staff cannot apply for Enhanced Voluntary Redundancy!

There are plenty of staff (including me) who would jump at this but once again any opportunity to do so is denied, which is insulting as I want to go but not without a pay off! I'm taking my 6 years of expertise, knowledge and skills elsewhere as I'm actively seeking alternative employment, interviews are flooding in! Having Neighbourhood Centres and a central hub is awful, how can you gauge risk by telephone?? This is a dangerous and shambolic system and I'm ashamed to be involved in it but I have no choice and without a decent financial recompense to leave voluntarily I want out.

Sodexo don't care about or value experience, all we are to them is a disposable commodity or a mere number. How will decisions be made to get rid of staff? We've been told it's based on appraisals and sickness, but who really knows? The only certainty I can foresee is offending will escalate if not managed correctly and this will seriously affect their PbR figures, so then what?? It's too hideous to contemplate and won't be reversed come the election (regardless of who is elected). Sad times indeed for a once decent and respected service!

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I'm pretty compliant with any sanction imposed on me as a consequence of offending, so I could soon be a kiosk reporter if they're introduced in my region. The kiosk wont be able to tell I guess if I've lost a stone in weight since our last 'interaction' which would indicate to a humanoid that my drug use is increasing significantly.

The kiosk won't be able to tell if I'm scruffy looking, which might suggest to a humanoid that I've lost my most recent address. The kiosk wont be able to tell if I've lost my benefits and have no money. The kiosk wont be able to tell if I've got black eyes because I've been involved with some altercation. And the kiosk certainly wont be able to see the bag of shoplifted goods at my feet that I picked up on the way to report.

Oh! I've got to provide it with all this information? With a risk of recall to custody and 10 days withdrawal pain, I DON'T THINK SO!! I would however like to thank the MOJ for all its recent efforts. I no longer leave prison with just £46 in my pocket, now I'll also get all the support that a kiosk can give me. I just hope they'll dispense chocolate bars as well!

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Are people aware that various SPO, PO, PSO, and Practice Manager jobs are being advertised in Kent, Surrey and Sussex CRC? The mind boggles whilst in the midst of all this. Their provider is Seetec Group - what do they know that Sodexo don't? Or am I missing something - they already have a staff of approx 650....

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Meanwhile, down at the MoJ they're recruiting a whole new team of IT personnel, starting with four new team leaders @ £90,000 a year. Here's the opening drivel:

"The Ministry of Justice is one of the largest government departments. Our work spans criminal, civil and family justice, democracy and rights. We work to protect the public and reduce reoffending, and to provide a more effective, transparent and responsive criminal justice system too. At the heart of this, is our commitment to deliver a justice system in which the public are truly confident.

To achieve this, we’re transforming the way we work. And that puts our Technology and Digital teams at the forefront of a radical overhaul. We’re making our technology and digital services simpler, clearer and faster. There are a number of roles in the MoJ Technology Directorate and we need inspirational and forward-thinking leaders to drive this."

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what are Areas doing for RAR? - there's nothing in our Area and isn't it the 1st May that it's all meant to commence? I have people on RARs but all I'm doing is giving supervision which is NOT a RAR. I have a horrible feeling they are going to turn us all into programme tutors.

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That's the point - they are making them and we don't have any activities set up so it's still supervision. Nothing set up for TTG unless managers gonna pull a rabbit out of the hat - 1st May's round the corner!!!

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Coming through thick and fast now. What Pillock would introduce a RAR when to commence 01/02 when most funded projects are coming to an end and any local agreements with partners are out of window because of probation sell off. Who? Yes that would be the April fool himself.

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St Giles will be running TTG in Wales. Interviewing for a Team Manager this Wed. Tough for those unable to attend as StG won't reschedule, only the 1 interview day. Half term and Easter hols many people are away. Surely they haven't got someone in mind?

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They simply do not understand the whole ethos of public service do they? These idiots, Maude included, just continue to show their true colours. I was sooooo proud to be a public servant serving my community as a probation officer and it is all blown to the wind.

I believe that the power to remove someones liberty, either in custody or by complying with community penalties, MUST be only a function of the state. Furthermore, one that must never be outsourced, it too important. The very idea that others (shareholders and senior managers of the companies on performance related pay) can £profit from crime and the victimisation of my fellow citizens is totally anathema. This is the principle of public service for me and to remove this kills altruism. Perhaps this is the moral high ground and perhaps it is so for a reason!

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I have been trawling websites concerning the use of Bio-metrics and it could fall flat on it's face if people decide to say 'no'. From what I can see, with the exception of passport and the police, people can opt out. As is human nature people when offered to report to kiosk people are going to ask 'what's in it for me?' if the answer is reduced travel/expense then yes, probably the uptake will be good, but other than this, I can't see any reason why people would choose it. Sodexo appear to be putting all their easter eggs in one basket regarding this initiative.

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Precious little detail in any of the Working Links presentations to staff as part of their roadshows across Wales and the West Country in the last few weeks. The main thing seemed to be a video of people who'd used to work for small, local service providers until they were swallowed up by Working Links, now seemingly press-ganged into telling us that WL aren't that bad. And a lot of talk about lots of job opportunities within WL which don't involve working for the CRC (followed by the CRC CEO hastily saying he wouldn't allow any secondments because we haven't enough staff).

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I have much respect for Paul Senior, but his association and unwavering support for the Probation Institute puts him massively down in my books. Paul talks about principles and values and yet not once have Probation Institute publicly opposed TR. Not once have they supported the same professional who took action to strike in order to defend the same principles and values which he and Sue Hall talk so much about. Not once have they publicly acknowledged the stress and pressure staff have been placed under. Not once have they opposed the under 12 months supervision as a breach of human rights and an outright attack on communities and civil liberties. So - Excuse me if my comments offend. Yes they are designed to offend because I’m offended by the hypocrisy and double standards in which they and PI promote their self-interest and self-serving agenda. Paul and Sue should be ashamed of themselves.

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If you want evidence-based policy, consider the number of Tories in the Commons and the Lords who got themselves out of tricky corners by asserting their probation credentials by asserting their support – financial and political – for the Probation Institute, supported by probation chiefs and the unions. They knew it would play well to the gallery and it was often quoted in the same sentence as '£46 in your pocket'. The professors et al are 'useful idiots'. These people are not on the frontline, they are not facing redundancy; on the contrary they can look forward to research commissions. They are far removed from the fallout and from their vantage points, like giggling Greek Gods, they can look on as lesser mortals are skewered. The whole thing is an insult and a betrayal.

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CRCs bought the contracts on the basis that they had autonomy to develop their own 'innovative' approach to reduce reoffending. To that end how can the PI dictate what it is or isn't right for the CRCs to do? The PI is nothing but an extra layer of insulation designed to buffer government from fall out from really bad policy.

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Like it or not the PI is probably the best and perhaps the only, potential means of securing some common professionalism across the CRC's. If it is to achieve this it cannot denounce the profit making providers, however repugnant they might personally or individually consider the profit motive may be.

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It's the profit makers that will decide what the 'common professionalism' is going to be, not the PI.

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I don't disagree, but if there is a voice they'll listen to other than their shareholders it's the PI, and for now at least the CRCs are buying in.

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If a professional body cannot criticise the profession it represents, it has no credibility. It is like a university than cannot fail any of it's students. It undermines itself.

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You know that supporters of the Probation Institute are scraping the barrel for justifications when professionalism is redefined as 'common professionalism'. This means deprofessionalization and it has happened in all public services that have been opened to the market. It's a major issue in education as there is no requirement for free schools to employ qualified teachers.

Common professionalism can only mean one thing: lowering standards, deregulation, and lowering wages. This is what free schools can do: set their own pay and conditions for staff; employ teachers without qualified teacher status; determine their own admissions arrangements; decide upon their own curriculum; set the length of terms and school days; and operate independently of the local authority and outside the local family of schools. These are the 'freedoms' that CRCs will claim for themselves and they can market it all under the name of common professionalism, as blessed by the probation institute.

The NPS does not need the probation institute, but the CRCs do. You need a body that is prepared to 'independently' give its endorsement to new arrangements that are motivated by profit, but with the backing of the PI these changes can be promoted as innovative. The PI in effect becomes a public relations arm of the CRCs and this is epitomised in the new terminology of common professionalism. Which is why those who in their hearts know the whole project is dubious, but believe they can ride the tiger, are 'useful idiots' to the CRCs.

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I had, originally, had hope for PI but once they started to allow the employers to pay for their staff membership it was, IMO, doomed! After a year they still have just over a thousand members. It would be interesting to know how many were paid for by CRCs! I suspect well over half. Many of the others are academics & some within MOJ who never worked in probation & have been involved in TR!

There is no way PI will oppose cuts in staff and introduction of machines! Despite all their talk of defending ethics & values. I paid for my membership last year (turned down employers offer to pay) won't renew or let CRC pay for me this year! Unfortunately I also don't hold out any hope for NAPO doing anything!

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'They' have wanted to get rid of people who stand up and challenge, especially those who invented and developed probation for years. 'They' are now very close to achieving it. Limited education, exam factories that suggest success but are only so because of their ability to create people who know so little they just accept what is. Probation people challenged their ability to abuse, take advantage and profit. They had to destroy it, it has taken a while but not long in the greater scheme of change...

57 comments:

  1. The MoJ have stated:

    "The enhanced Voluntary Redundancy Scheme, agreed with Trade Unions as part of the National Agreement on Staff Transfer, is funded by the Ministry of Justice in the period to 31 March 2015... We are not currently planning to offer VR to probation officers and other operational roles as we believe we need to retain the skills of those who have been transferred to the NPS."

    So what about the poor bastards in CRCs? Sodexo, any ideas?

    "We had planed on the basis that the majority of exit would be on compulsory terms, seven months after contract commencment, i.e. 1st September 2015, as per the National Agreement. If operationlly possible and staff wish to exit early through a compromise, we are currently looking at whether we can offer an exit package on slightly enhanced terms."

    ReplyDelete
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    1. CRC MANCHESTER AND CHESHIRE7 April 2015 at 19:33

      They better hurry up & offer VR. There is not a single person who I know who wants to stay, everyone is talking about getting the hell out.

      Delete
    2. How about constructive dismissal of those POs shafted to the CRCs? Or embezzlement of public funds by the CRCs? Or fraud?

      This cannot possibly be allowed to go unchallenged by Napo &/or Unison?

      Delete
    3. I feel sick to the stomach as I read that Sodexo statement:

      "We had planned on the basis that the majority of exit would be on compulsory terms, seven months after contract commencement, i.e. 1st September 2015, as per the National Agreement."

      Says it all - couldn't be more explicit if they tried - it was planned. The slash & burn, the seven month wait to move to compulsory redundancy, the fact it was written into the agreement. IT. WAS. PLANNED.

      So come on Napo, Unison, MoJ, NOMS whoever else sat around that table - OWN UP!!! Who got paid what to put together this travesty of an arrangement whereby "the majority of exit would be on compulsory terms, seven months after contract... as per the National Agreement."

      Bastards. Weasels. Scumspawn.

      Delete
    4. I would like to stay and keep my job, but I think that my managers have another plan for me haha. REDUNDANT

      Delete
  2. Bastard,s they print millions and give itto the bankers without a second thought but when it comes to working people it's stuff you.

    Papa

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  3. But the unions got best the deal possible! Someone will have to explain why signing up to the framework agreement was a good idea. Seems to me we got the Probation Institute and that's about it.

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  4. NAPO and Unison have many questions to answer - but i doubt the membership will attempt to hold either to account

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  5. The above Sodexo position is already the subject of challenges. These statements are old news

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  6. Challenges by who? Certainly when I look around there is no-one willing to put their head above the parapet in support of public sector workers.

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  7. One NAPO branch has lodged a dispute but where is NAPO as a whole. surely this should be taken up as a whole. Just because some CRC areas have not announced redundancies or biometric machines yet does not mean it won't happen in future. If as a union we fail to back our sodexo led colleagues, then we may as well stop paying our sub's.

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  8. Leave Napo as they don't work for you!

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    1. As a rep, I am busier than I have ever been. You know nothing.

      Delete
    2. Don't think anyone is being critical of reps my friend, more about Napo HQ. Why is there not a coordinated, across board condemnation of sodexo's actions. NAPO as a whole should be lodging dispute and every branch member should be supporting action. But we know neither will happen. PS I am not on CRC led by Sodexo but doubt my shareholder will be much different.

      Delete
  9. And Unison, they work even less for Probation staff members.

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  10. Can only speak for myself but I am definitely suffering from post transformation stress disorder and that it is not no laughing matter.

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  11. I'm already fed up with all this election shite! All the same meaningless sound bites, they are treating the electorate like a bunch of divvies! It occurred to me that if it is okay to have unqualified teaches, police, probation staff, how about having some "real people" with life experience running the damn
    country?

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  12. I have seen some details of the pay offer which is an oxymoron: no wonder IL was tight-lipped and no wonder all the rhetoric is now on the Pay Ice Age, which gets the unions off the hook. How much have union officials seen their salaries grow in the past five years?

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  13. Does that mean only PO do a good job? Is that what divides a workforce so its all, over ! Blame a grade attitude not wholly napo blame the inept chair who rushnin agreements appliedmfor a new job then walked out, great job PO. The general Secretary not a po but not been well supported or properly directed. Why ? Oh POs failed him strikes support and lack of resistance. Tories lie whats new ?

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    1. At 7:36.Ian lawrence is not fit for purpose yet he still receives 70k a year and has achieved very little for members. After napo paid off the last GS for his alleged antics in office and the current GS decisions, or lack, resulted in the JR fiasco and subsequent costs, I'm we still pay our subs?

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  14. All our operators are busy at the moment please hold, piped music continues, your call is important to us we will be with you shortly, piped music. Client hangs up.... This is what I see in the future, Job Centres, Tax Offices, and various other agencies that once you would pop into an office without an appointment have all gone. The new age of technology is upon us, well for the ones that can afford the phone call that is.

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    Replies
    1. Lol, sadly so true but not funny. Wonder how long before calls become premium rate.

      Delete
  15. for anyone who does not know the pay offer was as follows:

    for those who received their increment that I might add is part of their conditions of service there is no pay award. The people at the top of the scale who have already used up all their increments thank you very much get a small lump sum.

    Now, I am being penalised in that as not only am I left to hang around year after year for my entitled increment due automatically on 1st April but is usually given to me a year later, but am now being almost discriminated against by not being included in the new payoffer that only applies to those at the top of the scale.

    The offer is a small one off payment and depends on the grade but roughly up to band 4 it is about £300 and above that about £350. I've not brought the emai home so the figures are approximate.

    It is wrong to give those at the top of the scale this payment as it's not fair on the rest of us.

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    1. ACO grades get a bigger lump sum, about £500. That will nicely top off their EVR packages.

      Everyone else gets jackshit.

      Well done everyone. Bye.

      Delete
    2. Those of us at the top of the scale have had no pay rise, Inc increments, for 5 years. I agree it is unfair but don't transfer your ire to those who benefit this time. It's a 0.75% increase, before tax. We haven't voted on it yet so it may yet fail.

      Delete
    3. Yes, I agree, some folk always look for someone to blame! As a long serving po not had am increment for 20 years and no payrise for many a year so let's remember, you get to the top of the scale by sticking around for decades and it used to be referred to as retention, preventing experience evaporating into the ether! We've all been shat on, so let's be sensitive towards each individual in the organisation!

      Delete
    4. I think it's pretty pathetic to focusing on who gets what from this pay offer. In the round, it's an insult to everyone and that's where the fire should be directed, not on differentials. But there will be no fire because the leadership has given up on pay and the membership moans and groans but there is no groundswell of anger that demands action.

      The decline in pay reflects the gender balance and deprofessionalisation of the workforce. Wages will continue to fall until the market rate is reached. At present I am not aware of any recruitment shortages. The calibre of probation is changing and the days of being reasonably well-paid are over, unless you are a sycophant doing well for yourself.

      Delete
    5. 15 years qualified and earning less than some of my peers. Lack of pay progression affects my pension. I will be retiring in 6 years time and at this rate I still wont have reached the top of my pay scale on my retirement. We should not let the pay offer divide us further but fight for fair and equal pay for all

      Delete
  16. http://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/timeline/latest/embed/index.html?source=0AhBQ8ZfZrBCldHlsaHJDSDQ2M3BIUEl5Zm9saDZKdkE&font=Bevan-PotanoSans&maptype=toner&lang=en&height=650

    timeline of probation take over by private companies

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  17. Via Twitter I have been asked to 'advertise' a po vacancy, the Bailiwick where my great grandmother originated: -

    " Matt Brown
    @BMF666

    FAO All PO's relocate to the beautiful isle of Guernsey!! No TR!! Sun, sea, sand and a great team! Plz share! https://www.bluelinejobs.co.uk/jobs/view/6786/search?utm_source=Indeed&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=Indeed … "

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  18. Today I recieved a text on my work phone from a client who successfully completed supervision months ago, basically just asking if I'd had a nice weekend. He occasionally pops in to let me know how he's doing.

    I doubt an atm kiosk would have the same effect on our client group.

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    Replies
    1. Work phone, lucky you, some don't even have an individual landline phone in my area

      Delete
    2. 16:31- bizarre / inappropriate?

      Delete
  19. I love how people are still debating the latest pay offer and bemoaning where they are on the various scales.
    This time next year those scales won't exist. It won't matter.

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    Replies
    1. Just because we face the bleak future you point to, does not mean we should just accept this. I will fight till the end of all this and will be voting no to acceptance. I am well aware it will make little difference

      Delete
    2. I agree: pay scales and increments won't matter. Pay is going to plummet and then we will see what collective effort the disparate and divided probation workforce is capable of.

      Delete
  20. Those talking about the increments or lump sum payment. I'm at the top of the Po scale, have been for years. When should this lump sum have been received? I've not noticed anything extra in my recent pay.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's not been ratified yet so it won't have appeared yet.

      Delete
    2. Thanks mate.

      Bloody probation pay. You'd think they'd have done away with pay freezes and pay scales years ago. I guess that's the price we pay for having Napo fight for us!!

      Delete
  21. It will be a worthless NO vote from me.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Just our of interest if you had to work for one of tur CRCs who would you choose? For me Sodexo, Working Links and Purple Futures would be bottom. Seetec and mtc novo would be top of the list so far. Any better suggestions?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Probation Officer8 April 2015 at 23:28

      It's a hard one to choose. On face value I'd probably choose working links as at least our ethos is similar and they generally get good reviews. I think Seetec is a similar choice too. Saying that, Nacro is most similar to probation and look what it and Sodexo has planned! Leaving Sodexo aside all the rest are a mish mash of two bit good for nothing outfits that i'd rather not work for.

      I think the smarter or safer choice would be Sodexo as it's been up front and at least you'll know what's coming. Always better to be stabbed in the front! All of the CRC's will make cuts, decrease wages and close down offices. It's pointless we take into account ethos, manifestos, mission statements, etc as they are all the same and interested in only one thing - PROFIT.

      Delete
    2. Maybe Sodexo haven't been upfront... Maybe their hand was shown earlier than they'd planned and as such maybe they were forced to go public? Maybe, if they'd had it their way, no-one outside the Sodexo circle of corporate "trust" would have had any clue about their plans to ditch 30% or more of the workforce.

      My answer - None of them. And yes, I'm actively dealing with my situation. I think Guernsey's a lovely place to live.

      Delete
  23. Perhaps if you went on strike tr wouldn't have happened what about that ?no point pontificating now... pays your money takes your choice

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  24. http://m.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/851/20438/08-04-2015/stop-sodexos-probation-jobs-cull

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    1. End Sodexo's abusive relationship with probation service: stop the jobs cull!

      With the ink barely dry on the probation privatisation contracts, the giant security firm Sodexo has announced sweeping redundancies amounting to one third of the staff it took on when work was outsourced to them at the end of February.

      This is a huge kick in the teeth for staff who endured two years disruption during the so-called Transforming Rehabilitation (TR) programme and now face an uncertain future whichever government is in power after 7 May.

      Sodexo owns six of the 21 Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) now responsible for managing low and medium risk offenders. It also runs five prisons in the UK, three in Chile and provides a host of security services worldwide.

      Conflict of interest
      Some might suggest a conflict of interest between an organisation paid to reduce reoffending in the community while at the same time given large wads of cash for keeping offenders locked up.

      Such a conflict was brought into sharp relief in February when probation chief inspector Paul McDowell was forced to resign over his marriage to one of Sodexo's senior managers. This didn't stop the 'marriage' of the CRCs going through however, and it's now becoming clear that those in a partnership with Sodexo find themselves in an abusive relationship.

      Sodexo's plan for the supervision of offenders is a travesty of justice. In place of personal and meaningful engagement with individuals it intends to slash its face-to-face services and introduce call-centres and 'biometric' reporting.

      Automated machines
      Rather than being able to work with a trained professional on the often complex reasons why they offend, an individual will instead have to deal with their problems at a distance and in some cases with a machine designed to ask a standard set of questions. This is no way to reduce reoffending or protect the public.

      Napo probation union reps in Sodexo have convened an urgent meeting to discuss the union's response to the redundancies.

      If the security giant gets away with this the owners of the other fifteen CRCs will surely follow. Napo fought a long but ultimately unsuccessful battle to stop the break-up and privatisation of probation.

      Members are now having to deal with the consequences of that loss. A new and angry mood is developing, however, and a determination to ensure that whoever replaces Chris Grayling as justice secretary is forced to reverse his disastrous slash and burn policies.

      Chas Berry, Napo national vice chair (personal capacity)

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    2. Good to hear of a 'new and angry mood developing'. The sooner the better...

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    3. Is this national napo official an Idiot ? I don't care for your personal views if you have them don't mention your status.
      What you should be doing is blogging the napo position and what are you to be doing while our jobs are being terminated.
      Weak and poor time for speeching where is the legal advice and campaign to save jobs and challenging through legal proceedings the despicable sodexo action.

      Wake up you wake up napo !.

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  25. Letters due out this week for colleagues in the at risk pool going to offices with options regarding VR etc. In our Office, sickness is up and colleagues aren't waiting for their letter they've put in their notice already. Wonder who will do the work until they sort out the estates and IT. Temping agencies could get busy again very shortly.

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    1. Which area are you @anon 07:55

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    2. South yorks, letters received today delivered by hand. Those in the oversubscribed pool under 55 got their voluntary redudancy figure, those over 55 offered early retirement, not both.

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    3. I am in CLCRC. I wish they would get their act together and issue letters.

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  26. I can't believe anyone would be so stupid to put in their notice in advance of a letter. How many colleagues have submitted their notice? I don't believe you.

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    1. I've got a little temper on me - it is something i'd do - stuff em i'll just quit - sometimes its not always about the money. I just hope they don't work their notice.

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  27. Well I don't get any money as I don't have enough service and unless you have worked there for ever the redundancy package or early retirement isn't worth waiting for, if you need a job then you can't afford to wait for someone to make a decision about your future.

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