Now that the dust has settled since last Friday's TR2 announcement, somewhat surprisingly yesterday's news from Napo in the South West has generated quite a lively debate regarding Napo in general and highlighted some particularly uncomfortable issues in particular:-
"What have we (i.e. Napo members) done?1. We've been generally weak with no profession-wide membership base, partly due to own goals by the union
2. For example, we did nothing about the Benny Hill (Ledger) debacle, which gave Officers the green light to hide/manipulate facts
3. We voted for Lawrence, an experienced Trade Unionist but not probation savvy - who brought a different agenda (I would suggest 'his own') which created friction in HQ
4. We never voted strongly for any meaningful action when we had the chance
5. When we did take industrial action it was meaningless in that others happily covered & there was no impact beyond losing a day's pay
6. We generally focus so much on our demanding caseloads that we were/are blinkered to the political machinations which are wrecking our work... something Trusts & NOMS took great advantage of.
7. And we have relied on the union to take up the role of early-warning system & decoder of political messages but they have failed us by being variously incompetent, complicit, silent, beleaguered by in-house politics, naive.
So while our heads have been buried in caseloads + switching IT off & on every 5 mins to make it work, we've been taken for one hell of a ride by everyone - MoJ, Noms, Trusts & Napo. And I don't really have an answer, beyond switching Napo off & on again - a system re-boot from scratch maximising what now seems to be probation-wide acknowledgement that probation is fucked. But the recent re-election of the GS suggests there ain't no such appetite."
--oo00oo--
The facts are alarming:-
2003: 7729
2004: 8432
2005: 8677
2005: 8677
2006: 9053
2007: 9004
2008: 8830
2009: 8869
2010: 9255
2011: 9100
2012: 8360
2013: 8008
2014: 7354
2015: 6749
2016: 5261
2017: 4996
Normally a trajectory like this in any organisation would trigger some serious action and almost certainly emergency measures, but things just seem to be jogging along. The newly-elected General Secretary very successfully closed down all options for a debate between the two candidates and there hasn't been a peep out of the two Co-Chairs who I gather don't like going to London very often.
But Napo is in the middle of elections for Chair, Vice Chair and the NEC - so as the union and profession face existential threats, where is the debate and discussion going on? When I saw this a few weeks ago, I genuinely thought lessons had been learnt and things could only get better:-
Publishing today…
I have been writing about all things Napo for some time, some articles have been published and some haven’t! Here I intend to bring together things I’ve published along with thoughts and discussion about my life as a Napo Officer. I want to make it easier to have discussions with more people so comments will be open on most of my articles and posts. Please use comments wisely, I will not be moderating them constantly but will remove any that are a personal attack on anyone or that I believe are against Napo’s objects.
I am publishing my blog now as I submit my nomination for Napo National Chair. There are many challenges ahead for Napo members, whichever employer they work for and there are many challenges for us as a Union. I have invested four years in my role as Vice Chair of Napo and have learned so much in that time. My second and final term of office is almost over but I have work yet to do. Our Trade Union is a precious and valuable thing but in recent years it has seen attack after attack. We have weathered many storms and there will be more to come. My vision for Napo in the future is as a vibrant and independent Trade Union and Professional Association, one that can adapt quickly to changing demands, both external and internal. I want to see a Union that communicates with members, collectively and individually. I want to hear a strong voice representing the professions of our members in Probation and Family Courts.
I am not unaware of the difficulties that we face. Napo reps are seeing workloads increase in both their work and trade union roles. Changes in both Probation and Cafcass have resulted in us losing many of our most experienced reps and activists (although some stay on as retired members). We need to revitalise our branches, making sure that reps and branch officers can work efficiently, using all of the central support available to them. We need to make sure that our NEC and it’s committees work well, allowing members to directly participate in setting the agenda and priorities for the Union. The most common question I hear from members is “what is happening about xxxx”. We need to make sure that members have access to information in a variety of media.
For lots of reasons it feels as though we are at an important point in time. In Probation we have the Justice Select Committee confirming all we in Napo have said about the devastating effects of TR. In Cafcass there is acknowledgement that workloads need urgent attention and that the service is being held up largely by goodwill and dedication of staff. PBNI (Probation Board of Northern Ireland) avoided the worst of the disastrous attempts at reform of Probation but struggles around workloads and protections for staff continue. With so much happening Napo needs to capitalise on every opportunity. We must make the most of the position we are in.
I look forward to discussing these issues with you further – feel free to share your thoughts in comments…
2011: 9100
2012: 8360
2013: 8008
2014: 7354
2015: 6749
2016: 5261
2017: 4996
Normally a trajectory like this in any organisation would trigger some serious action and almost certainly emergency measures, but things just seem to be jogging along. The newly-elected General Secretary very successfully closed down all options for a debate between the two candidates and there hasn't been a peep out of the two Co-Chairs who I gather don't like going to London very often.
But Napo is in the middle of elections for Chair, Vice Chair and the NEC - so as the union and profession face existential threats, where is the debate and discussion going on? When I saw this a few weeks ago, I genuinely thought lessons had been learnt and things could only get better:-
Publishing today…
I have been writing about all things Napo for some time, some articles have been published and some haven’t! Here I intend to bring together things I’ve published along with thoughts and discussion about my life as a Napo Officer. I want to make it easier to have discussions with more people so comments will be open on most of my articles and posts. Please use comments wisely, I will not be moderating them constantly but will remove any that are a personal attack on anyone or that I believe are against Napo’s objects.
I am publishing my blog now as I submit my nomination for Napo National Chair. There are many challenges ahead for Napo members, whichever employer they work for and there are many challenges for us as a Union. I have invested four years in my role as Vice Chair of Napo and have learned so much in that time. My second and final term of office is almost over but I have work yet to do. Our Trade Union is a precious and valuable thing but in recent years it has seen attack after attack. We have weathered many storms and there will be more to come. My vision for Napo in the future is as a vibrant and independent Trade Union and Professional Association, one that can adapt quickly to changing demands, both external and internal. I want to see a Union that communicates with members, collectively and individually. I want to hear a strong voice representing the professions of our members in Probation and Family Courts.
I am not unaware of the difficulties that we face. Napo reps are seeing workloads increase in both their work and trade union roles. Changes in both Probation and Cafcass have resulted in us losing many of our most experienced reps and activists (although some stay on as retired members). We need to revitalise our branches, making sure that reps and branch officers can work efficiently, using all of the central support available to them. We need to make sure that our NEC and it’s committees work well, allowing members to directly participate in setting the agenda and priorities for the Union. The most common question I hear from members is “what is happening about xxxx”. We need to make sure that members have access to information in a variety of media.
For lots of reasons it feels as though we are at an important point in time. In Probation we have the Justice Select Committee confirming all we in Napo have said about the devastating effects of TR. In Cafcass there is acknowledgement that workloads need urgent attention and that the service is being held up largely by goodwill and dedication of staff. PBNI (Probation Board of Northern Ireland) avoided the worst of the disastrous attempts at reform of Probation but struggles around workloads and protections for staff continue. With so much happening Napo needs to capitalise on every opportunity. We must make the most of the position we are in.
I look forward to discussing these issues with you further – feel free to share your thoughts in comments…
--oo00oo--
So, what happened? July 12th saw the last from Katie Lomas as she blogged about the importance of Napo branches - zilch since then, indeed as far as I know, nothing has been heard from any of the candidates for any of the positions being contested. It's true that informal approaches have been made to me regarding possible Guest Blogs along the lines of those very successfully published from GS contender Mike Rolfe, but strangely none have materialised.
Readers will recall this from a couple of days ago:-
"Email from managers this morning warning against use of social media to criticise NOMS, talking to journalists etc. Disciplinary etc etc."I think it's reasonable to assume that management in both NPS and the CRCs are extremely concerned about staff using this blog as a way of communicating their thoughts, concerns and information. Sadly, I feel the very same policy continues to operate in Napo.
Oh shut up Jim. We need to rally, not fight each other. Hard enough to build strength in this endless bloody fight for a probation service we can be proud of.
ReplyDeleteYes I agree cohesion Jim is important and we all need to get behind the radical elements now if that is how they are seen . Too much of the same same old is going to see us all to the wall very soon. I support Dino
DeleteI think we can all have our point of view, but it's important to nail your colours to the mast.
DeleteAbsorption, appeasement, and taking the 'middle ground' never really appealed to me.
Know what you want, and chance it.
'Getafix
Lobby, represent, communicate. Hard consistent unglamorous work for the profession, the workers, the clients. And in your spare time, campaigning to oust this appalling government. I voted for Katie Lomas
DeleteThat makes great sense
DeleteWe are all doing that. Tell us what success has been had.
DeleteThis is a good post to move the debate along Jim and for my two penny worth I think the Chair of the SW Branch is raising exactly the right note in alarm bells for the saviour of NAPO . You have only to glimpse the published figures and understand the decline to realise it may well soon be over. The points being raised about a clear vision that NAPO cannot service its primary functions sort of jumps out of the page. I think the point he is making it is doomed if you don't vote for a massive change.
ReplyDeleteI would also like to see Blog posts from Unison Probation members, officers and staff and are there any former chief grade probation members in the GMB nowadays?
ReplyDeleteI do not understand the history of the CPOs and the GMB - & would appreciate directing to where I can read about that.
Google then search for it Andrew !
DeleteKatie Lomas invited people to comment and give their opinion on her 4 years already served as Vice Chair - when people did and asked what had she done over this time and also highlighted her failures to defend staff in the E3 process, together with her low profile until she wants further election, facility relief time as a P.O and personal development, she ran - retreated back into the comfortable shadows to lick her wounds from home truths. Yes Jim, its time for change. Denise Mason has had my vote!
DeleteMine too ! says Spartacus.
DeleteAnon 14:40 The evidence for this is where exactly?
DeleteMany people have suffered Jim from the constant agreements reached by NAPO and NPS over many serious and contentious matters that should normally be negotiated properly. There is plenty.
DeleteWhere's your pay rise probation staff ? The poorest of public servants in a abusive relationship you can't leave ....
ReplyDeleteFor what its worth:
ReplyDelete2010-2013: Ledger & Rendon = -1,247
2013-2014: Lawrence & TR = -654
2015: initial CRC clearances = -605
2015-2018: realisation of what CRC & NPS means = -1753
2010-2018: total loss of membership = -4,259
This is what has happened to probation. People can whine about solidarity, point fingers at Jim Brown, badmouth Dino, cast doubts upon Officers but...
... There ain't no membership. There ain't no base. MoJ/Noms have, with insider help (e.g. the PI), destroyed Napo's effectiveness & status as a trade union or professional organisation.
Thank you an intelligent and stock taking assessment. Some people who blog on this site have been appalling and vicious with personal agendas. The claims and statements made over the few days have been awful reading of potentially probation staff. It illustrates the level of immaturity and lack of trade union knowledge. What 1953 demonstrates is there are some clear thinkers with the right talents to intellect the reality with what the records are showing. The current elections may falter soon enough. Napos running costs alone will defeat the shrinking revenue. Memberships decline further will see napo off. Jim is right no alarm bells ringing because Jim is correct no alarm bells ringing because this group have not been ringing them! Aside from that dilemma the poster has helpfully put figures to events and yet this reduction had to have been known to NAPO yet they said nothing to members on the figures and it has only come to light as readers are inspecting the certifications officers website
Delete"Some people who blog on this site have been appalling and vicious with personal agendas."
DeleteThat's what you get when you de-professionalise a profession.
This attitude is part of the problem
DeleteIt is the so called professionals who behave the worst. Expectation and self righteous culture PO code . Elitism NPS.
DeleteWhere is this year's increment?
ReplyDeleteWhere's your pay rise probation staff ? The poorest of public servants in a abusive relationship you can't leave ....
ReplyDeleteI’ve heard that in London a PSO has become an SPO. Can’t say what area but a CRC.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the already well established practice of most CRCs
DeleteAS a life long trade unionist, I can only say that the Probation staff that I have observed over the last few years don't deserve a trade union. A union IS it's membership and if that membership is not united in it's purpose, then it WILL fail because it is being undermined by non-Union members and by members who betray, yes BETRAY, their trade union colleagues. I have, again and again and again, seen union members cross picket lines, fail to support meetings, fail vote in election and, worst of all, union members actually willing to fulfil the roles of those union members who are on strike. We lost because we were not strong enough. The loss of members is unfortunate for obvious reasons but, to be blunt, I am not altogether sure how many of them were genuinely committed to the trade union movement anyway. An insurance policy in the event of a disciplinary and nothing more. Not happy with the lot of Probation staff? Don't support your trade union and this is what you get. Enjoy.
ReplyDeleteEx-Probation employee.
09:06. It must be true that if members of a union are not prepared at critical times to stand together, then it's fair to say, What's the point of being in a union? When union members crossed picket lines they weren't showing courage – it was cowardice; when members pay subscriptions, but can't be bothered to vote in ballots, they weaken the bargaining strength of their union to protect and advance their conditions of service; they also make it less likely that they will be treated as individuals by their employer, who would be wary of changing their working conditions without meaningful consultation, knowing full well that behind each individual stands a strong union.
DeleteIt's too easy to blame the leadership, and though they are far from faultless, member apathy has weakened leadership accountability and encouraged all the cant about being a member-led union.
But when it comes to voting in a ballot or crossing a picket line, no one is doing so at gunpoint – they are being free-as-a-bird individuals, defying union instructions and undermining those members who are trying make a collective stand. People can always find reasons for not doing something and saying they don't
take an active interest because they are disillusioned with the leadership is cutting off your nose to spite your face. Yes, the body politic of the union suffers through member apathy, but isn't it obvious that if you are giving your union a good kicking, the only ones loving the spectacle of low turnouts are the employers. How difficult is it to cast a ballot?
We now have a union that has shrunk by over 40% in six years, whose income has halved and is deficit-spending. How long before the union become unviable? We hear about chronic low morale in the workforce, about the victims of TR – but sometimes unfortunate outcomes are less acts of God, and much more about failures to act together.
The problem is that NAPO does not have a leadership. Not an attack, just the truth
DeleteGrayling sealed the fate of Napo when the leadership allowed him to get the better of them
DeleteI agree with you. I really do. However, you must consider that those who might have done the right thing have been put off by the behaviour of the union at national level. I too am a life long trade unionist but have never before seen the outrageous behaviour of the top table who collude with the management agenda. We constantly hear 'the best that can be achieved', when really they mean ' the best I am prepared to try'.
ReplyDeleteThe signs have been there for a long time. The falling attendance at AGM. That's ok, let's lower the quorum rather than deal with the reason.
The falling attendance at NEC. Many NECs during the year being cancelled. That's ok. Let's make the NEC smaller rather than deal with the reason
Decisions being made for the benefit of the officials rather than consult the membership. That's ok, let's hope the members don't find out and if they do there's nothing they can do about it.
Officials going to great lengths in order not to engage with members. You know who you are!
I could go on but......
Well do not re elect these people !
Deletehttps://www.civilsociety.co.uk/voices/jessica-mullen-what-the-future-probation-reforms-mean-for-charities.html
DeleteThanks but basically a re-hash of what was covered here:-
Deletehttp://probationmatters.blogspot.com/2018/07/response-to-demise-of-tr.html
I know its off topic, but another of Graylings reforms (cuts to legal aid) have just been ruled unlawful.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/court-rules-criminal-legal-aid-reforms-unlawful/5067182.article
'Getafix
The Ministry of Justice has been roundly criticised by High Court judges who ruled today that controversial legal aid cuts were unlawful. In a case brought by the Law Society the court quashed new regulations cutting payments for document-heavy Crown court cases, which the Society argued amounted to a 37% reduction in fees.
DeleteIn The Law Society, R v The Lord Chancellor, the 2017 regulations were deemed unlawful because the key analysis relied on in making the decision was not disclosed to consultees, rendering the consultation process unfair. Judges said the new regulations used methods that were statistically flawed, making it irrational to rely on the analysis.
Under reforms to the litigators’ graduated fee scheme (LGFS), which remunerates litigators for Crown court work, the Ministry of Justice has capped the number of claimable pages of prosecution evidence (PPE) at 6,000 rather than 10,000.
In judgment, Lord Justice Leggatt and Mrs Justice Carr DBE concluded that the calculation was ‘a flawed analysis on which no reasonable authority would have relied’.
The judgment says consultees were entitled to expect that a government department undertaking a consultation would be ‘open and transparent’, but the MoJ’s failure to disclosure statistical analysis underpinning its decision made the consultation unfair.
The Law Society, which challenged the government’s decision to cut fees, today said the ruling was a ‘ray of light’ for the justice system.
Society president Christina Blacklaws said the changes introduced in December meant huge amounts of work on the most complex Crown Court cases had gone unpaid. Practitioners who made relevant claims under the 2017 regulations are advised to immediately apply for redetermination.
Blacklaws added: ‘In the light of this ruling, we would urge the government to restart discussions to try to formulate a revised approach to the LGFS that will remunerate lawyers fairly for the work they have to do. We as the Law Society stand ready to help the government to this.’
Lord Justice Leggatt and Mrs Justice Carr DBE heard submissions from Blackstone Chambers’ Dinah Rose QC, instructed by John Halford at Bindmans LLP representing the Society, and One Brick Court’s Martin Chamberlain QC, representing the Lord Chancellor.
In a statement following the judgment, a spokesperson for the MoJ said: 'Defence solicitors do valuable work. The changes we made to the LGFS scheme were intended to ensure payments better reflect the work being done in legal aid-funded criminal proceedings. We will carefully consider the content of the judgment and determine next steps.’
Given the ruling and the comments made by the judges in the Law Society challenge about the duplicity of the MoJ would it not be sensible for NAPO/Unions to take a case against the MoJ for the way they are handling the "consultation" on the future of the Probation Service(s).
ReplyDeleteThey have already decided to continue with CRC's which have proven by any criteria to be failures by inspectors and the Howard League (plus staff and MP's and others) . They have called meetings at very short notice for potential contractors. They have already decided to reduce the number of CRC's to 10 from 21. They have introduced their "consultation" as Parliament takes their summer break so no-one can question what they are doing or challenge it.
To quote the judges: ".. the key analysis relied upon in making the decision was not disclosed to consultees rendering the process unfair....." Also "...consultees are entitled to expect a government department undertaking a consultation to be open and transparent..."
Start a legal challenge NOW before this goes any further and using the judges ruling and comments as ammunition take the MoJ to the cleaners and insist on a proper consultation. But it must be done now and forcefully to stop the next tragedy related to Probation.
Yyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwnnnnnnn. Oh god no. Wake up. It's Napo's fault. That's it. It's all Napo's fault. Hmmmmm, maybe they're to blame for closing the mines. Nothing to do with those lovely Tories, of course not.
ReplyDelete