Wednesday 8 August 2018

Latest From Napo 177

Here we have the latest blog post from Napo General Secretary Ian Lawrence:- 

Inside the 'Marketisation' Event 

The report of how Napo managed to lobby the participants prior to one of last week’s ‘Probation Marketisation’ events, sets out clearly what we think of the whole exercise. Anyone who believes that the announcement of an eight-week consultation period on the ‘Strengthening Probation, Building Confidence’ blueprint is going to be taken notice of by this Government will be disappointed.

If there were any lingering doubts about the Government’s intention to continue with their ideologically driven privatisation programme they would have been easily dispelled by the proceedings.

Fantasy land


I have to give it to the Tories in one respect, and that’s their capacity to carry on day by day in Government without so much as an occasional acknowledgement of the litany of failures they have presided over when it comes to opening services up to the market. Rail Franchises, Carillion, and PFI projects in schools and hospitals that our grandkids and their children will still be paying for by the next century.

That, as well as avoiding a Parliamentary debate into the lack of a structured response to the Justice Select Committee report into the Transforming Rehabilitation programme, means that they could swan off into the summer hoping that nobody would notice the fact that half a billion pounds has been spent on a failed social experiment known as Transforming Rehabilitation.

‘Warming the Market’

The event convinced me that the decision to sell off new probation contracts had already been made and that the consultation on whether this is the right thing to do will be a sham. The full implications of what we are facing soon became very clear as a posse of MoJ and HMPPS officials set out their stall to entice the assembled audience of privateers and Third Sector representatives to seriously consider bids for the proposed new 5-7 year contracts that will be on offer post 2020.

Use of terms such as ‘Warming the Market’ in response to how bidders were to be encouraged to come forward was quite frankly insidious to listen to, and gave the impression that every colour of carpet will be laid out for the private sector to get their noses into the trough. Perhaps someone on the organiser’s side might reflect on the fact that it is people’s jobs and careers that are going to be impacted upon, yet sadly there was little sign that this was fully appreciated by those engaged in this circus.

Suffice to say it was not a pleasant experience. Firstly, it was quite surreal to see so many people almost gleefully talk about ‘learning the lessons’ and how they were listening to the criticisms and were moving swiftly to make things right this time. Presumably, the representatives from G4S and SERCO would have lapped this up given that they have used up more lives than my Cat in terms of their scandalous history of running outsourced contracts.

It was a more positive experience to speak with a number of Third Sector representatives, the majority of whom were equally unimpressed with what TR had not delivered for them and who remained sceptical that things would be much different post 2020. They did however have a real inclination to contribute positively to reform, and in that respect I found their company altogether more pleasant than some others I rubbed shoulders with. This link reflects much of the sectors hoped for direction of travel:

Anyway, the upshot to the afternoon went something like this: Probation spending has undershot which is why its’ been possible to waive the penalties on CRC shortcomings, shove more money into failure and throw in another £22m a year to improve ‘Through the Gate’ services, and rebadge all this in a glossy brochure marked ‘Strengthening Probation and Building Confidence.’

It was not one of those occasions where I had an opportunity to make a withering critique of what has gone on and what is being proposed next, but I was able to find out that the next generation outsourced contracts will be of 5-7 years duration and that nobody quite has a clue exactly what a Professional Register will do and who will run it.

Two things struck me most about this event. Firstly the complete denial as to the shambles that has taken place, and secondly the fact that quite a few people there seemed oblivious to the reality that any new contracts will need to take into account the outcome of a an NPS pay reform settlement that we all hope will flow from the negotiations which start in a couple of weeks.

Those contracts will have to be of sufficient size financially to make any prospective bidder bother to complete the application. That remains to be seen, but as far as Napo is concerned I did make it clear to all assembled that a Probation underspend means there is obviously money out there to treat properly with staff who have not only had the indignity of TR to contend with but who have not had a salary rise in seven years.

19 comments:

  1. The chances of getting a pay rise are inversely proportionate to the chances of you getting through a whole day at work without saying FFS!

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  2. ‘Pay negotiations start in the next couple of weeks,’ ...... are you serious.
    Any pay rise was due months ago. This should be the top prioriTy and negotiations should have started yesterday or before,!

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  3. "the decision to sell off new probation contracts had already been made and that the consultation on whether this is the right thing to do will be a sham."

    Hmmm, where have I read those words before? In July sometime, perhaps? On this Blog, perhaps?

    July 29: "a 'direction of travel' has already been decided upon for probation & this consultation is, as Jim suggests, a sham."

    Napo, as ever, several laps behind.

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  4. "Warming the Market" - "Greasing the Palms" - "Making Spurr Moist" - "Chums'R'Us"...

    Call it what you want, this Sales Pitch will have cost the taxpayer something in the region of £100K to run: two events, London & Manchester; room rent, security, preparation time (and this will be months' worth, not just on-the-day), costs of sending "a posse of MoJ and HMPPS officials" i.e. hourly rate + travel & subsistence. Not forgetting the many 'working lunches' that MoJ & HMPPS will have already had with those they will be giving the contracts to.

    OBSCENE!

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  5. Tr take 2 more cuts to staff? More
    lost terms did anyone Napo look to discover risks to staff. Will there be a protected period again or more force out the door arrangements .

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    1. I get fed up with these mantras such as 'there are lessons to be learned',when clearly ideology trumps education every time.
      What 'learning' can be pointed to when government contracts and taxoayers money are still being handed out to comoanies like Interserve who have just announced half year losses that are so large they're six times more the the companies market value.
      With those losses, of course they're going to cut corners and squeeze pennies from anywhere they can.
      Learning lessons on wasting taxpayers money on privatised public services should be taken seriously, not just stored away under the heading 'Trivia'.

      http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-6036531/Troubled-UK-outsourcer-Interserve-blames-blockade-against-Qatar-woes.html

      'Getafix

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    2. Troubled outsourcer Interserve has blamed the blockade against Qatar for some of its woes as it swung to a loss and debts spiralled.

      Shares slumped as it revealed debts of £614.3million – more than six times its market value – a near-60per cent increase on last year.

      Half-year sales fell from £1.64billion to £1.5billion while it made a £6million loss compared to a £24.9million profit during the same period last year.

      Bosses said revenue from Qatar was down £31.2million over last year as a trade blockade against the country by its neighbours delayed contract awards and made getting supplies harder.

      Interserve's work in Qatar includes some work on World Cup projects, other construction projects and support services. It is not building stadiums for the 2022 tournament.

      Interserve employs 80,000 around the world and about 25,000 in the UK, with sales of around £3.7billion. Its work includes security, probation, healthcare and construction services, as well as cleaning the London Underground and managing army barracks.

      It has been struggling financially since last year partly due to losses on a waste project in Glasgow, and issued two profit warnings late last year.

      In January it emerged Interserve was being monitored by the Government amid fears of a repeat of the collapse of builder and outsourcer Carillion.

      Its shares have fallen nearly 70per cent since last year, slumping further yesterday, valuing the company at around £96million. Operating profits for the first half rose by £11.5million to £40.1million.

      Chief executive Debbie White, 56, has spent £32.1million on financial advisers including PwC before reaching a rescue deal with creditors in March.

      She said trading during the first half had been in line with expectations and the business was on a better footing to move forward. She added: 'Whilst there remains a significant amount of work to do, we have energy and momentum.'

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    3. "Chief executive Debbie White, 56, has spent £32.1million on financial advisers including PwC before reaching a rescue deal with creditors in March."

      That'll be where the bailout money went, at a guess.

      Delete
  6. IL desperately needs an editor. This blog could be condensed to:
    We lobbied, I learnt "that the next generation outsourced contracts will be of 5-7 years duration and that nobody quite has a clue exactly what a Professional Register will do and who will run it" and that he told everyone, that staff have had no pay increase in 7 yrs but there is clearly money around.

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  7. And senior civil servants continue to receive their performance bonuses for hitting their financial targets

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    1. Talking of pay,

      https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1000453/hs2-high-speed-2-building-workers-salary-how-much-cost

      Its reported in the Times but paywall.

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  8. We certainly live in a parallel universe - underperforming CRCs get a bailout, underperforming probation workers get blacklisted on a professional register

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    1. Merely mirrors the EVR disgrace & the NPS/CRC shafting. If you were 'in favour', 'on message' & prepared to promote TR then you were rewarded. If you were 'difficult', 'challenging' or just not convinced that TR could work, you got a red hot poker up the jacksie.

      Still, seems that if you 'made the grade' & still have a job you can now get further rewards with a HMPPS discount card. Yet another club you can join, assuming you have enough money from your frozen salary left to spend on 'stuff'.

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  9. I do not understand why people are afraid of a professional register, surely it cements the professions credentials (done properly, which is I guess what people's fears are about). Personally I believe the science and art of rehabilitation is more complex and nuanced than risk assessment and sentence planning but hey ho there is another anomoly of this strange 1st Division and 2nd Division split that is NPS and CRC.

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  10. Quite why after my 35 yrs of doing the job someone decides they now need a piece of ancient paper to be sure I know what I'm doing defeats me.

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    1. I do not think it needs to be retrospectively applied. Look around you at modern professions? They align to a standard code of ethics and values, view continual professional development as crucial (not important). It adds currency and a benchmark that allows for confidence in the profession. I genuinely do not understand the resistance to this concept. As for TR and TR2, I genuinely do not understand this concept :)

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  11. The Law Society challenged the MoJ on the flaws in their "consultation" process and won. The judges in the High Court were scathing about the so called process that the MoJ operated.

    Now, surely NAPO and UNISON can challenge the MoJ on the sham consultation that they are trying to put in place for TR2. Decisions already made and the next tranche of privateers being "buttered up" is in no way a consultation. Likewise the rubbish spoken about "lessons learned" when the MoJ is taken no notice of the debacle they have already caused threough TR1.
    Using the judges rulings how hard can it be to beat the MoJ on this one????

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    1. I not a legal expert. Nor am I overly educated but I am 100% confident that the current government is mistaken in its direction to innoculate every aspect of Public Service with a profit driven, marketised approach, to dealing with the problem of criminal behaviour. I imagine most who have grappled with this problem would agree. Shame it is like this. As I have said before slow down, being dynamic is one thing, but fucking things up is another.

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  12. It's about time we started a VERY LARGE campaign to take legal action against NAPO for giving us wrong advice over many years. Employment lawyer reckons there is a good case.

    About time we started being pro actuve because Ian Lawrence isn't going to come up with anything that benefits NAPO members anytime soon. If enough people get on board, things will start changing. NAPO is hand in hand with the paymasters... time to smell the coffee folks

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