"On another front. What's happening about the increment next month? Unison are saying that the Treasury are refusing to fund it as predicted by me and many others when the pay deal was announced. NAPO are saying it's a payroll administrative issue and will be resolved. Apparently payroll can't handle giving everyone a rise. I know SSCL are shit but really? Has that clown Lawrence sold us down the river again? I fervently hope not but my cynisim is based on bitter experience."JTU11-20 March 2020
NPS CAN’T PAY YOUR 2020 INCREMENT ON TIME
The NPS has confirmed today that it will not be able to pay your 2020 increment on time in April. This is seriously bad news. Napo, UNISON and GMB/SCOOP were made aware of this potential problem earlier this year. We tried to head it off by:
- Lobbying Sonia Flynn, Chief Probation Officer NPS, and Amy Rees, Director General for Probation HMPPS
- Meeting with the Prisons and Probation Minister Lucy Frazer on 4 February after writing to her to raise our grave concerns over the possible delay in your pay
- Drafting our 2020 pay claim to emphasize the need for NPS to pay the 2020 pay increment on time Despite these efforts, it is extremely worrying that the NPS has failed to get the necessary sign off from the Treasury to pay you your increment on time this year.
WHY THE NPS SHOULD PAY UP ON TIME
There are a number of compelling reasons why the NPS should pay your increment on time:
1. When members voted to accept the 2018 two year pay modernisation offer, there was a commitment in the offer from the NPS to pay the 2020 increment on time. The offer set out:
‘On 1 April 2020 eligible NPS staff below the maximum that have met the required timeframes to progress will … progress by one pay point in their revised pay band with no link to the CBPPF (competency based framework)’
2. The NPS told the unions that it had costed the increments going forward from the end of the two year pay deal, and that these were factored into their discussions with the Treasury.
3. The recently published HMIP report into its ‘Inspection of NPS Central Functions’ (January 2020) paints a sorry picture of the impact of Transforming Rehabilitation on the NPS workforce. The criticisms of the Inspectorate reflect very badly on the way in which the NPS has been managed over the last 5 years. The last thing that the NPS needed was to fail to pay staff their increments on time.
TIME FOR INVESTMENT IN THE NPS WORKFORCE
You come to work for the NPS every day. You deliver your best in the most trying circumstances possible. You and your colleagues are not to blame for the state in which the NPS now finds itself.
The unions have made direct representations to the Director General for Probation and to the Prisons and Probation Minister that the action plan set out for NPS in the recent HMIP report will require serious and sustained funding over the course of the next Comprehensive Spending Review.
The unions have emphasized that this funding must include significant investment in the NPS workforce and its pay and conditions. Instead we have a situation which feels like NPS employees are continuing to pay the cost of the failure of Transforming Rehabilitation.
The unions have made it clear to the NPS and to HMPPS that the target operating model for the new ‘Unified Probation Model’, following the transfer of CRC staff into the NPS next year, will not succeed unless there is proper investment in the workforce. This means better pay, as well as more staff, lower workloads and office refurbishment.
With today’s announcement, the NPS has made the worst possible start to this. The unions will continue to press for NPS to step up to its responsibilities. Our members deserve better!
Next steps
As members would expect we have already made high level representations and are demanding an early opportunity to discuss the situation. We absolutely understand that this news will cause anger and frustration among members, and the unions will keep you up to date with more news as and when it becomes available.
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"No real discussion or meaningful advice from the CRCs, the NPS, or the ministry - should we suspend groups? Office appointments? Any and all face to face contact? Enforcement? After all are we really going to breach or recall people for following government advice?... No doubt there will be no clear guidance any time soon so I guess it's going to be up to us. I wonder who'll be first to say 'fuck this - they may not care about any of our safety but I do' and lead the first walk out?"A casual glance at the 'secret' Facebook group, especially over the last few hours, confirms there is widespread concern and alarm over the lack of any firm direction from NPS or MoJ regarding safety of those staff still engaged in direct contact with clients. Groupwork and UPW has not been cancelled, there appears to be a widespread absence of hand sanitising products and staff with serious underlying health conditions are getting desperate for guidance. Those working within the prison estate apparently have no access to laptops so home working does not look possible. The silence from management, and to be frank Napo, is beginning to cause serious unrest in the ranks.
Danny Shaw BBC website:-
ReplyDeleteThe government is planning to extend a scheme which allows some prisoners to be freed early to ease pressures in jails across England and Wales. Under the programme, certain inmates jailed for less than four years can be let out before the halfway point of their sentence. They are made to wear an electronic tag and abide by a curfew.
Ministers want to increase the maximum period for which they can be released from four-and-a-half to six months. An official estimate, carried out last year, said it would lead to a "spike" of about 600 in the number of prisoners who are freed early. Last Friday, 2,718 prisoners were on the scheme, which is known as home detention curfew (HDC).
The timing of the announcement is likely to fuel speculation that it is linked to fears of a possible outbreak of coronavirus in prisons, but sources insisted the two were not connected and it was instead related to wider capacity concerns.
The prison population stands at 83,917, which is 1,431 more than 12 months ago, and is expected to increase further due to sentencing changes and the recruitment of 20,000 extra police officers. The HDC changes were presented to MPs on Monday and will require parliamentary approval.
They were first put forward in July 2019 when David Gauke was justice secretary but were dropped as Boris Johnson prepared to take over as prime minister. A Ministry of Justice "impact assessment", published last July and signed by Robert Buckland, who was prisons minister before succeeding Mr Gauke, said the aim was to better manage the release of prisoners and prepare them for supervision in the community.
The document said changes to the scheme would also "reduce the prison population by allowing suitable offenders to be managed in the community rather than in custody for up to six weeks (45 days) longer". It said: "This will contribute to improving prison conditions and enable prisoners to feel safer, calmer and readier to engage in their rehabilitation. A reduction in prison population may also contribute to making them safer places for staff and other offenders."
The planned changes to the HDC scheme will not affect the category of prisoner who is eligible for early release. HDC does not apply to offenders serving four or more years in jail or less than 12 weeks, those liable to deportation and registered sex offenders. A number of other prisoners are also considered unsuitable including people convicted of terror-related offences and cruelty to children.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said the government had been clear serious offenders should stay in prison for longer and public protection was its "top priority".
However, the spokesperson added: "Any effective justice system must also rehabilitate whenever possible and Home Detention Curfew allows carefully assessed offenders, who committed less serious crimes, to begin their reintegration back into the community. They remain subject to strict conditions, including electronic tags, and can be returned to custody if they fail to comply with any of these."
I think it's possibly true then that they're looking at running out of capacity by the end of this year.
DeleteBut it won't be because of Government policy, like everything else for the foreseeable future, it will all be the fault of Coronavirus.
'Getafix
There's been a call today by lawyers to stop all jury trials whilst Coronavirus remains a threat. Such a move would be bound to heavely impact on the prison population.
DeleteThere's also a few other issues being raised by the lawyers surrounding Government advice and the way they're expected to work seems contradictory.
Reading about it I stumbled on the following article that raises some interesting questions, and perhaps they're questions already in the mind of some public service employees?
https://www.google.com/amp/s/ukhumanrightsblog.com/2020/03/16/law-in-the-time-of-covid/amp/
'Getafix
Quote from Human Rights Blog:-
DeleteQuarantine measures are not the only legal sphere in which the impact of Covid-19 is being felt. The Guardian reported that cleaners at a hospital in Lewisham walked out over pay, however tensions were heightened because of the risk posed by the disease. Employers have a responsibility to protect employees under health and safety legislation from dangers in respect of the work they do, yet personal protective equipment in hospitals is in short supply. The outbreak raises the question of what steps are reasonable for employers to take to protect their workers. S 100(1)(d) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 establishes that where an employee is dismissed for leaving work or refusing to return in circumstances where the employee reasonably believed there to be a serious and imminent danger, it will constitute unfair dismissal. Will a doctor, or a nurse, be in breach of their contract if they refuse to work? Is a higher standard expected of those individuals than say, a hospital cleaner, or a waiter in a restaurant?
It may be that ultimately, whilst employment law confers protection on such individuals, their own professional regulators do not. It is not hard to imagine the General Medical or Nursing and Midwifery Councils holding their members to a higher standard than that required by their employment contracts, and deeming those who have fallen below it to have brought the profession into disrepute. Many members of the public might consider such an approach to be quite reasonable. Yet could such an analysis extend to other professions with similar regulators? Would a teacher who felt keeping schools open in an epidemic was unreasonable and refused to teach be subject to disciplinary proceedings? Or a lawyer who refused to attend a public hearing?
In particular, the impact on criminal justice may be significant. Israel has already suspended criminal trials, which is presumably convenient given the Prime Minister was due to attend one tomorrow on charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery. Similarly, the Australian state of Victoria has suspended all jury trials due to the risk of transmission during the process of empanelling jurors. Should the virus begin to spread in British jails, the head of the Prison Officer’s Association has stated that prisoners may need to be released early.
How the UK’s already stretched criminal justice system will accommodate this in the context of widespread anticipated absences due to illness amongst court staff, judges and lawyers remains to be seen. If trials are delayed, concerns must exist around custody time limits and prolonged periods of detention without charge. Similarly, how can an individual’s right to justice delivered at a public hearing under the ECHR be maintained at a time when the rest of society is taking measures to prevent the movement and mixing of individuals?
As with speculation concerning the public health response, a lot of this is conjecture. The outbreak may worsen, or it may settle down. What seems likely however is that the next few months will bring numerous challenges, and the fleet footed responses required will likely require a radical departure from previous norms.
"As members would expect we have already made high level representations and are demanding an early opportunity to discuss the situation." - That'll teach 'em!
ReplyDeleteWhy does the probation pay award system not come under the scrutiny of the OME?
"The Office of Manpower Economics provides an independent secretariat to eight Pay Review Bodies; Prison Service pay review body (PSPRB), NHS Pay Review Body(NHSPRB), Doctors’ & Dentists ‘remuneration body (DDRB), Senior Salaries review body (SSRB), School Teachers review body (STRB), Police Remuneration Review Body(PRRB), National Crime Agency Remuneration Review Body (NCAPRB) and the Armed Forces Pay Review Body (AFPRB)"
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/819442/PSPRB_Annual_Report_2019_Accessible__1_.pdf
DeleteIt places the probation pay negotiations in context, i.e. probation gets what its given - or not, as the case may be.
Appendix I:
Appendix I: Summary of PSPRB recommendations from 2012 to 2017
• 2017 – a consolidated flat cash award of £400 to all uniformed grades (both those on Fair and Sustainable and closed grades) and an increase of one per cent to the maxima of the Fair and SustainableNational Bands 7 to 11.
• 2016 – an increase of one per cent to the maxima of the Fair and Sustainable National bands and provided non-consolidated awards of £300 for Prison Officers and support staff, £325 for Senior Officers and £350 for Principal Officers.
• 2015 – an increase of 1.8% to the maxima of the Fair and Sustainable National bands but no recommended pay awards for those on closed grades. The Government then provided non-consolidated retention bonus payments (£300 for Prison Officers and support staff, £325 for Senior Officers and £350 for Principal Officers) shortly after the publication of our 2015 report.
• 2014 – a one per cent consolidated pay increase for all officers and support staff on all pay structures and changed some Fair and Sustainable National Band 7 to 11 pay structures to provide two per cent to staff who opted in.
• 2013 – the remaining Fair and Sustainable pay bands were formally introduced with our recommendations that pay maxima be adjusted so that it was possible for staff in some National bands to receive a pay award of one per cent or more when “opting in” to Fair and Sustainable (this did not cover Prison Officers or Senior Officers). We recommended that closed grade Prison Officers at the top of the pay scale and Senior Officers be awarded a non-consolidated payment of £250.
• 2012 – Fair and Sustainable pay Bands 2 and 3 were introduced, and a public sector pay freeze was applied for the second year to all staff earning more than £21,000
"Top of the morning " to you all in solidarity to my Irish connections and to all in this difficult and dreadful social chapter wherever it leads us.
ReplyDeleteOn national politics the Tory scum have played games and roulette with lives all the while they closed hospitals cuts resources and underpaid all public worker. They collaborated with the liberal democrats the Nouveau Scum and led by a donkey a woman who's immaturity makes a baby look old. Clamouring for limelight and a premiership she could not have understood the responsibilities with the benefit of rest of her life experience the role.
In relation to the NPS pay whats the issue here your well used to the Napo and other unions getting their celebratory agreements that have no secure guarantees. Look at the rubbish staff transfer protections that doid nothing is claimed. Increment of a few quid wont help you while we are all sat indoors facing lock downs and wondering who is going to expire next because the Tories shrunk the NHS with the liberals over a 10 year period to a point where the Tory policy of keeping Britain open longer no doubt will cost more lives who ever voted for Johnson.
attacking the Napo "leader" is a waste of time he is said to be on this blog essentially an ego driven self styled hard nut. He is in fact neither competent or intelligent. he is aggressively self indulged arrogant and above all spineless. Reportedly crying to secure his appointment at interview. These manipulations of others if they are to be true indicate a narcissist personality unable to get anything right for members which suits the MOJ. There is no one in NAPO who has the required strength of their positions to hold the executive to account.
If you think the Tories give a flying f*** about anyone read on.....
Deletehttps://www.google.com/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/coronavirus-uk-tory-mp-pauline-latham-statutory-sick-pay-twitter-a9405961.html%3famp
A Conservative MP has apologised after she told a constituent worried about the low level of statutory sick pay available during the coronavirus outbreak to “get a life”.
DeletePauline Latham, the Tory MP for Mid Derbyshire, was accused of “disgraceful” behaviour for making the remark at a time many people fear they may not have enough money to get through the crisis.
Ms Latham was asked on Twitter whether the current level of statutory sick pay of £94 a week was enough to live on – prompting the short and disparaging reply.
The Tory MP told The Independent she only meant to reject perceived criticism from a “keyboard warrior”, rather enter into a discussion about welfare provision. “[The reply] was not about benefits, but to a keyboard warrior who is with many others always negative about everything,” she said.
Ms Lathan later apologised on Twitter: “I must apologise for the Tweet to a constituent ... At the time, I was in Spain in a state of distress having just visited my brother who is suffering from acute dementia. Very sadly, we could not bring him home to the UK because of coronavirus.”
FROM SQWAKBOX
DeleteBoris Johnson has appalled even hard-bitten corporate CEOs with his appalling buffoonery, in a demonstration of his utter lack of concern for or connection with the suffering his failure to plan and failure to follow WHO guidelines have helped unless on the UK's people.
Johnson quipped during a conference call with engineering manufacturers about an emergency project to build ventilators - taking place only now because he and his cronies did not think to plan ahead for the inevitable requirement when the virus first hit - that the project could be called:
Operation Last Gasp.
The appalling comment was reported by Politico
and when asked about it in his presidential press conference today he ignored the question completely.
DeleteIs it Cummings who operates him via the bluetooth earpiece?
Is Chris Witty the medical alter-ego of Chris Grayling?
ReplyDeleteProbation unions in England and Wales have demanded talks with the National Probation Service (NPS) today, after it confirmed that it will not be able to pay its staff their expected 2020 increment in April.
ReplyDeleteUNISON national officer Ben Priestley said: “The failure of the NPS to pay its staff their 2020 increments on time in April sends all the wrong messages to members.
“Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of probation told the service it has got to raise its game on staffing matters, so this is a setback which it could ill-afford.
“UNISON will work with the NPS on the improvement programme which everyone agrees needs to be put in place, but paying staff correctly and on time is pretty basic stuff. Our members deserve better.”
The joint unions – UNISON, Napo, and GMB/SCOOP – were made aware of the possibility of this happening earlier this year.
In 2018, members voted to accept a two-year pay modernisation offer that specifically included a commitment to pay the increment on time.
The unions lobbied chief probation officer Sonia Flynn and prison and director general of probation Amy Rees in a bid to head off any failure to pay the staff their increments.
They also met prisons and probation minister Lucy Frazer last month, and drafted the 2020-2021 pay claim to emphasise the need for the service to pay the increment on time.
Despite all this, the NPS has failed to get the necessary sign-off from the Treasury to pay the increment on time.
The unions are considering the next steps to take and will keep members up to date on developments.
Is it me or do unison have a better engaged style and manner?
DeleteA prison officer has tested positive for coronavirus, the Ministry of Justice has said.
ReplyDeleteThe male officer from High Down Prison, Surrey, is believed to be the first person in any UK prison to be confirmed as being infected with the virus. He tested positive on Saturday and is now at home recuperating. Four prisoners who were in close contact with the prison officer have been placed in isolation, as a precaution.
Earlier, the government published new guidance saying prisoners and immigration detainees across England and Wales who are infected with coronavirus could be grouped together to reduce the risk to others.
The Ministry of Justice said the strategy, which is known as "cohorting", would be used if there were not enough cells for inmates with the virus to be held separately. The measures will also apply to children held in secure children's homes and secure training centres, a government spokesman said.
High Down is a local category B prison located in Banstead.
internet connections are going to become slower as large numbers of people stay at &/or work from home
ReplyDeleteGrievances should be submitted on 1st May if the pay increase has not been processed. This is Unlawful Withholding of Wages. The grievance process is required in order to progress the matter through to Employment Tribunal.
ReplyDeleteIt can also be processed through the county court.
I will be taking this form of action as the unions will once again roll over. This has happened too many times about time we start to fight back and let them know enough is enough
Get real a national health crisis and your chasing a few pounds hardly a case with merit. It will get resolved in time and look forwards to national monies being deployed to the nations health. Probation do attract the worst and most selfish minded.
DeleteFor those of us who have never reached the top of the pay scale after almost 20 years of service, this news is yet another slap in the face. I suspect if we're asked to work overtime to keep the wheels of justice turning during this crisis, I doubt there'll be many willing volunteers from the longer serving officers. Possibly some young guns who are trying to climb the greasy pole might think otherwise as they try to impress their managers.
DeleteThe service has sucked the life out of me and many of my colleagues and as has been said before the well of goodwill has finally run dry. It's just a job,and right now we need to think about our safety and our families.
Country in a mess Tories greed in power the wrong government the wrong time. They only care for their elite rich and election. Sadly Tories destroyed the public sector and now they need us . They will need to learn what socialism means . This country needs a sea change in attitude and you need that too by the read .
DeleteWhats hmps saying about home working for those with underlying health problems? Telephone contact being introduced and accepted for supervision etc. Whats the plan?
ReplyDelete18.55 the politicians have received their salary increase, as usual. We are entitled to receive ours. It's not a few pounds either!! They have robbed the WASPI women of their pensions we all have to work longer. You 'get real'
ReplyDeleteIts nothing in contrast to what we are all facing what are the extra few pounds going to do comfort your pillow. In real terms most people voted for the Tories and despite the first past the post system their back pedalling a new boris free the nation broadband fibre crap while lying about the heath service and here we are Austerity is over 350 billion in the pool to spend on people to save an economy when it should all be spent on saving lives. Your commentary reflects your values. ME ME ME what about ME .
Delete