Dodgy Contracts

I'm grateful to the Napo member who has forwarded the following letter to me. This paragraph says it all in my view:-

"As a result of the way that the TR contract has been commissioned, the challenges we face working in a PBR environment, a drop in service users and doubts over the position on the WAV band we are in a position where will need to find efficiency savings of up to 40%."

No wonder all the CRC's went to London en masse to tell Gove the contracts were based on dodgy information and why the MoJ is desperately trying to think up imaginative ways in which to shift work from NPS to the shafted privateers.

27th November 2015

Dear Dino 

Collective consultation 

I am writing to you in your capacity as NAPO representative, in respect of the Dorset, Devon & Cornwall Community Rehabilitation Company's (the Company) proposals for changes to the operating model for the Justice and Employability parts of the Working Links group and the proposals to deal with the challenges of a reduced Weighted Average Volume (WAV) within the Company. 

There is a lot of information that we still do not have but we are conscious that during our on-going dialogue, you have expressed a desire to have information as it becomes available so this letter sets out some information and we will of course update you as and when information becomes available. 

As a first step, I am writing to update you on where we are with the development of the Working Links Way, the proposed use of technology to support the Working Links Way and some detail about likely reduction in the WAV. 

The past weeks have been focused on explaining why change is necessary and listening to views and ideas from employees, sponsors and other internal and external stakeholders. These have covered a broad range of issues including how we can deliver a common platform for maintaining quality of service delivery, have a flexible workforce across a flexible estates portfolio and provide a platform for future growth. Since share sale, there have been over 25 workshops and 35 processes reviewed which have enabled us to pull together ideas on how to achieve this.

We have considered the ideas and contributions made by employees who attended the workshops. 

Whilst the Working Links Way is focused on improving the business and the quality of service for customers and service users, employees of the Company may be affected by some of these changes. In addition, the Company is also facing an unexpected challenge caused a reduction in WAV as it is becoming clear that the current WAV is less than the projected WAV which Working Links were informed about during the Transformation Rehabilitation bidding process. 

As a result of the way that the TR contract has been commissioned, the challenges we face working in a PBR environment, a drop in service users and doubts over the position on the WAV band we are in a position where will need to find efficiency savings of up to 40%. 

We would like to continue to discuss these challenges with you and our proposals to deal with them in a collaborative way. There are a number of options to consider with you but we recognise that one possible outcome is that there may be some redundancies within the Company as a result of the proposals. 

As this is one possibility, we intend to file the appropriate paperwork to the government as required by law to enable our dialogue with you to continue. We will send you a copy of the necessary HR1 form and associated documentation in due course. 

The Company plans to have collective redundancy consultation with its local representatives of UNISON and NAPO concerning these proposals. It may be the case that when the affected employees are broken down to each establishment within the Company that the relevant threshold for collective consultation is not met, however, the Company is keen and willing to consult with your local representatives in any event and we will be proceeding on this basis. We currently propose to explore all options with you, including the option of achieving redundancies through voluntary methods. 

Where we refer to "dismissals" below, our focus is on any surplus created by the implementation of the Working Links Way, including the proposals for Hub Operations and certain work to be carried out by them, and potential changes to address the likely reduction in WAV. We use the term dismissals, because that is what the law refers to. 

Diane Powell, Director of Human Resources and Learning and Development, Elaine Morgan, Assistant Chief Executive, Marie Kyme, HR Manager and myself will be leading the company side of the collective consultation process with Denice James, Helen Coley and yourself as representatives of NAPO and Glo Curtis as a representative of Unison. If necessary we may call on others to assist where appropriate.

In compliance with section 188 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULR(C)A), I set out below the reasons for the proposed dismissals which are: 

• The likely reduction in the current and future WAV compared to the WAV information provided by the Ministry of Justice during the Transforming Rehabilitation bidding process; and 
• Implementing the proposed Working Links Way which has some elements which may impact on staff, such as the proposed operating model to introduce Hub Operations and an universal delivery infrastructure which could impact some of the current Front Line Operations. 

As anticipated by TULR(C)A, we shall be consulting with a view to reaching agreement on ways of: 

• Avoiding the proposed dismissals; 
• Reducing the numbers of employees to be dismissed; and 
• Mitigating the consequences of the dismissals. 

We understand the potential for these proposals to be notable, and so we are currently discussing with you ways in which we could mitigate their effect. One proposed method we are willing to discuss is voluntary redundancy following which approval of any requests will be on criteria to be discussed in consultation; we will also be using natural wastage, and releasing agency workers in order to avoid the need for compulsory redundancies. 

At this early stage, we are, as we have discussed with you, unable to provide the balance of detail to complete the information that will form the basis of coming consultation. However, as soon as we are able we will provide you with the following detail – 

• The number and description of those who may be dismissed as redundant following conclusion of our process; 
• The total number of employees of such description employed in the establishment in question; 
• The proposed method of selecting any such employees and the proposed method of carrying out any proposed dismissals; 
• The proposed method of calculating any applicable statutory redundancy payment; 
• The number of agency workers working temporarily for an under our supervision, the parts of our business where these staff work, and the type of work they are carrying out. 

As we have explained in our meeting, we will provide this detail as and when it becomes available, and will update this letter accordingly.

This will no doubt be a challenging time for those involved, so I hope that we shall be able to work together cooperatively to discuss the proposed changes and their impact on our employees.

Yours sincerely

John Wiseman 

Probation Director

For and on behalf of the Dorset Devon & Cornwall CRC