Probation Programme developments
Last week’s news that the Justice Minister had ordered the suspension of the proposed Probation Provider bid process until further notice, has obviously caused a number of questions to be raised with us by members. We met today with Probation Programme leads and understand that a further update on the PDP competition and the wider reform programme can be expected this month.
The pause of the PDP competition provides the unions with another opportunity to again set out our case to the Prisons and Probation Minister Lucy Frazer, that Interventions and Programme work should follow the transfer of Sentence Management functions into the NPS which is still scheduled to take place in June next year. Meanwhile, we want to reassure members that negotiations with HMPPS continue on a new Framework Agreement to underpin the move of staff to new arrangements. It is hoped that these will conclude some time over the summer. We await further developments and will be in touch again with members as soon as possible.
News from the CRCs
MTC
Early engagement has taken place with senior MTC management on their plans for recovering unpaid work services in the first instance and wider operations involving a gradual increase in face to face supervision.
Following an extremely productive first meeting the trade unions were very concerned this week at the apparent gap in communications that have emerged since then, in terms of the Company racing ahead to try and get UPW projects underway despite advice to the contrary from their contracting authority HMPPS.
Napo have made our disappointment very clear and we await sight of the plans and, alongside our sister unions, are insisting that a thorough and transparent risk process must be conducted on each and every plan.
It is clear that a number of MTC leads are doing their best to ensure that trade unions are properly consulted and nobody doubts the veracity of that commitment. Unfortunately, the company has some way to go to in demonstrating a sufficiently joined up approach in this respect and we hope to reach a better level of understanding going forward.
SEETEC Kent Surrey Sussex CRC
In marked contrast, SEETEC KSS CRC have worked extremely hard to ensure that managers and unions are fully sighted on their emerging plans for recovery. This has led to some constructive early engagement across both arms of the expanded KSSCRC which also covers Wales and the South West regions.
Detailed talks will follow on their emerging recovery plans and this represents further evidence of the huge improvement in industrial relations that has been jointly achieved since SEETEC KSS CRC took over the contract held by the failed Working Links CRC.
Sodexo
Sodexo has confirmed to Napo that they will not be operating UPW without first consulting the unions and having in place a fully formed plan that maintains staff health and wellbeing and the safety of Service users and Beneficiaries. Moreover, they have given a commitment that as the organisation moves to develop a whole business recovery plan it will involve national Trade Union representative and consultation with local reps at an early stage.
RRP
We have had initial discussion about UPW and its restart. We are due another meeting on 4th June to look into it in more detail. They have committed to engaging with the unions although their track record of doing so has been hit and miss.
WWM
The CEO has committed to fully engage with TUs in both risk assessing workplaces and UPW. There huge issues in the area of clients making their own way to site due to a lack of public transport to many of the placements. However, due to the rurality the CRC also has access to large open spaces for placements. They are in the process of risk assessing workplaces to enable staff to go into the office to begin the process of collating staff and clients that are able to attend UPW.
Interserve
We have had some preliminary discussions around Interserve’s recovery programme – but these discussions begin in earnest at a Covid19 Interserve JNCC which takes place tomorrow (03 06 20). Early day discussions around the Interserve recovery period have centred around UPW (where there is a push coming from HMPPS level to get this service going before other areas of CRC work).
We haven’t as yet had any discussion at national level with Interserve as regards generic Covid19 risk assessments. But it is anticipated that these talks will begin very soon.
Once these generic risk assessments are agreed, they will then be adapted as necessary for each individual workplace. Napo safety reps have a legal right to be involved in this process and this is recognised by Interserve. The role of the Napo rep is important as each workplace is different and local knowledge is essential in relation to enabling a ‘Covid secure’ workplace.
In connection with this, Napo Interserve reps took part in a Napo Covid19 health and safety seminar last week and are therefore up to speed with relevant health and safety legislation and employment law in relation to Covid19 - and they will be given help and assistance where necessary from national level.
Napo are unique amongst the Interserve probation unions in having local reps in each of the Interserve CRCs. But there are many workplaces in each CRC and it is going to be very difficult for the reps to be able to cover them all. Therefore, the Napo Interserve reps will need your help and assistance with this. In relation to this please look out for Napo comms in the very near future as regards recruitment of Napo Covid Contacts - people to be our eyes and ears re Covid related issues in each workplace.
On a slightly different note ….there have been difficulties throughout this crisis period of decisions relating to some issues connected with the Covid19 crisis (for example in relation to parental leave and carry-over of annual leave) being taken ‘higher up’ in Interserve– which we are then being told can’t be changed when they reach us at JNCC level. This detracts from our right to consultation as a recognised trade union - and in relation to health and safety related may be a breach of our legal right to consultation. We have raised problems around this many times - and will continue to do so.
Napo HQ
Despite the evidence that recent 'reforms' to probation have been disastrous, the new proposals for change are still referred to as 'reforms'. It's a corruption of language to always describe these things as reforms - 'reform' is usually understood as 'something for the better' and it's the first euphemism that governments reach for when imposing policies that lack consensus. I think more efforts should be made not to parrot government lines and instead of 'reform' it's more accurate and honest to be challenging this terminology at every turn, or at least sticking it in inverted commas when we use it. Reforms can be good, bad, or ugly - and this needs pointing out all the time.
ReplyDeleteIt is nafo and the leadership never appears to understand his role is to protect members terms. Always facilitator never the negotiator.
DeleteInterserve have won a lot of Covid19 related Government contracts recently, from building and equipping hospital wards to Covid19 testing. They've also created 100 mental health 'first aiders' to support their construction worker with issues that may be created by the virus.
ReplyDeleteIn receipt of so much public money that relates to Covid19, I would have thought they would already have blueprints for safe working practices and structures in place for all areas of their workforce?
As an aside, and incase it was missed, Interserve suffered a huge security breach a few weeks ago with a huge amount of employees personal data and records compromised.
https://www.twinfm.com/article/interserve-the-latest
'Getafix
It was reported that in mid-May that Interserve was involved in a cyber attack, involving the theft of information on current and former Interserve employees.
DeleteAccording to The Telegraph, the data breach occurred when hackers broke into a human resources database owned by Interserve on 9 May 2020. The information stolen in the breach could have included sensitive data such as employee names, addresses, bank details, payroll information, next of kin details, HR records, dates of absences and pension information.
This follows news that finalising the administration of Interserve is to be delayed due to the global pandemic.
On 15 March 2019, Robert Hunter Kelly and Alan Michael Hudson were appointed as Joint Administrators of Interserve PLC, a result of a decision by Interserve’s Board of Directors, following the shareholders vote against the Deleveraging Plan. The Deleveraging Plan would have provided the Interserve Group with the required liquidity and headroom to continue to trade. Without additional liquidity, Interserve PLC was in default of its banking facilities and could not pay its debts as and when they fell due. Immediately following their appointment, the Joint Administrators completed a sale of the business and substantially all of the assets of Interserve PLC to a specially formed company, Montana 1 Limited, which will trade as Interserve Group Limited. A two-year extension has been granted to the administrators until March 2022.
Interserve is one of the UK's biggest government contractors providing a range of services including construction, security, cleaning and catering. The outsourcing company was also recently involved in building Birmingham’s Nightingale Hospital, one of seven Nightingale Hospitals in the UK set up by NHS England as part of the coronavirus response.
Interserve Construction has also announced today that they have delivered a new ward at Royal Preston Hospital, giving extra capacity to treat COVID-19 patients during the pandemic.
Some relevence with today's blog perhaps?
ReplyDeletehttps://amp.theguardian.com/society/2020/jun/04/ministers-considering-renationalising-england-and-wales-probation-service
'Getafix
Ministers are considering renationalising the entire probation service in England and Wales, the Guardian understands, in the latest twist in a long-running saga to unwind Chris Grayling’s disastrous changes to the sector.
ReplyDeleteUnder Grayling’s widely derided shake-up in 2014, the probation sector was separated into a public sector organisation managing high-risk criminals and 21 private companies responsible for the supervision of 150,000 low- to medium-risk offenders.
Last year the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) announced that all offender management would be brought under the state-run National Probation Service (NPS), while contracts for rehabilitation services such as the provision of unpaid work and accredited programmes were to be offered up to the private and voluntary sector. But the Guardian can reveal that the government suspended the competition for contracts last week and after an internal MoJ review it is considering renationalising probation services in their entirety.
Stakeholders have expressed a belief that this signals the end of the private sector involvement in probation that was spearheaded by Grayling when he was justice secretary.
The current justice secretary, Robert Buckland, is understood to have cancelled calls to stakeholders on Wednesday to appraise them of the situation.
An MoJ spokesperson said: “Reforming probation to improve public protection and reduce reoffending remains one of our top priorities and we are assessing whether any changes to our current plans are required in light of the coronavirus pandemic. No decisions have been made.”
Layla Moran, the Liberal Democrat MP who recently reaffirmed her bid to become party leader, said: “The privatisation of probation has been a total and utter disaster. This whole mess has been a massive waste of public money, disastrous for the public and not working well enough for those stuck in the cycle of reoffending. I want us to now invest in rehabilitative services, both in prison and in the community, to enable people who have committed crimes to turn their lives around.”
Grayling ignored significant warnings from within his department to push through his so-called transforming rehabilitation reforms in 2014. MPs on the public accounts committee said the changes were rushed through at breakneck speed, taking “unacceptable risks” with taxpayers’ money. The justice committee described the overhaul as a “mess” and warned it might never work.
In 2017 the then chief inspector of probation, Dame Glenys Stacey, revealed that the Grayling shake-up had led to tens of thousands of offenders – up to 40% of the total – being supervised by phone calls every six weeks instead of face-to-face meetings.
I wish they'd be clear about re nationalising for staff. Yes it's is but it is not going back to the much better system of trusts before. We are under a horrendous shared services provision if you can call it a provision and hierarchical styles of management are encouraged. There is no human element to what we do now as we are treated as Robots in the NPS. Are there any assurances mixed caseloads will return. THe awful situation of NPS POs only dealing with high risk cases is horrendously stressful and CRC staff transferred back if they structure their retaining all else no change for NPS officers. It does not make sense but who knows with the 'leadership' and who will be expected to train staff back into a role where much has changed. I say this as the assumption always seems that NPS is like it was in probation and that is simply not the case, we too have been shafted.
ReplyDeleteJim could we have a blog another day on staff experiences of redeployment. The issues of going into different roles and the IT frustrations experienced?
ReplyDeleteAnon 15:28 Could I suggest you might like to consider writing a guest blog on the subject so as to flush out some experiences from others? Contact details on the profile page. Cheers.
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