Wednesday 14 December 2016

Latest From Napo 129

What with all the excitement generated around the recent Guardian article on probation, I completely failed to clock the latest blog post from the Napo General Secretary:-   

NNC – members to be consulted on notice of withdrawal by NPS

Last Wednesday’s meeting of the National Negotiating Council (NNC) was something of a fraught affair. As largely expected, the National Probation Service indicated its intention to withdraw from the NNC and Standing Committee for Chief Officer Grades (SCCOG).

Members will have seen the report from the 2016 AGM in Cardiff where a decision was made that we should resist such a move and subsequently we have been doing all that we can to deliver on that directive. A short history of developments shows that the NPS decided well over 12 months ago that they were no longer prepared to sit alongside the CRCs at the negotiating table, and a series of meetings between the employers side and the unions have taken place to explore the potential for new bargaining machinery. Our aim throughout has been to try and defend the status quo, but to ensure that the legacy policies contained in the NNC Handbook and the National Staff Transfer and Protections Agreement would remain in force if local CRC wide agreements were agreed by our members.

As was pointed out very forcibly last week, our AGM voted that possibility down because our members, having seen how some CRC owners have been conducting themselves over their plans for achieving staff reductions (most notably a failure by some to honour Enhanced Voluntary Redundancy terms and seek variation of contracts and collective agreements without negotiation) are not to be trusted.

A formal letter was received last Friday afternoon from Sonia Crozier which was a good deal different from the original approach taken by the NPS employers last week. Whilst it confirms the intention of NPS to withdraw from the NNC, senior NOMS management have sensibly agreed to our request that this issue should be the subject of further discussion via the Arbitration and Conciliation Advisory Service (ACAS) and that there will be an extension of the intention to withdraw until 31st January.

Where next?

Material is now being finalised for issue to members across the probation service and your Branch representatives will be in touch to organise local consultative meetings where you will have the opportunity to indicate what steps you think Napo should take next in response.

As always the timing of these developments is not helpful given the upcoming Christmas holidays, but it’s likely that we will ask you to let us have a view by mid-January, so look out for news of a meeting near you very soon, or early into the New Year, and please ensure that you make every effort to attend.

More news will be issued directly to members over the next couple of days so please check your preferred e mail address for Napo communications.


Thanks to the Guardian - and to Napo members

The previous week’s Guardian survey on the state of Britain’s probation services attracted a sizeable number of responses which led to the publication of this story last week

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/dec/09/the-job-used-to-have-integrity-readers-on-britains-probation-services

This offers a graphic insight into the difficulties that are being faced by our members that ought to make Chris Grayling (who we see has now been let loose to reform the rail network for goodness sake) to hang his head in shame. Or better still, do as Bob Neill, a senior Tory and Chair of the Justice Committee, suggested he should do last week.

I have today written to the Justice Select Committee alerting them to another imminent and high profile report from HM Inspector of Probation that is due to be released this week and asking them for an early opportunity to provide formal evidence to follow up on the private session I attended with them recently.

We have some important political momentum on the probation question and many of you will have noted that the Secretary of State announced last week that the Probation Systems Review is expected to make a full report by April. That’s either an attempt to ignore the issues for a few months more; or as is being suggested by senior NOMS sources, an extension which will allow a root and branch look at the shambolic contracts and payment by results system.

More news when it becomes available.

15 comments:

  1. No mention of the pay negotiations and our contractual incremental rise !

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  2. Info on pay claim came out to Napo members via email early Friday pm. Too long to copy and paste.

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    1. I read it...Oh how I laughed. Its not even remotely a realistic demand...its not even a credible opening position. The new normal is what is paid to drug workers (south of 30k in London) until they get us there we are going to get nothing. Who is to blame, while partly us for demonstrating that we have "Vocations" and are "There for our clients" so can be ridden roughshod over.

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    2. Yes exactly and by the way all E3 = reduced pay scales reduced job value fiddled JE with Napo complacency and more for less yet to come and they talk of pay hike I think they will be told to take a hike and officers already made their first steps .

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  3. I suppose as the NPS are determined to withdraw from existing bargaining arrangements it will happen. Likewise, the CRCs want to do their own negotiations. It makes no sense to deny the emerging bargaining realities and thus all negotiating energies would be best spent on a legacy agreement that at least guarantees protections for as long as possible.

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    1. What the current mess all areas are in ?Protections agreement they don't want.

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  4. Just been told by my line manager that tomorrow is going to be a really terrible day for mtcnovo tomorrow as HMIP report comes out. Have to instruct my staff not to talk to the press. Hope trade unions use this report to shame crc

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    1. It's pretty standard practice to advise staff not to talk to press isn't it?

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    2. You talk to press and we'll sack you

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    3. Really mtcnovo we hate you we loathe you. You promised us better IT equipment you failed you promised us innovation you failed you won't know who speaks to the press because one thing you have done consistently is high case loads corner cutting less staff and poor morale. Helga should resign and a new company should take over anyone could do a better job then these sharks from across the pond.

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    4. I work to MTCnova and will talk to the press.

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    5. Would we really want to be taken over by another company? Then again would we want to be drawn back into public ownership a la NPS too close to NOMS and MOJ and all that lot? They have not really been much better for us than private company, they have some very dark sides too. What do we want? Back to being a trust? Want to be a mutual? A co/op?

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  5. Red flag and bull come to mind already emailed the guardian suggest everyone does it anonymously

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  6. Getting a call from a journalist tomorrow suggest you do this via union rep they know how to advise. Don't use work emails or phones. Contact your local rep or media rep

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  7. Go ahead an sack and wait for the cat to be let loose from the bag and all your dirty secrets aired in public!

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