Monday 1 April 2019

Latest From Napo 187

Here we have selected highlights from Friday's Napo News Update by Ian Lawrence, General Secretary and Katie Lomas, National Chair:-

Napo is maintaining regular contact with Bob Neil Chair of the Justice Select Committee and there is a real push to bring as many cross party MP’s on board with our campaign to reunify probation and bring it back into public ownership. Branches have been sent postcards for members to send out to their local MP’s outlining 8 reasons to reunify probation and to highlight a specific local issue. NEC reps are being asked to go back to branches to ensure that this is happening and to actively get members on board to send out invites. Napo is organising a parliamentary drop in and a meeting for CRC representatives for 1st May at Westminster and branches will be able to send representatives to talk to MP’s and to encourage their own MP’s to attend.

RRP: Staffordshire West Midlands and Derby, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire & Rutland CRC’s


Pay talks have not yet started with RRP but a joint claim with UNISON is being submitted. RRP has set up a Strategic Group Forum which is designed to enable RRP to engage with unions to discuss organisational matters that help to create a positive and inclusive environment. One of the issues that Napo will be raising will be a clear need for diversity training within the organisation following a number of incidents and racial stereotyping and cultural appropriation.

Workloads and a target driven working environment continue to be the biggest issues for members in both CRC’s. However, there is a growing issue of client engagement and local partnership agencies following RRP’s decision to reduce their estates and to bring the majority of Black Country work into Wolverhampton. Napo will be raising this at future JNCC’s. Recruitment is also likely to be an issue particularly in Birmingham following a mass exodus of staff to the NPS in a recent recruitment exercise.

WWM CRC: Warwickshire West Mercia

HMIP are due to carry out an inspection of this CRC at the end of March. It is clear that WWM CRC are anxious about this as they have been briefing staff to accentuate the positive work that they have been undertaking. The CRC is actively recruiting Probation Officers. Some staff are due to leave following a recruitment drive by the NPS and a skills gap is becoming more evident. The CRC is initiating a recruitment drive and Pay talks are due to start shortly.

Kent Surrey and Sussex CRC

The original KSS CRC contract has now been extended to include the CRC areas formerly managed by Working Links and new collective bargaining arrangements will shortly be discussed alongside the opening of pay negotiations.The unions priorities are to see the establishment of pay parity across the newly expanded KSS area, urgent remedial action on Workloads and immediate steps to improve the safety agenda for staff and clients and a change in approach from the disrespect that our members have suffered from their previous employer.

Interserve CRCs

All proceedings with Interserve Justice have been dominated by the dire financial situation of Interserve, their parent company. The company’s plans to de-leverage their debt were rejected by shareholders and early assurances were secured by the probation unions around job security and wages irrespective of the long term future of the CRC’s. This work has involved engagement with the TUC, the Labour front bench team and correspondence with Ministers. In other developments the Chief Inspector for Probation has published a report on the HLNY CRC which was was given a “required improvement” rating.

Sodexo CRCs

On workloads Napo has been engaging with the employer to address the ongoing issues across the six Sodexo CRCs. The unions were on the brink of registering a collective dispute but since then substantial steps have been taken to trial a new Workload Measurement Tool and further talks are scheduled.
Engagement on pay continues with Sodexo and at the time of writing Napo are examining the latest HMIP report giving the South Yorkshire CRC a rating as requiring improvement. Napo are also challenging the situation regarding the intention of Sodexo and other CRC owners to allow the appointment of Probation Officers who do not have the requisite qualifications. Further news on this issue which is being pursued nationally will follow

Durham Tees Valley CRC

HMIP inspected the CRC in November 2018. The overall assessment by the Inspectors was that the service “requires improvement”. Napo continues to press senior HMPPS management that whatever the future structure of probation there must be a role for the ‘mutual’ sector with appropriate resourcing being made available.

MTC – London and Thames Valley

MTC have re-stated their wish to expand their “market share” in probation following the withdrawal of AMEY from their partnership. Operationally, Thames Valley CRC has recently had its latest HMIP inspection outcome published. This was ‘requiring improvement’. There are recognised challenges in Thames Valley recruiting and retaining staff. There is already direct competition between the NPS and CRC with rumours of various incentives being investigated by Napo Reps. Workloads are very high in the CRC. In London, there are similar challenges around workload, recruitment and retention and professional delivery in any new contract.

Pay negotiations for the 2019 round are due to formally start shortly with the presentation of the joint Napo/Unison CRC claim. MTC have stated they want to pay similar rates to the NPS and progress people through their grade in a reasonable time but this will be dependent upon the terms of any new contracts – stating that doing so on the current terms would mean them losing money on the contracts.


NPS Updates

ViSOR news: Members may have seen the communication from Sonia Crozier this week detailing that there is an issue with the technological side of ViSOR so training is cancelled. We have been told that the ViSOR project will not stop but you can be assured that we will continue to make clear our position that the use of ViSOR as a secondary reporting system will place unnecessary additional workload at a time when our members are already struggling to cope.

Clarification on standing in elections: Members in most NPS roles at band 1-6 are classified as “politically free” in terms of the Civil Service Code restrictions on political activity. This means that members in these roles can stand for election to Council and Parish Council roles. If you plan to do this you should inform your line manager of your intention and of course of the outcome of the election. Election as a Member of Parliament is different. Members in these bands can be selected as a Prospective Parliamentary Candidate but at the point a General Election is officially called would have to resign as Civil Servants cannot be elected as a member of parliament. Anyone resigning for this reason and then failing to be elected as an MP would be immediately reinstated on the same terms. If you have a query about this please contact Katie Lomas.

OMiC update: We continue to meet with members of the HMPPS OMiC team. Members will know that Napo continue to make known our objection to the OMiC model. We welcome the keyworking element and believe that this will be an important and helpful addition to the prison regime but the case management model is fundamentally flawed because it builds in inconsistency in the crucial worker:client relationship at the most vulnerable points in the sentence. We also have concerns about the move to give offender management of around 30% of NPS custody cases to prison staff. This is not to suggest that those prison staff are not capable of offender management but if they are expected to do it they must be properly trained and have suitable experience of community OM work so that they understand how to manage risk in the community rather than in custody.

We continue to discuss the issues around workloads for people working in custody. We have asked for more information about the resourcing model and will share more updates when we have this. Finally we continue to discuss the issue of newly qualified probation officers (NQOs) being placed in a prison as their first qualified role. We have asked that the principles we are assured NPS are using be firmed up into a policy to ensure they cannot be varied when workload pressures bite. As a reminder to members the principles are that an NQO will only be placed in a prison where there is an established team of experienced officers and never in a situation where there are already other NQOs or a team new to prison work. Napo maintain that prison is not a suitable first placement for an NQO because most prison teams are small teams where it is difficult to offer the protected caseload and access to a variety of working styles and learning and support opportunities that NQOs need immediately after qualifying.

SSCL (Shared Services Connected Limited) overpayments

The NEC considered the position relating to the “over-payment” problems in the NPS. A separate briefing will follow for branches and negotiations continue with the NPS Pay team. Essentially, NPS HR say they are under pressure to recover all overpayments as a matter of principle. This has been delegated to SSCL. The majority of cases so far identified relate to previous payroll errors from SSCL, especially relating to the 2017 SOP (Single Operating Platform) updates; and disproportionately impact those who were on sick pay, maternity pay or who had otherwise changed their pay in that period. Having had to struggle to make sense of their pay and pension contributions for many months between 2017-18, and thinking these had finally been resolved, some members are now being chased for consequent alleged overpayments - arising from SSCL failing to properly apply the correct sick pay or maternity pay calculations.

Legal advice has been sought and we are tracking the position, whilst also seeking to continue constructive negotiations with the HMPPS. We are advising members impacted to automatically appeal on the grounds that they cannot trust the calculations from SSCL, contacted them and were told it was now ok and settled, etc. We are especially troubled by members who have retired between 2017 and now, who will have neither any access to an appeal or means of paying alleged overpayments without adjustments to their pension.

The NEC have given authority for Napo to enter a formal dispute if this is not resolved to our satisfaction urgently. Members are to be asked to submit details if they have unresolved issues around overpayments so please look out for more news.

Approved Premises (AP) Double Waking night cover (DWNC) and rota issues

The DWNC continues to be problematic with varied performance from the two providers OCS and Sodexo. HMPPS is now charging the providers for all failures (backdated to the start of contract) including a fines and the actual cost to HMPPS of the cover arrangements. In effect this means that the providers could be in a position where their charges and fines paid to HMPPS are in excess of the income they are receiving. Following a visit to the North West by Katie Lomas, Ian Lawrence and Sarah Friday, our members working in APs are being encouraged to use the official health and safety reporting systems to log any incidents or near misses relating to their work including incidents caused by the DWNC contractors failing to cover a shift or sending inappropriate staff. This includes reporting work related stress caused by the situation.

The AP rota that was supposed to be a model rota changed has caused serious difficulties, not least because the rota makes work life balance almost impossible and does not allow for flexible working arrangements. We have secured an agreement to review the rota starting this month (March) with reference to staff feedback and the HSE guidance on shift work.

The “Professional development" agenda

Napo support the efforts being made to offer professional development to staff and to develop the licence to practice and register but we have strongly objected to the description currently being used by the centre of “Professionalisation”. This suggests that our members are not professionals and it is frankly insulting. We have encouraged HMPPS to reflect on this term and to change it. We still await proper engagement on this important subject but a positive development was the announcement of a series of sessions to be delivered as part of Learning at Work Week in May. There will be around 70 events which will be face to face or virtual events delivered on a regional basis with workshops on a variety of topics.

We have asked for acknowledgement that most NPS frontline staff will struggle to access events when workloads are unacceptably high and have suggested that this is used as a basis for a programme of events to be made available on a rolling basis to ensure it is not just tokenistic but an integral part of our members working lives.

Professional issues remain a focus and a concern across all probation providers. Any reforms to probation going forward need to address these concerns and attract broad stakeholder support from the Magistrates Association to Howard League. Napo will be at the centre of those discussions with both the MOJ and CRCs.


Training for Napo reps - off to a great start!

The new Napo education programme has started to be rolled out and the first branch has received its training starting with module 1. A number of branches now have dates in the diary for starting the programme and the NEC heard that it is hoped that by the end of the year all branches will have started the Education Programme. The training package covers three modules: Module 1 covers how Napo works, our values, what roles you can choose to do and what support is available, the legal rights and protections that come with being an accredited local Napo representative, and how the branch can work to link collective local negotiations to campaigns. Module 2 covers representing individuals and provides the skills and knowledge on how to help resolve individual employment issues (Module 2 is optional for anyone who completes Module 1) and finally Module 3 will cover collectively developing a new Branch Development Plan and an individual plan.

Diversity

Women in Napo Conference: we now have around 70 women registered at the time of writing and more potentially to come. Securing facility time to assist attendance from the NPS has encouraged some CRCs to also offer paid time off for attendance and, as always, the event is a great way to inspire and activate women members.

February was LGBT History Month. To mark this occasion Napo joined together with PiPP (Pride in Prison and Probation) and probation employers to run a series of roadshows across the country. The aim of the roadshows was to provide an opportunity to raise awareness of LGBT issues for both staff and service users. The roadshows proved to be a great success and we have identified key issues that have come out from the workshops that we will now work towards addressing and reflect on how we can encourage employers to take action on LGBT issues.

Diversity: Napo worked closely with Sodexo on delivering our LGBT Roadshows. Nick Hall the Director of the Northern CRCs and Alex Osler Director for Essex CRC spoke at our event in Newcastle and London respectively. Northumbria CRC also paid for securing Newcastle Football ground to launch Napo’s LGBT Roadshows in Newcastle.

Lammy Recommendations: Napo and UNISON have written a letter to the Probation Minister Rory Stewart. The letter sets out our concerns about the lack of reach of the Lammy Review’s Recommendations (into outcomes for BAME individuals in the Criminal Justice System) and read across specifically for probation. We are awaiting a response from the Minster to our joint union letter.

Black Members’ Survey: There was a low take up for our survey soliciting the views of Black Members. We have been working with RISE and ABPO to explore ways to increase the response rate. Additionally, we have a date in the diary to meet with the Ministry of Justice so that we can increase the response rate amongst the staff group.


Health and Safety

Napo attended the UCU working group ‘Safety in Prisons’ meeting in January. This meeting of UCU and RCN, BMA, GMB. UNISON, POA, PCS and Unite unions – all with members who work in prisons have been meeting since last summer.

We have been working on a joint policy statement for the alliance, entitled “Safe Inside Unions in Prison Alliance’” This document outlines our intentions and a number of action points, including H&S systems for all staff, effective communication with unions on risk assessments and safe systems of work, tackling violence in prisons and the targeting of women, preventing exposure to Spice and adequate levels of prison officers.

We have also developed a survey to go to the joint unions prison based members in to find out about their experiences of working in the prison environment.

16 comments:

  1. '...the intention of Sodexo and other CRC owners to allow the appointment of Probation Officers who do not have the requisite qualifications...' WTF? Anyone know any more about this?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tr removed the requirement for po status to be a non qualified person in CRC and manage all tasks of po is the way to deconstruct our profession. We now have two pay structures. CRC is po on the cheap. The above Napo ramble is a descriptive account of some unsuccessfull running around but not 1 result. In the meantime it is still dump time for the rest of us.

      Delete
  2. Sodexo have hired staff with social work qualifications straight into the role of probation officer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Surprised to have to point this out but Social Work has ALWAYS been a requisite qualification for the Probation Officer role. Until the late 90s it was the ONLY way to qualify as a Probation Officer, and anyone in the job who qualified before then will have qualified AS a Social Worker

      Delete
  3. "MTC have re-stated their wish to expand their “market share” in probation following the withdRawal of AMEY"

    That was kept very quiet. So:

    Wonky Links - gone
    Interserve - going
    Amey - gone

    1% pay rise in 10 years

    Unqualified PO staff

    Anyone woukd think it was 1 April

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Reminder of the runners & riders when TR1 began:

      http://www.russellwebster.com/1st-stage-successful-transforming-rehabilitation-bidders-announced/

      Including: DTV, KSS, HUmberside, GMC, Hants, CLM, WMW, LeicsRutland, WestYorks, DDC i.e. 10 staff mutuals (Russell counted 11?)

      Delete
    2. After re-visiting the page linked above, I'm reminded that a NW mutual was called Innovo (CLM) Ltd. I thought I'd see what Innovo were up to now...

      https://www.myinnovo.com/uk

      "I laughed so hard I didn't pee myself
      Enjoy life more! Take back control."

      Delete
  4. RRP are not the benign organisation they like to portray themselves as. There has been a mass exodus of POs into the NPS probably as a result of the attitude of the chief exec Adam Hart. In a recent discussion with staff who raised the issue of parity of pay with the NPS he informed them that this was not on the cards particularly as PP3's (PO grade staff) were no longer classed as POs in RRP and were no longer engaged in PO tasks commensurate with the NPS as such did not justify the same pay grade as the NPS. When POs in Birmingham challenged him about this assertion he basically told them to F...OFF to the NPS which many then did.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The CEO of the Reducing Reoffending Partnership is Adam Hart. Adam joined the Reducing Reoffending Partnership as CEO in October 2017 to lead the delivery of probation services across the UK Midlands.

      Previously, he was the Managing Director of APM UK – an organisation delivering services in health, employability, skills, justice and youth markets. He has also held the positions of CEO in Capita’s Defence business, COO of their Probation business, and Steria’s emergency services operation.

      Delete
    2. Never forget the corporates behind the curtain. Ingeus is merely a name - the puppet-masters & their financial spreadsheets are exerting influence from afar, strategically placing bodies here & there. Lets follow some breadcrumbs to the house of sweets:

      Therese Rein is an Australian entrepreneur who is the founder of Ingeus, an international employment and business psychology services company. Rein is the wife of Kevin Rudd, who was the Prime Minister of Australia, holding the office from 2007 to 2010 and then again in 2013:

      "In 2011, we re-entered Australia with the acquisition of Assure Programs, a business psychology organisation specialising in organisational development and employee assistance programs throughout Australia and New Zealand."

      In 2014 Ingeus became part of Arizona-based human services provider Providence Service Corporation. They say: "Providence takes an active approach to investing, working closely with our businesses to help them execute strategy, improve operations and increase intrinsic value over the long term." So, a bit like Aurelius.

      Advanced Personnel Management (APM - the corporate which nurtured Mr Adam Hart) are understood to be on the cusp of finalising a deal to acquire Ingeus. News of the acquisition was first reported in the media in Australia, where APM are based, in November. The acquisition is understood to include all Ingeus operations across the UK, US, Canada, South Korea, Germany, Switzerland, Singapore and Spain. The multi-million-dollar deal is further understood to be subject to several official approvals before it is finalised.

      APM are a market leading provider of employment services in Australia, where they are one of the largest providers of Jobactive, the country’s primary employability programme. In 2017 Quadrant Private Equity acquired a majority stake in APM. APM’s presence in the UK was initially bolstered through the acquisition of Flexible New Deal prime contractor PPDG in 2015. Today APM in the UK is arguably best known as a provider of the National Citizen Service scheme, which is currently being re-commissioned, although they also deliver subcontracted DWP Work & Health Programme provision in the North East and Central England.

      Quadrant say: "Our approach is to be collaborative, collective and arrive at decisions via consensus. We have significant experience in preparing businesses for exit and bring a successful track record in this regard."

      Didn'y grandma used to say 'don't keep all your eggs in one basket'?

      Delete
    3. PPDG?

      "Who are we? PPDG started out in 1999 as part of the well-known Pertemps Group. In 2008 we became a member of the Employment Services Holdings (ESH) Group, one of the world’s leading providers of Welfare to Work, training and recruitment services.We work with an extensive number of Government and private companies across the UK and Australia, and operate from a number of centres within the local community.

      What do we do? Through innovative delivery of Welfare to Work strategies and Lifelong Learning programmes, we offer an holistic approach to recruitment and training. We believe this gives people ‘real’ opportunities to change their lives."

      ESH?

      Employment Services Holdings (ESH)

      The ESH Group is one of Australia’s leading providers of Employment, Training and Recruitment Services... Mr. Colin Birchall served as the Chief Executive Officer at Employment Services Holdings Pty. Ltd since August 2010. Mr. Birchall served as Chief Executive Officer of PPGD UK at Employment Services Holdings Pty. Ltd. Mr. Birchall founded Pertemps People Development Group Ltd. in 1999 and serves as its Chief Executive Officer. Since January 2000, he has been Managing Director of the newly incorporated Pertemps Employment Alliance Ltd., a company launched to deliver Government Welfare to Work initiatives.

      Delete
    4. Seems that extracting massive amounts of taxpayer monies from governments is not only quite easy, but extraordinarily lucrative for the global bean-counters who cherry-pick the profits.

      Delete
  5. What does Probation do? What do NPS tell the Courts? Discuss...

    Yes, the article below is a newspaper report, so unlikely to have all the facts but... an extra 20 days' rehabilitation? Really? He'd completed 18 months of the original two year order (Jan'17 to June'18) before he went AWOL.

    "A man breached a judge's order and failed to attend court after going to work in Tenerife.

    He was sentenced at the city's crown court on Friday by a judge who observed at a previous hearing how he had "disappeared off the face of the earth" last year.

    He was initially punished in January, 2017, after he admitted possessing cannabis with intent to supply.

    Then a teenager, he was given a 13-month custodial sentence which was suspended for two years, and and a community order comprising a drug requirement and rehabilitation. He found himself in the dock with a 47-year-old woman after a £1,500 drug stash was recovered from the airing cupboard of a house.

    Despite there being positive reports about his initial progress with the community order, he missed appointments in June and July last year without good reason.

    He also failed to attend court after taking a knife into a street and slashing some bike tyres on June 21.

    The Judge was told he went to take up the offer of employment in the Canary Islands to support his family. On his return, he admitted breaching the court order and possessing a bladed article in public.

    At the crown court on Friday he was given a £200 fine, a four-month night-time curfew and ordered to complete an extra 20 days' rehabilitation."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. RAR guidance - Published 7 February 2019

      "The court can decide to include a RAR as part of a community order or a suspended sentence order. They do not have to include a RAR. A RAR should be proposed when the person has clear rehabilitative needs, when appropriate activities are available and where these needs cannot be met by an accredited programme or a treatment requirement.

      To assist sentencers, National Probation Service (NPS) court officers should make clear proposals that specifically identify the rehabilitative needs to be addressed and the number of days needed to do so... A RAR could be used to address someone’s needs in the following areas:

      accommodation
      education, training and employment
      relationships
      lifestyle and associates
      non-dependent alcohol misuse (ATRs are intended for those who are alcohol dependent and DRRs for those who misuse illegal drugs)
      emotional management (MHTRs are intended for all diagnosed mental health conditions, apart from those that require a hospital or guardianship order)
      attitudes, thinking and behaviour
      finance, benefits and debt

      These are the needs that evidence shows either predict reoffending if they are not met, or if they are addressed will contribute to the stability people need to be able to deal with other significant issues."

      Delete
    2. From the limited info:

      accommodation - no issues raised
      education/employment - seems able to get work
      relationships - positive reason for working
      lifestyle/associates - no issues raised
      alcohol - no issues raised
      drugs - seems to have completed DRR
      emotional mgmt - no issues raised
      attitudes etc - owned his actions, took the hit
      finances etc - no issues raised

      So what will happen? 20 telephone calls?

      Delete
  6. Who audits the contracts managers?

    This from HMPPS 18/19 business plan:

    "Managing CRC contracts - Effective management of the CRC contracts will continue to be a priority as we fully implement contract adjustments to reflect the costs of providing frontline services enabling them to deliver a better quality service. We will continue to provide robust and appropriate management of the contracts in order to protect the public and reduce re-offending. We have local Contract Management (CM) teams embedded in CRCs and their key focus during 2018-19 will include:

    • a risk based CM approach: adopt stronger use of data and management information, as well as anecdotal and reported evidence (Operational & System Assurance Group, HMIP) to target CRC practice and processes. This approach aims to identify any weak links and anomalies both on the ground level and within the data
    •achieving efficiency in CM practice: contract compliance and assurance work will be targeted and focussed. Where data accuracy is reported as high for a period, CM compliance work can be reduced for the following period. Tools are under development which will support this approach. This will reduce time on data checks, allowing for increased focus on service delivery quality
    •improving quality of CRC delivery: there will be an increased focus on improving service quality across CRCs. Broader Compliance Activities (BCAs) are under continued development to focus on key areas of service delivery where poor performance/risks are detected (identified using the risk based approach). CM teams will remain engaged with CRCs to define and agree standardised processes for prioritising and implementing actions following audits and HMIP inspections
    •creating the conditions for improved delivery:during 2018-19 we will continue to work with providers to identify what further steps might be taken to ensure CRCs are able to invest to improve operational delivery

    ReplyDelete