Given the hundreds of positive messages that are coming into Napo HQ and via social media it is clear that Thursday 16th May 2019 will be seen as one of the most pivotal days in Napo’s long and proud history.
Victory
The climb down from the rubble of Chris Graylings catastrophic Transforming Rehabilitation programme is certainly up there with any recent union victory in the campaign against the privatisation of vital public services. I hope by now that every Napo member will have acknowledged the fact that while this is a significant turnaround, it is one that is still qualified. Yet such a scenario was not even on the cards before the turn of the year, where we established real traction with Rory Stewart and David Gauke on our future vision for probation. From there we have worked long and hard to try and persuade said Ministers to move to complete reunification, but that was always likely to be a political step too far for them as they and their Cabinet colleagues continue to breathe life into their flagging ‘‘mixed market” monster no matter what the cost. I nevertheless commend them both for taking this considerable step forward.
Seizing the day
Our preparation in advance of the embargoed news from the MoJ, led to us dominating the media arena from 6am through to 6pm. It entailed swinging into immediate action to get our media releases out to all the right people on Wednesday, and saw some of us operating into the small hours of Thursday morning so that we were primed and ready to engage with the many media opportunities that broke at first light. This work reflects great credit on National Chair Katie Lomas, our media lead Tania Basset and the communications team here at Napo HQ.
It meant that many members woke up to see Napo offering our immediate perspective on the news of the decision to transfer the supervision of clients to the NPS by the time that the CRC owners are out of their current contracts.
Just as importantly, we were able to talk about the reasons why TR has failed, its impact on the lives and wellbeing of our members as well as clients and victims, and how it’s not been the fault of our members that reoffending rates have remained so stubbornly high. All this and more, whilst referencing the gratuitous self-aggrandisement of the wretched Grayling and his capacity to screw up on everything that he has ever allegedly been in control of.
So where next?
We are already making arrangements to create communications structures that will provide updates to members on the likely shape of the transition programme for the movement of Offender Management work from the CRCs and the terms of the staff transfers. Obviously, we have made it clear that we expect those impacted by the government decision to move immediately to NPS pay rates.
There is a lot of work ahead of us, and there are many still to be answered questions that we will now be consulting on with senior MoJ and HMPPS leaders. Meanwhile we must ensure that the plans for Wales are sufficiently robust to enable the scheduled transfer of CRC staff into the NPS by this December.
As well as these priorities, it is imperative that we pick up on the offer of engagement from Director General Amy Rees on the professional development and regulatory body issues as well as continuing to press for the abolition of short-term prison sentences. We also need to engage with our sister unions and the POA on the future of the Offender Management in Custody model.
It is a huge agenda for Napo and that’s just in terms of the implications from the big decision yesterday. We will not forget our CRC members
Our members in the CRCs will undoubtedly be looking to us for further support and guidance, and you will have it; you will want us to intensify our fight to see you receive the same pay as your NPS colleagues and for Intervention and Programme work to also return to state control and we will do just that.
Elsewhere in Napo, in Northern Ireland we have the double problem of a stagnant public service pay situation and threats to existing terms and conditions. Yesterday, and again following substantial input by Napo, we saw dramatic developments around the call for an inquiry into CAFCASS after a major report by the former Head of the Family Courts Sir James Mumby. These are also important priorities along with many others.
What you can do to help
Napo has worked long and hard to help achieve this victory but the struggle is far from over.
Huge political developments such as this do not happen very often. They serve to demonstrate the value of trade unions to speak up when others seek to denigrate or ignore us, to maintain faith in a so-called lost cause and continue to fight back with tenacity and belief; and to show ourselves to millions of people in a highly professional and focused manner through the media whenever we get the opportunity.
Many of you have sent me personal messages to say how proud you are of Napo and I absolutely reciprocate your often quite moving tributes; I feel highly privileged to do this job working with you as well as for you.
In order for us to build our collective strength, now is as good a time as any for Napo members to open up conversations with workplace colleagues about why trade union membership is so vital, and explain what Napo has achieved in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. You may want to know that even as I write, I am receiving encouraging reports of staff wanting to join or return to Napo.
Finally, anyone currently paying their subscriptions via their employer by ‘Check Off’ are reminded that its cheaper to pay by Direct Debit and very simple to make the change by clicking here. Once you change to DD you must advise your payroll so that they cease to make deductions.
Look out for more news via our usual postings and HQ blogs; meanwhile do enjoy the moment and the weekend!
Ian Lawrence
A pyrrhic victory - the collateral damage has been far too widespread and there will be further catastrophe as the aftershocks rip through both NPS & CRC.
ReplyDeleteThe only 'winners' were the self-serving opportunists who played Grayling's game, seized power & filled their pockets. Everyone else, staff & client group alike, has lost something significant - health, career, support, or even their life.
It has been said numerous times here but must not be lost in the noise: This is NOT renationalisation of the Probation Service. It is merely a restructuring of the contracts to facilitate TR2.
Napo helped enable TR1 - perhaps unwittingly, perhaps not so innocently? But their eyes are now wide open. They have witnessed the ruthlessness of MoJ/HMPPS. This time they will have no excuse of being taken by surprise, of being unprepared.
If they help facilitate TR2, if they throw staff under the wheels again, if they lose even more terms & conditions...
This is Napo's opportunity to show its members & its critics what it can do.
Not a lot of he is congratulating Tory big boots. Should be saying better late than never. Embargoed news like the secret it certainly may have been but only having work done on the night says not prepared Napo not up to much then as usual.
DeleteSo: it was Napo that did it!
DeleteThis BigIssue article (Paul McNamee) is the type of reporting that Gauke's announcement has inspired, which is a weird mix of utterly inaccurate guff & statistical gymnastics:
ReplyDelete"When is renationalising OK? When the current Conservative government do it. Last week the probation service was brought back into public ownership... Announcing the significant reversal his most recent successor David Gauke said: “The system isn’t working.” The ill-conceived project will cost taxpayers around £500m. That’s essentially £2m of public money torched a week. Every week."
No, the service was NOT brought back into public ownership - if only.
£2m/week, every week, for 5 years is £520m - so he's not so far off there.
But worryingly the 'message' is out there that Probation has been re-nationalised, taken back into public ownership, de-privatised.
But it hasn't.
Napo need to grasp that nettle with both hands and make it clear that Probation has NOT been returned to the bosom of public control. Not now. And its unlikely it will be so in 2020, or 2021, or 2022. Its most likely going to end up some god-awful hybrid.
So no, Napo did not "dominate the media arena". They got good exposure, but the MoJ message won out:
"Probation services to be brought back under public control" - Sky News
"Probation services renationalised after chaotic privatisation" - FT
GMB is celebrating a big win after the Government announced probation services were being brought back in house - GMB Union
Probation service to be re-nationalised following Grayling reforms - C4News
Meantime, while everyone is wetting their pants over the not-really-renationalising probation services, the MoJ is busy putting out contract notices for the new TR2 agenda:
ReplyDeleteThe Ministry of Justice intends to use a dynamic framework primarily to purchase the following services:
1) Rehabilitative interventions:
Rehabilitative Interventions are delivered as part of a Rehabilitation Activity Requirement (RAR) of a Community Sentence and for Custodial Sentences from pre-release through post-release licence and Post Sentence Supervision (PSS). These are intended to support offenders and reduce re-offending by addressing a range of needs such as accommodation, education, relationships, etc.
2) Resettlement interventions:
Resettlement activity starts 12 weeks before release, continues after release and aims to help offenders to resettle in the community after custody. Resettlement interventions aim at addressing the specific resettlement needs such as accommodation, education, relationships, etc.
3) Other desistance interventions:
The dynamic framework will facilitate the purchase of enabling services and interventions for the Authority and other commissioning bodies. These services will be used to enhance the effectiveness of rehabilitative interventions delivered as part of the sentence and will provide additional support beyond those specified as part of an offender’s sentence. This will promote desistance and enable fair sentence delivery.
The dynamic framework will operate as an open panel, which eligible suppliers can qualify to join, providing they meet the minimum criteria, at any point in time. No upper limit will be placed on the number of providers who can qualify. Suppliers will be required to qualify for lots, it is anticipated that lots will be based on offender needs and cohort. The dynamic framework will operate nationally, however, call off competitions will state geography for delivery; current thinking indicates that geographical scope will vary by competition and may range from Local Authority to region wide. Mini-competitions will be run to source specific rehabilitative and resettlement interventions. Mini-competitions are anticipated to range in value based on requirements, between 25 000 GBP and 1 000 000 GBP, and have a contract length between 1 and 4 years. Additionally, the Authority is considering offering grant agreements via the dynamic framework. Whilst the Ministry of Justice will be the main commissioner of services, other commissioning bodies may also use the dynamic framework.
The procurement activity for the dynamic framework is expected to commence in late 2019 with the dynamic framework operational from the end of July 2020.
The Authority will conduct a series of market engagement events between May and October 2019 to inform service and contract design, all interested suppliers are invited to attend. Details regarding initial events can be found below; additional events will be publicised in due course. If you would like to register to hear more about these events, please email ProbationDynamicFramework@justice.gov.uk
Launch events (28th to 30th May).
The launch events will outline:
— our vision for probation services and what we want to achieve,
— indicative procurement timelines.
These will be joint events covering 2 procurements:
1) Accredited programmes and unpaid work; and
2) Rehabilitative and resettlement interventions. Dates have been scheduled for:
— London: 28.5.2019 (10:30 — 13:00),
— Cardiff: 29.5.2019 (10:30 — 13:00),
— Manchester: 30.5.2019 (10:30 — 13:00).
So there you go, Napo, here's £2.6bn worth of your nationalised probation services being put out to tender:
ReplyDelete"The Ministry of Justice intends to tender intervention and rehabilitation services in England and Wales. These services form part of the probation services.
The services to be procured are expected to comprise:
— rehabilitative interventions, delivered as part of Rehabilitation Activity Requirements (RARs),
— resettlement interventions,
— provision of unpaid work (or community payback), and
— accredited programmes.
Enabling services and interventions to support offenders’ desistance will also be available to procure via the dynamic framework.
This prior information notice has been issued for rehabilitative interventions and resettlement interventions. A separate notice has been issued for innovation partners to deliver accredited programmes and unpaid work and support the NPS to identify and deliver wider innovation.
This PIN is being issued for market engagement purposes only.
Any information provided is indicative only of the Authority’s current intentions and is subject to change.
II.1.5) Estimated total value
Value excluding VAT: 2 600 000 000.00 GBP"
and here's your £1bn of upw & programmes up for sale:
DeleteThe Ministry of Justice intends to tender for probation intervention and rehabilitation services in England and Wales. The services to be procured are expected to comprise:
— provision of unpaid work (or “community payback”) for all offenders,
— accredited programmes for all offenders except sex offenders, and
— rehabilitative interventions, which are delivered as part of Rehabilitation Activity Requirements (“RAR”) and resettlement interventions.
Enabling services and interventions to support desistance will also be available to procure via the dynamic framework.
This PIN has been issued for Innovation Partners to deliver unpaid work and accredited programmes and support the NPS to identify and deliver wider innovation. A separate notice has been issued for rehabilitative services and resettlement interventions.
This PIN is being issued for market engagement purposes only.
Any information provided is indicative only of the Authority’s current intentions and is subject to change.
II.1.5) Estimated total value
Value excluding VAT: 1 000 000 000.00 GBP
"Last week the probation service was brought back into public ownership" - hahahahahahahahahahahahaha
In addition the MoJ are varying all of the CRC contracts in respect of "services of rehabilitative services & offender management":
ReplyDeleteThe modification allows the Authority:
1) To exercise the option to extend the Contract for a maximum period of 7 months;
2) To change the payment mechanism including replacing the payment by results with a cost plus model during the extension period; and
3) Add enhanced Authority audit rights. The modification does not alter the overall nature of the contract, and the increase in price does not exceed 50 % of the value of the original contract
So we can expect to be losing another 50% on top of the current cost estimate of £500m - the CRC debacle gets ever more expensive. Might it touch £1bn before it ends? Chris might have to sell a few of his houses...
WAKEY WAKEY!! £3.6bn of service provision - rehabilitation, resettlement, desistance, unpaid work, accredited programmes, rehabilitative interventions - has been put out to tender. How much does that look like re-nationalisation of Probation?
ReplyDeleteA: Not very much
B: Not at all
C: Probation has been returned to public ownership
D: I can't see beyond the end of my contract
E: I can't see anything wrong with that
F: Who made up this nonsense?
G: I want my redundancy money
H: I want to join NPS/CRC/HMPPS/The Brexit Party/ The Lib Dems/ the army [delete as applicable]
"Many congratulations to you and your hard-working staff on the successful outcome of the campaign to return the service to the public sector"
DeleteTo quote a well-known satirical magazine, 'shurely shome mishtake'?
G
DeleteNapo members celebrate
ReplyDeleteNapo members and all who have followed the story of the destruction of the probation service were in celebratory mood last week after the government announced plans to abondon its failed model.
While there is still some way to go, most would agree that this is a step in the right direction.
The campaign has been a long and tough one; and one that could not have been fought without members' dogged determination to have the service restored to its former glory.
Napo HQ has been inundated with messages since the announcement -- many very touching and provided the extra fuel Napo staff need to continue driving the campaign towards a fully reunified and publicly owned probation service.
"I send my very best wishes, gratitude and congratulations for the immense courage, solidarity and integrity you have shown over these difficult years. I was so proud to be a member of my Union, NAPO, when in work, and I hope that the new Probation Service arrangements will reflect the values and qualities which NAPO and its members have always upheld. Diolch o galon i chi gyd (Heartfelt thanks to you all)"
"A massive thank you to all at NAPO Head Office and colleagues elsewhere for the massive amount of campaigning for a better and fairer National Probation Service located firmly within the Criminal Justice System which was clearly sold out in its entirety by an incompetent Home Secretary and his acolytes who believed that private for profit companies were both more economical and effective. Neither premise was true nor was it ever likely to be. All very uncaring and a symptom of our current governmental attitude to all the major public services. You are right to opine that there is much yet to be done and we will have to remain vigilant in ensuring that our values and aspirations for a more civilised approach to justice and rehabilitation is not further compromised in the reorganisation.
This may signal a welcome return to sanity in an extremely disordered criminal justice world. Your efforts have been much appreciated by this now retired but somewhat happier former probation officer. Well done."
"Many congratulations to you and your hard-working staff on the successful outcome of the campaign to return the service to the public sector, which, in addition to achieving the desired objective, has also raised the profile of probation in a positive way. Even though I have been retired for over 20 years, I have continued to take an interest in the service, and I was very distressed at the obvious erosion of its position of influence in the criminal justice system; this gives me hope that it can be reversed and that our former status restored."
“Our preparation in advance of the embargoed news from the MoJ, led to us dominating the media arena from 6am through to 6pm.”
ReplyDeleteI can honestly say I did NOT see or hear Napo in the media at all. Likewise, in the 2013-2019 fight against TR Napo was nearly invisible - apart from delivering a cake to Grayling and a few appearances on Russia Today. Nonetheless, we now prepare for TR2 in December 2020 in which probation will be restructured rather than renationalised. The Ministry of Justice intends to tender £2 billion worth of intervention and rehabilitation services in England and Wales - accredited programmes, unpaid work and Through the Gate interventions. I calculate Christmas 2020 will be dire for probation employees, both NPS and CRC alike. Forgive me for not saying “well done Napo”, but this is not a victory.
I agree NAPO this is certainly not a victory.
ReplyDeleteEleven HMPPS-controlled NPS supremos handing out £3.6bn of public money to, predominantly, privateers who will be providing a range of offender management services.
ReplyDeleteIs this very different from HMPPS handing out £bns of public money to, predominantly, privateers who have been providing a range of unprofessional, poor-quality, unsafe offender management services?
Napo, Unison, GMB - either (1) you're so unbelievably stupid that you've been taken to the cleaners once again or (2) you're complicit with this government's agenda.
The second option I fear 21:04.
ReplyDelete