As always, thanks go to the reader for sending the following:-
5 October, 2016
Dear Colleagues
DDC Redundancy Agreement
This letter is to give formal notice of our intention to review the DDC Redundancy Agreement in accordance with the terms of the agreement itself which indicated a review date of September 2015.
We would now like to meet with you by way of a short sides meeting to review the agreement and the proposed date for this meeting is Monday 17th October at 11.00 am at Queen’s House, Exeter.
I would be happy to receive any comments in advance of the meeting but failing that we will take any comments on the day with a view to concluding the review by the end of October, 2016.
I look forward to seeing you then.
Yours sincerely
John Wiseman
Probation Director
5 October, 2016
Dear Colleagues
DDC Redundancy Agreement
This letter is to give formal notice of our intention to review the DDC Redundancy Agreement in accordance with the terms of the agreement itself which indicated a review date of September 2015.
We would now like to meet with you by way of a short sides meeting to review the agreement and the proposed date for this meeting is Monday 17th October at 11.00 am at Queen’s House, Exeter.
I would be happy to receive any comments in advance of the meeting but failing that we will take any comments on the day with a view to concluding the review by the end of October, 2016.
I look forward to seeing you then.
Yours sincerely
John Wiseman
Probation Director
--oo00oo--
06 October 2016
Thank you for this letter, you might appreciate we had hoped that you would have thought to look at policies that would help staff arrangements. Policy reviews should consider what will help staff well being. Especially during this period of change. Reviews should be conducted under the harmonisation requirements contractual upon you within the terms of the staff transfer and protections agreement. You will know as we have made many representation on this subject within the JNCC meetings. It requires all policies to be harmonised upwards on the most favourable terms.
Within NAPO we understand your most likely intentions are to attempt find ways to reduce existing terms protected within the redundancy collective agreement. I will not rehearse all our arguments of protections here. You will know these are already part of the national dispute. Also that the Joint secretaries representations were made yesterday in London. This matter now remains ongoing so a JNCC meeting to review this position is unlikely.
This current dispute hearing, having not been determined, and until the Joint Secretaries make a formal response It would be premature to continue any approaches towards any protected collective agreements. I urge you to review your intentions and properly look into the Working Links obligations to all our Napo and wider staff Members. You might find the provisions of the contracts and within the amended and restated services agreement the basic CRC contract could be your priority. Indeed I have shared references of the contract document with you previously. This was also noted at the joint secretaries meeting. To that end considerations of the MOJ contract managers will be looking into heads of dispute within the joint Unions presentation. No doubt they will be seeking to resolve matters so we move forward and we should respectfully wait that process to conclude. Indeed they may well direct a hold on the current situation for all sides, and in light of the pending probation inspection which has yet to find on its inquiries.
The indication you would like to review the redundancy collective agreement is a small narrative to wider crisis developing within the DDC CRC. Staff are in some fear for their roles. Many have written to the Unions having felt pressured out of their jobs and into roles that they would not want. Staff are reporting incredible working conditions that could not get past a reasonable health and safety assessment yet none of this is a priority management issue?
Instead during this year when formal S188 redundancy notices have been issue by you within the management Working Links your sub division of DDC. At no stage have you indicated any willingness to review policies despite NAPO on several occasion raising the harmonisation upwards agenda. You have pressed home that there will be no harmonisation of outstanding dual terms across DDC.
The recent working links briefings 04 10 16 have made direct reference to applying for early retirement using the agreed local procedures People over 55 are still able to apply for early retirement, in accordance with their local policy, as an alternative to the voluntary severance scheme Napo reps reasonably understand from this offer (and within the balance of our collective knowledge) it means you are now operating the current redundancy agreement. That you will be honouring the terms laid? You knowingly are providing by offer in the 4th October newsletter and invitation for all staff grades. Application for staff over 55 under the DDC Redundancy agreement actually provides for those applicants the rate for early retirement without any loss to their current accrued pensions. Our local policy does not provide reduced early retirement terms. So the offer is what staff are entitled under locally agreed policy.
The redundancy agreement is a pay related matter. Pay issues include a range of protections and can form compensation in lieu of jobs as a settlement. Pay protection issues are for three years protected in staff transfer and protection document. We in NAPO and the management engage within the branch JNCC recognition agreement and constitution. The proposal is not realistic in the timescale you conclude given the process we are required to follow.
Finally and on your other recent attempt to agenda a break away from the national collective bargaining agreements. NAPO AGM in Cardiff last week voted to reject any proposal to disband the current nationally protected agreements on collective bargaining and there could be no consent locally for this to happen within DDC. I draw your attention to the clauses in contract that Employees terms and conditions are renegotiated by consent. Following your request to bring these matters to union members attention this has been copied to all.
Dino Peros SSW Branch Chair
JNCC Napo Rep
I would like to know how frontline staff are going to cope when we are reduced by 40 %? What tasks can we let go of inorder that we can keep up with the incessant demands upon our time. We are running at full speed. Working links seem to think that the answer is to get rid of the 'troublemakers' and assume that newly qualified staff will be putty in their hands. I can tell you now that the newly qualified staff i have spoken to are no push overs and they are as appalled by the destruction of the service as anyone else.
ReplyDeleteTerms and conditions were hard won. They can very easily be lost. End of.
ReplyDeleteThe magistrates at nsmc are similarly unimpressed! Maybe working links should go and give them one of their famous pep talks!
ReplyDeleteI've decided to start a rather more robust policy of deleting anti-probation comments that are simply designed to inflame and distract. Anything well-argued will, as always, remain.
ReplyDeleteEven so by way of return to deleted comment regards the idea that anyone, unskilled, untrained, unsupervised etc can do our work or other in similar vein then look no further than Medway youth jail.
DeleteThis is a weak comparison. I know that many jobs were blocked from PSO during the pre TR split but today PSO do all they can and have no big issue getting stuff done. In the NPS we are being given all the jobs across the courts and as managers of PO teams so where is the value of the old training now? In London Manchester Birmingham all our structures were open to PSO ingress and no one said a word. Nothing from the unions and the professional committee just fed pompous papers into a union that suppressed membership. Nothing much news in that and yet here we are and the union are talking up one profession. That only means de professionalisation and its too late bleat. What we need is a concerted organised campaign yet the leadership of the union is paralysed no one seems to know why. It seems that the current dispute is more a maverick event than a consistent union approiach from the centre.
Delete