As I remember it, the unions were not very good and so never had full membership. Unison saw probation as an afterthought and Napo never moved beyond the 1990's and was too busy focused on its internal management problems. Don't forget all that money Napo paid to the shamed former GS Mr J Ledger, remember when former national chair Mr T Rendon applied to be a CRC director then resigned, Napo never explained why it got rid of their best exec member ever Mr H Fletcher, and our unions continue to prop up the Probation Institute which has not been supported by members because it quietly supports TR, probation privatisation and the government whitewash of probation practice.
From long before TR the unions consistently failed to represent its members and this is why membership dwindled. There were many of us on the pickets and we were all against TR. Napo failed to mount the fight until the 11th hour, and when it did this consisted of delivering a cake to Chris Grayling, withdrawing our judicial review and employing a media officer that has failed to get any significant media coverage.
Even now with all the changes and redundancies being announced in NPS and CRC the union action amounts to a handful of statements, as usual delivered after the horse has bolted. They've said hardly anything about the gagging of staff, the huge payouts to former chief officers, the new McDonald's practices of CRC's, the coming E3 dumb-down, redundancies, office closures, etc, etc. There is so much unions could be saying in the public domain about what our work is and the impact of the changes, redundancies and dumbing-down upon us. Instead probation staff and offices continue to get the chop while the tumbleweeds continue to roll past the doors of Napo HQ, and that is why the cull will continue.
They've even bloody taken away our Napo forum!
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Brilliant review. While on this, the forum is no loss really. No one was using apart from ex Chairs and some officials who endorsed failed Rendon and what of the true scandal of his departure, another officers cover up. Thank crikey some of these people have gone yet the latest chairs are complacent and unable to actually understand what it is they are supposed to be doing. Being a probation officer does not make them able or capable trade unionists. I had heard to save money they want to hang on without elections. Can this be true?
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We're here because we didn't unite. We allowed our profession to be undermined and sold off. Although it's late in the day, you still have two choices: Go quietly, or create a fuss. If you're in a union, let your reps know your anger. If you're not in a union, grow up and join one. Your boss is not your friend, your colleagues are, so unite with them. Together we are stronger, divided we beg.
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Why didn't I go and support my Sodexo colleagues when I heard what happening to them? Why didn't I phone colleagues to ask how it was going in other CRCs? There may be many reasons, self preservation, head in sand, denial all a result of the divide and rule carve up of our organisation. We have a legacy of the old Trusts competition left where we were appalling at sharing anything with each other. We have been putty in the hands of our owners, but there is still time to fight. But I suspect few of us will be brave enough.
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Mapping Matching and Shafting Letters are Imminent. Over time I have felt increasingly let down by Senior Management who should have been the first to resist and say no to some of the unreasonable demands being placed upon us and not support the insulting fiasco of new modules, Masterclasses and half ready IT systems. I am constantly hearing that we are a well educated group of people and knowledgeable. No ones asking me my opinion though.
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In the only not for profit CRC, a couple of weeks ago, a senior manager announced that there would be redundancies and temp contracts would not continue. We know that the caseloads are not what was expected whilst the NPS are managing low risk PPOs and medium risk cases which the POs in the CRCs previously managed.The allocation process is fundamentally flawed, resulting in a payment mechanism which may result in the big players handing the contracts back as there is clearly no money to be made. This could result in even more chaos. We should be alerting our MPs to the situation and include the wide scale redundancies in press releases. The trade unions and I include Unison in this - (there inactivity in our downfall rarely gets a mention) need to act now as the staff cuts are being announced. Every job loss needs to be publicised.
The alleged failure of Napo to support its members is cited as one of the main reasons why membership dwindled. Union membership has dwindled across both public and private sectors and the reasons go beyond issues of representation and union leadership, not least hostile legislation and a general weakening of unions which has seen worker protections and real wages decline during the ascendancy of neo-liberalism.
ReplyDeleteThere have been some exceptions of unions fighting their corner and when they have you normally saw their support reflected in high turnouts in ballots. We did not see this in probation, not even in the industrial action over pensions which occurred before TR was even coined.
Essentially the probation workforce was defeated because their fight against TR was half-hearted and weakly supported. Now those who fought will be culled alongside those who crossed self-righteously picket lines, perhaps thinking that their loyalty would be rewarded. Industrial action in probation was a mess: those fighting were forever bumping into those who were fleeing.
The upshot is a weaker union, with fewer members, that has no bargaining strength, no power to shape events. I don't see the point in blaming Napo anymore because it's masochistic and makes a bad situation worse.
Nipper really ? Come on the central failure of the top table to get across the risks and the likely loss of all jobs a devalue of PO qualified staff, the loss of national collective bargaining, the privatisation agenda, the civil service directions regime, consultative meetings instead of negotiating. All these tied into the TR and Transition framework document? This is what the national officials all signed up for. How you can you not hold them to account for signing up to an agenda that has wiped out its membership. The Chair at the time packaged and sold to members from the last chair and London chair as help in applied for a job prior to the actual split. What message did they convey to readers. At that time it was clear the leadership were completely lost running to sign up for the enhanced voluntary rates on redundancy. This was a greed ruse and they fell for that. The Governmemnht needed EVR more than anyone so as to encourage staff to leave and ease the weakening. Napo did not promote the reality as they never had the right attitude to fight against it. The current leadership still don't and are carrying through a lost agenda because they are worried about their own roles which will not last long once the rest of our members get the sackings currently nationally planned. Get real Nipper and ask what can we still do not what is left.
DeleteIn May 2014, on his blog, Ian Lawrence believed the framework agreement had a 'series of inviolable safeguards...'
DeleteWe have since found out that this assertion could not stand up. The framework agreement was one between a strong party and a weak one. Napo was naively optimistic. At the time it was agreed, you could argue that the unions were wrong to even 'negotiate', as it would have been better to put all the leadership energies into resisting TR, not signing up to it. The agreement sent out all the wrong messages, not least as it gave its blessing to the service split and yet Napo went on opposing the split whilst Unison remained silent. And we had situations where Napo was on strike and Unison wasn't.
I agree the union leadership made mistakes, big mistakes. But the decision to negotiate was in light of the knowledge that the membership was behaving passively and the chances of mounting a credible resistance was hopeless. I think you have to take account of turnout figures in ballots as indicators of the workforce mood. Maybe with a different leadership the mood could have been transformed, but we will never know the answer.
What can we still do? The unions have no bargaining power. I don't think much can be done and as we see the CRCs and NPS imposing their new cost-cutting operation models, it seems to me that the other side have won and there is no point in living in denial of the facts on the ground. I see no point in browbeating Napo anymore, simply because it's akin to flogging a dead horse.
Half right Nipper ! If NAPO got properly active in the CRC agenda and encouraged its membership to deliver only contracted and current protected job description work then shortly the targets will fail. The PRP issue will trigger special measures and the new models will fail. Goodbye privatisation whatever happens that's the way to go. No point in flogging a dead horse you have done that well enough.
DeleteOn the Unison front they were never involved properly as they do not appear to have had enough interest in the members affected in terms of their membership numbers. So why would they overly exert themselves and in fact save their money. they played a Napo a treat and the failure to get them on board lies with both Rendon the chair at the time who pledged in his statement get them onside and then failed and of course the GS could not have done much about that as they were both clearly at great odds with each other and kept it a secret from us.
Delete15:23. Can you give any examples when a work to rule strategy has ever been effective? It has never worked in probation. Join the real world.
DeleteHow fortunate for those who fled with stuffed pockets:
ReplyDelete"Recovery of Public Sector Exit Payments
The Government has published draft Regulations to implement the powers included in the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 for the recovery of termination payments paid to high earning public sector employees.
Under the new rules, due to take effect in April 2016, public sector employees will be required to repay a tapering proportion of a ‘qualifying exit payment’, if they return to the public sector within a period of 12 months.
A qualifying exit payment will include payments made as a consequence of termination for any reason, including voluntary or compulsory redundancy, and whether or not paid under the terms of a settlement or conciliation (COT3) agreement. It will also apply to employer-funded pension top-up payments made under the Local Government Pension Scheme. It will not apply to contractual entitlements, such as accrued holiday entitlement or pay in lieu of notice, or payments made in respect of incapacity or death as a result of accident, injury or illness.
The Government’s intention is to “stop the practice of highly paid bosses getting to keep generous exit payments when they leave one organisation only to join another within months”.
The draft Regulations include two important revisions to the Government’s original proposals:
The new rules will apply to departing public sector employees earning £80,000 or more (not £100,000 as originally proposed). These employees represent the top 2% of earners in the public sector.
The repayment provisions will apply when an individual is employed or engaged by any public sector body in the period of 12 months following termination (not only if the employee is returning to the same 'sub-sector', as originally proposed)."
Not got to grips with this info yet but I am very alarmed to hear from my pension service today that this is going to impact on the rules around getting your pension without loss if made redundant compulsorily from age 55. Feel this is another blow to those of us at the frontline
DeleteIntersted to know which CRC or NPS area you work for where frontline staff earn £80,000 or more a year. Any jobs going?
DeleteCulling, fighting & fleeing. Brace yourselves, NPS; those temp POs who are keeping the ship afloat on £35 per hour + expenses will soon be gone.
ReplyDeleteThis from a written answer courtesy of Caroline Dineage (17 Feb 2016) to a question put by David Crausby MP:
"As announced in the Spending Review, the MOJ is committed to reducing its admin spend by 50% over the course of this Spending Review period."
And this (also 17 Feb 2016) in answer to a question from Andy Slaughter MP:
"We only use temporary staff to fill business-critical posts and essential frontline services, where they can provide a fast, flexible and efficient way to obtain necessary skills that are not currently available in-house. We will continue to examine our use of consultants and agency staff to find savings where possible."
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/feb/22/inside-wandsworth-prison-drug-drones-staff-shortages-daily-struggle
ReplyDeleteLook, those to blame are every single staff member - whatever grade - who did not unionise, did not strike and crossed picket lines. Everyone who said "I'm all right jack". CRC or NPS redundancies are coming, the consequence of collective failure. Most people I have heard blaming the unions are not even members, if it wasn't so sad it would be hilarious.
ReplyDeleteWell said...
DeleteMy manager circulated a managers briefing notes from the CEO last week. It said He is leaving. Also there will be big cuts in NPS this year and CRCs are looking to pick up the fallout......!
ReplyDeletewhich area?
DeleteLets see the briefing notes.
DeleteNo briefing notes are needed as I don't think they should have been circulated. The blog was referred too. The point is when one door closes another one opens.
DeleteThe fallout? I thought the reason for all these redundancies in CRC was because the said new model doesn't need as many staff to work efficiently. I would say that is just a smoke and mirrors statement. It might sound a little sweeter when telling someone your out of a job but CRC need people so don't worry too much.
Delete20:21 show the notes
DeleteDid anyone see the info sent out about PQFs which also had information about expected staff reductions as a result of E3? Think it was contained in 1.2 of the second attachment and probably not meant to be there....but it was and clearly cuts are coming to NPS...but hey, it is all about EFFICIENCY, EXCORIATION AND EXCRUCIATION, folks.
ReplyDeleteHere's a novel idea Jim.
DeleteBudget cuts and staff reductions on both sides of the divide. The best advice to those remaining is to work your contracted hours and when these are completed simply go home. If everyone valued their profession and followed this advice then it would send a huge message to the CRC and NPS and the whole house of cards would soon collapse.
A very simple and completely legal campaign.
How revolutionary to work according to your contract.
This is a vocation. If you want to do your hours then go work at tescos. Can't stand the heat in the kitchen then don't be a chef. We still til the job is done no matter what the cost is
DeleteSo what is the point of a contract specifying hours of work? Why doesn't the contract just say 'Work until you're finished or you're finished'?
DeleteTesco's treat their staff better.
DeleteZero hour contracts. Forging tax returns and profits. £6 an hour. You fool 20.57. You should go work there if you hate the party so much :-/
DeleteThe only people who have ever told me that I have a vocation are those who want me to do more for less. When I was a civil servant I had a "Vocation for public service" which meant that I was not going to be given pay rises. Now I have people telling me that this is a vocation. This is NOT a vocation, it is a JOB. A job I used to enjoy and a job I am very good at but a job none the less. If I was not here some other poor sap would be put in my place for less money by people who do not care about any "Professional ethics" or vocation.
DeleteThe other "Vocation" people who annoy me are those who hid behind their "Vocation" to avoid working to rule, to cross picket lines and to undermine efforts to beat this stupid mess we are in. They are now using their "Vocation" to try and get this mess to work. Newsflash people, its not going to.
Vocations are for Monks not for me. I cannot go into tesco on a friday and wave my NAPO membership asking for a reduction in my groceries because I have a vocation. They are playing you and you are co-operating.
"What is a vocation?
DeleteA call… The word comes from the Latin word ‘vocare’ which means ‘to call’. Vocation, then, is about a call or a calling in people’s lives – but whose call and in whose lives?
A call from… We believe that throughout history, God has called people to play a particular role in his plan of salvation for the world. Many of the stories in the Old Testament are about such individuals – Abraham, Noah, Moses, Hannah, Samuel, Jeremiah and Ruth, to name but a few. In the very first few lines of the Bible, in the Book of Genesis, God calls creation into existence by his Word. Throughout the Old Testament, God is continually inviting the people of Israel to be his Chosen People, to be a light for other nations. When Jesus comes, he also calls people to follow him and to live the kind of life he does. So, when we talk about vocation, we are talking about the call of God." (from Diocese of Westminster website).
So historically it could be argued that probation WAS a vocation, which became a job, and is now all but extinct:
1870s: Frederick Rainer makes a five shilling donation to the Church of England Temperance Society to help break the cycle of offence after offence and sentence after sentence. The Society appoints a 'missionary' to Southwark court and the London Police Court Mission is born.
1880s: The mission opens homes and shelters - but the Probation of First Offenders Act 1887 contains no element of offender supervision.
1900s: 1907 & The Probation Service is formally established. Between 1910 and 1930 the prison population halves, probation has played a major part.
1920s: The 1925 Criminal Justice Act establishes probation committees and the appointment of probation officers becomes a requirement of the courts.
1940s: The 1948 Criminal Justice Act introduces prison after-care and provides for funding of Probation Homes and Hostels.
1950s: The Central Council of Probation - the forerunner of the Probation Association - is formed to speak with one voice for all employee probation committees. Home Secretary Rab Butler attends and says: "I think that your service is perhaps the most devoted in the country."
The CJAct'91 had a disastrous impact; suddenly the work of the probation service was something that politicians could and did tinker with in order to make a name for themselves. And here we are.
this WAS a vocation...and look how well that worked out...
ReplyDeleteI still think it's a vocation. We still have the same values and work ethic. It's just there is greater focus on metrics which are designed to manage risk better
ReplyDeleteRubbish. Working directly with people reduces risk.
DeleteWhere to start?
DeleteMetrics only measure metrics
they get organisations chasing the numbers and missing the object of the exercise.
Hitting all our metrics did not stop Sonnex, Hanson and White or any of the other high profile SFO's. A metric never reduced anybodies offending and that kind of thinking takes us back to 2001. Back then when I would go to my SPO and say "This guy has lost his job his girlfriend and is murdrous and suicidal" I was not asked what I was doing or advised on dealing with the issue I was asked "If I had updated OASYS". We measured people messing up but never dealt with it. OR rather dealing with it was secondary to measuring it.
A newspaper report on some recent probation research. On page 3 of the report it says: 'While the campaign was ultimately unsuccessful in its aim of preventing Transforming Rehabilitation from going ahead, the union did succeed in achieving previously unmatched mobilisation of the membership in support of strike action, lobbying and protests, all of which demonstrated the depth of probation workers’ opposition to the probation split and outsourcing.' I don't remember the 'unmatched mobilisation'.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theguardian.com/public-leaders-network/2016/feb/23/privatisation-probation-service-stressed-job-cuts
From page 43 - bit of a porky here I think:-
DeleteBut I think realistically, if you look beyond that active layer which is quite a thin layer of people really, key activists within branches may be only, you know, a few dozen people really. But wider membership I found are far more realistic about what our prospects were … and what the long term prospects are, the fact that we have to keep defending their terms and conditions. We haven’t had this huge haemorrhaging of membership that some were anticipating. We’ve had people leave but I think that is, it’s been in the dozens, not the hundreds. And you know, we need to analyse the data but it seems that most of those people who have left are because they are retiring or they are moving on because they don’t like what is happening. We haven’t had a sort of a backlash against the union in that sense. So there is a bit of a wait and see attitude amongst the membership as to whether we’re going to stem the tide and continue to have an influence within both the NPS and the CRCs. (National Officer)
Your right 2000 members left napo after transfer I hear no way are they in the groups described . All at Christmas and just few trickle back to direct debit.majority membership pso from crcs now.
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