It’s shocking to read that Ministers are planning to “name and shame” people completing community sentences. What utter nonsense from the Ministry of Justice, dressing it up as a way to “build confidence in community sentences.”
We’ve seen this before. Just as with Transforming Rehabilitation, the next step will be to shift control of Unpaid Work to Serco or a shoddy equivalent. Privatisation by stealth. Probation Officers may well have upon themselves forced a “legal power to take and publish the names and photographs” of those on Unpaid Work, but let’s be real: that duty will land in the hands of Serco “responsible officers” who will lap it up quicker than you can say “Chris Grayling”.
Serco will turn “name and shame” into part of the induction ritual. Refuse the photo, refuse the boots, refuse the high-vis vest, and the poor soul will be breached and dragged back to court.
And under Starmer’s Labour, do we really think Serco will stop there? Name and shame those electronically tagged, control of National ID cards and management of Trump’s border control ideas will likely be next.
Back in December 2013, the late Professor Paul Senior warned in his BJCJ TR special edition editorial, Probation: Peering Through the Uncertainty. They didn’t listen then and they won’t listen now. This time there’s no uncertainty at all. We know exactly how this ends: probation reduced to dust. Just look at the figures Prof Senior once brought together, many names we recognise if you’ve studied or worked in probation long enough; Steven Calder, Anthony Goodman, Jane Dominey, Wendy Fitzgibbon, Theo Gavrielides, Mike Guilfoyle, Carol Hedderman, Jamal Hylton, Fergus McNeill, Anne Robinson, Russell Webster, Kevin Wong. Where are their voices now? Where’s our champion?
As was written a few posts ago in the letter to Mr Jones, HM Chief Inspector of Probation: nobody speaks up for probation any more, not managers, not the unions, and certainly not the Chief Probation-Puppet. Martin Jones’s “I am very concerned” is a damp squib. And Napo’s Ian Lawrence claiming this “seems to only serve as a form of humiliation” misses the point entirely. Humiliation is exactly the government’s intention.
Anon (Probation Officer)
--oo00oo--
Postscript
Seeing as the author mentions Paul Senior's editorial from this TR special from way back, I thought it worthwhile quoting from his conclusion. Oh how we miss such wisdom:-
Concluding thoughts
Reading through these contributions and also adding the passion and sheer exasperation
which emerges from the Letters to Grayling it is tempting, if not impossible, not to
conclude that the TR changes are simply wrong-headed and do not appreciate the
complex web of reciprocity that probation functions within. It is often stated in debates
that probation is little understood and there is little doubt in a sound-bite world probation
is not a sound-bite organisation. But what these papers suggest is that this is as it should
be. Probation deals with complex, difficult and intangible problems in a quietly
authoritative, caring and committed way. Moreover even in the language of government it
works. Probation on the Justice Ministry's own figures reduces re-offending and moreover
offers service users real opportunities to reintegrate into society. Rather than throw this
away in the rush to appeal to an ideological dogma hardly demonstrably successful in any
other field of welfare reform surely now is the time to stop and think again. These
contributions suggest that is self-evidently the case. We invite the government and the
Ministers to take note.
Prof Paul Senior
Humiliation aside, this is a very dangerous policy. I hope the designers of the policy read the following article.
ReplyDeleteWhen it's easy to determine who will be there and when they will be there it brings risk and danger to everyone in the vicinity.
Publicly announcing such details is just idiotic!
https://www-liverpoolecho-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/shooting-at-city-office-3510130.amp?amp_gsa=1&_js_v=a9&usqp=mq331AQIUAKwASCAAgM%3D#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17589692322965&csi=1&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.liverpoolecho.co.uk%2Fnews%2Fliverpool-news%2Fshooting-at-city-office-3510130
'Getafix
Shooting at city office
DeleteA TEENAGER was shot when a masked gunman burst into a Liverpool probation centre.
Staff and visitors dived for cover as the attack began in the office in Falkner Street, Toxteth. The 19-year-old victim, from Litherland, was taken to the Royal hospital with leg wounds.
Other members of the public, including an elderly blood-soaked woman, were treated for shock.
The centre was sealed off and workers sent home early as specialist officers arrived to carry out forensic tests.
Today staff criticised the lack of security at the centre. One worker, a mother of two from Liverpool, said the centre had no security guards or metal detectors, despite being used every day by convicted criminals.
The woman, who asked not to be named for fear of losing her job, was standing in reception when the gunman ran in at 2.50pm yesterday.
“I saw this man push past one of my colleagues and sprint into reception. “I froze when I saw he had a gun and then he just started firing randomly. It was like something from a film. “I saw the young lad who was hit go down and he started losing a lot of blood. The gunman ran away as fast as he came.
“There was lots of screaming and I couldn’t stop shaking. People were crowded around the lad who was shot. Police and ambulance turned up very quickly.
“Some of the women in the office were just sobbing uncontrollably and the old lady sat next to the lad had his blood all over her. The poor woman couldn’t speak, she was in such shock. Someone got tissues and helped clean her but she just sat there.
“Most of the people who work here have got children. I think we deserve to do our jobs without fear of getting shot. “It was a warning sign. Next time people could be killed.”
First Preston, now Manchester; where next?
DeleteWe’ll all now receive another instruction to complete eLearning on managing violence and aggression!
Because that’ll really help when we focus so much discipline and punishment that probation offices stoop further in being a warzone of hostility rather than a place of rehabilitation and safety.
We can thank our leaders for that.
what date was this incident please?
DeleteI think that one was a very long time ago. So not current, thank goodness
DeleteOh good lord! That'll teach me to check dates - 2007! Sorry about that.
DeleteIt is a long time ago Jim, I accept. More recently however (2016) someone was executed right outside the AP he was staying in because the people that killed him discovered where he was living and were aware of the APs curfew time.
DeleteIt's entirely possible that both may have met the same fate at their own address or at a pub they may have frequented or anywhere else. However, they both happened at probation premises, and they both happened because the perpetrators knew who and when they would be there.
As pointed out in a comment below, what happens to a female doing her unpaid work in a charity shop? Does naming and shaming in that instance risk alerting her abusive ex partner to her possible whereabouts, or just the drug dealer that she may owe money too?
The things that people do can put them at grave personal risk. However, I find it abhorrent that the State can increase that personal risk without concern for the possible consequences in an attempt to gain public favour.
As for the concept of public humiliation in itself, well that belongs to the middle ages, along with the stocks and when we all knew the word was flat.
'Getafix
Thanks for that further info and analysis 'Getafix.
DeleteConcerning when you think of all that vetting information that’s provided.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c07vxv8v89lo
Hackers holding pictures and private data of thousands of nursery children and their families to ransom say they will publish more information online unless they are paid.
DeleteCriminals calling themselves Radiant hacked the Kido nursery chain and posted profiles of 10 children online on Thursday and a further 10 on Friday.
They have also published the private data of dozens of employees including names, addresses, national insurance numbers and contact details.
Kido has not responded to the BBC's requests for comment. But it is working with the authorities and the Met Police is investigating.
Speaking on BBC News the former head of the National Cyber Security Centre, Ciaran Martin, described the criminals' actions as "absolutely horrible".
But he also urged calm.
"The hackers are trying to stoke up fear and the risk of physical harm to children is extremely low," he said.
Kido told parents the breach happened when criminals accessed their data hosted by a software service called Famly.
The software is widely used by other nurseries and childcare organisations, and it says on its website it is used by more than one million "owners, managers, practitioners and families".
"This malicious attack represents a truly barbaric new low, with bad actors trying to expose our youngest children's data to make a quick buck," Famly boss Anders Laustsen told the BBC.
"We have conducted a thorough investigation of the incident and can confirm that there has been no breach of Famly's security or infrastructure in any way and no other customers have been affected.
"We of course take data security and privacy extremely seriously."
The criminals' site contains a gallery of 20 children with their nursery pictures, date of births, birthplace and details - such as who they live with and contact details.
Parents have contacted the BBC concerned about the hack, with one mother receiving a threatening phone call from the criminals.
The woman, who did not want to be named, says she received a phone call from the hackers who said they would post her child's information online unless she put pressure on Kido to pay a ransom.
The mother described the call as "threatening".
Another parent, Stephen Gilbert, told the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 that someone in his parent's WhatsApp group also received a call.
"The revelation the children's details could have been put on the dark web, that's very concerning and alarming for me."
'We do it for money'
Cyber criminals have been known to make calls to victim organisations to put pressure on them to pay ransoms.
But to call individual victims is extremely rare.
In conversations through the messaging app Signal the fluent English-speaking criminals told the BBC English is not their first language and claimed they hired people to make the calls.
It's a sign of the callousness of the criminals but also a sign of desperation as it appears Kido is not complying.
Police advice is to never pay hacker ransoms as it encourages the criminal ecosystem.
The hackers first contacted the BBC about their breach on Monday.
After they published the first batch of children's' data online the BBC asked if they feel guilty about their distressing actions and the criminals said: "We do it for money, not for anything other than money."
"I'm aware we are criminals," they said.
"This isn't my first time and will not be my last time."
But they also said they would not be targeting pre-schools again as the attention has been too great.
They have since deleted their Signal account and can no longer be contacted.
Shifting supervision of unpaid work to minimum wage employees of Serco et al sounds all too plausible to me. Your jobs are going and you seem unable to see this. good luck.
ReplyDeletesox
I have written the same a dozen times positive thinking it's about them. It's not needing POS at all is what they don't get. There is no professional indent and everyone else is delivering the role in different parts. The unions need a real strategic role but are inept.
DeleteWhile we're time travelling, here's a story from back in 2019; can't say I remember it at the time:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/article/1744521/probation-officer-accused-aggressively-abusive-relationship-offender-wins-60000-unfair-dismissal
"Following the tribunal, Cheshire & Greater Manchester Community Rehabilitation Company was ordered to make a basic award of £12,225, a compensatory award of £39,927 and compensation for wrongful dismissal in the sum of £5,335."
This is what crc's did to those they didn't want around post-TR, aka the "we'll find a way to manage you out" threat was real for some.
Purple Futures/Interserve... hmm, wonder what the current Chief Probation Officer knows?
"She has held senior operational positions, including Head of Operations in Greater Manchester CRC... Kim was the Managing Director of Interserve Justice, a private sector provider delivering a range of government contracts for Community Rehabilitation Companies"
So I’d like to know the identity of the individual who thought that this was a half decent idea……the sentence of UPW IS the punishment,so now to humiliate the first time offender possibly a female working in a charity shop beggars belief how someone could possibly think this was a good idea. The problem is those who have never been within a mile of working with offenders are now telling staff that they know best………correctional agency in the making anyone!
ReplyDeleteRead it & weep
DeleteAnonymous26 September 2025 at 10:06
Now it makes sense:
https://justiceinnovation.org/sites/default/files/media/document/2022/20220608_the_future_of_unpaid_work_vfinal.pdf
Its Nigel Bennett... apparently he used to work for Number Ten, doncha know!
That makes sense, now currently employed by his wife in the North West isn’t he?.
DeleteLet's hope its limited to the school run, dishwashing, laundry, ironing & weekly shop - anything but letting him near probation policy would be good.
DeleteHaving said that, its believed Mrs Bennett's faculties temporarily failed her during the TR debacle when - while she was the eyes & ears of MoJ in the North West allegedly "closely monitoring how all monies are used" and ensuring "robust processes are in place to ensure all expenditure is correctly spent" - sod-ex-co stole everyone's money from under her very nose. Perfect qualifications to be the Regional Probation Director for the North West.
Wasn’t unpaid work privatised in London a while ago and turned into a hot mess.
ReplyDeleteYes it was. Community payback in London helped usher in TR. Later terminated by the Ministry of Justice in 2014 after whistleblowers revealed serious flaws but after TR was signed by Chris Grayling. Everyone working in London probation knew it was a privatised mess and the London Chief officer Heather Munroe and all her minions kept quiet about it. Had she spoken out it would have derailed TR.
Deletehttps://www.bbc.com/news/uk-25035850.amp
Whistle-blowers have told the BBC's Newsnight of serious failings in the first probation service in England and Wales to be privatised.
DeleteThey said community service projects were not properly supervised and there were inaccuracies in reporting cases of offenders not attending such schemes.
The revelations come as the government is poised to unveil plans to privatise probation services elsewhere.
Serco, one of the companies running the service in London, denies the claims.
The allegations were brought to light by a member of Serco staff and a probation manager working for the London Probation Trust (LPT).
Newsnight was told the failings were making it "increasingly hard to enforce justice".
The programme has also been shown emails and internal documents supporting the claims.
In 2012, Serco and LPT were jointly awarded a four-year contract to supervise offenders in the capital on probation doing unpaid work in the community.
At the time the Ministry of Justice said the contract would save taxpayers £25m.
The Serco employee, who spoke anonymously to Newsnight, said there were insufficient resources to ensure offenders on so-called community payback projects were properly supervised.
"There are not enough projects and there are not enough staff. The projects we have are oversubscribed and anything oversubscribed causes problems," he said.
Oversubscription is standard practice for probation trusts because some participants always fail to turn up. This was already the case in London when Serco and LPT took over.
The government invited private firms to tender for the London community service contracts precisely because it felt the system "did not always command public confidence".
The probation manager working for LPT, who did not want his identity revealed, also pointed to a number of other shortcomings.
One of the incidents he listed happened after a supervisor assigned to a project failed to turn up.
"I've had someone who was put in hospital by another offender because they were arguing about the fact that a supervisor hadn't attended," he said.
The whistle-blowers have also raised concerns about the way in which offenders' attendance was recorded and the information passed on.
There are said to have been delays and inaccuracies in the reporting of occasions where offenders have breached their sentences by failing to attend payback projects.
In a small number of cases, these have caused problems when the breaches are dealt with in court.
Tom Rendon, of the Napo trade union, which represents probation staff, said: "We're finding it increasingly hard to enforce justice in these cases because the quality of the evidence often isn't there.
"We have got be sure that we've got a robust case. We're now relying on Serco [for the information] and that information is often incomplete or it's late, or it's of dubious quality.
"So when we take orders to court, sometimes we're having to withdraw them and then apologise on behalf of the private company."
Mr Rendon puts the problems down to the way the probation contract was awarded.
"Whatever the quality of the bids, the cheapest would always win. Serco and London Probation we think came in the cheapest and now the cracks are really starting to show," he said.
Newsnight showed the findings of its investigation to Professor Rod Morgan, who is a former Chief Inspector of Probation for England and Wales.
Delete"It is difficult to judge as to whether these are isolated cases, or whether they're getting better or worse," he said.
"But you've shown me sufficient material that it raises serious questions. In my judgement, there's a sufficient quantity of evidence here for someone to be taking a very close look at it."
In a statement, Serco told Newsnight: "Together with London Probation Trust, we manage around 1,000 new offenders every month and each one is thoroughly risk assessed before being allocated an appropriate place on one of the many projects we have running across London.
"We are confident that the innovative changes we have introduced in London are increasing operational efficiencies and ultimately saving the taxpayer money," they added.
In a separate statement, the Ministry of Justice said: "Public safety has not been compromised in the delivery of this contract which has provided one million hours of offender labour for London.
"Serco's performance has been improving month on month - latest July figures show 80% of offenders successfully completing their payback, 3% above the national average.
"All offenders are thoroughly risk assessed before being placed on a community payback project and breaches are dealt with robustly.
"As with all innovative ways of working, there were some bedding-in issues during the transition stage and we are satisfied these have been resolved.
"Our audit of all contracts the Ministry of Justice holds with both Serco and G4S is ongoing."
The ministry plans to extend the involvement of private companies in probation services elsewhere in England and Wales.
It is understood as much as 70% of the service is scheduled to be put out to tender.
Napo has criticised the plans, saying they put the public at risk.
“Pure fantasy” she called it! Then deleted the tweet.
Delete“In a situation where things look like they're rapidly going 'pear-shaped' the last thing Chris Grayling wants is probation CEO's just rubbing it in how crap the whole idea is beginning to sound. The mood could get a lot nastier of course with reports of campaign posters being removed in London and dark rumours as to how the Serco Community Payback contract is being operated there.
This is very important for the government's privatisation agenda and clearly there is a keen desire to make sure a tight lid is kept on any bad news. You will recall that Heather Munro, London CEO, recently questioned via twitter Chris Grayling's assertion that 'the contract was delivering savings of 40%.' She described it as 'pure fantasy' with savings 'nearer 20%.'”
https://probationmatters.blogspot.com/2013/03/gagged.html
Anon 16:47 Oh well remembered! Quote:-
Delete"In a situation where things look like they're rapidly going 'pear-shaped' the last thing Chris Grayling wants is probation CEO's just rubbing it in how crap the whole idea is beginning to sound. The mood could get a lot nastier of course with reports of campaign posters being removed in London and dark rumours as to how the Serco Community Payback contract is being operated there.
This is very important for the government's privatisation agenda and clearly there is a keen desire to make sure a tight lid is kept on any bad news. You will recall that Heather Munro, London CEO, recently questioned via twitter Chris Grayling's assertion that 'the contract was delivering savings of 40%.' She described it as 'pure fantasy' with savings 'nearer 20%.'
Tom rendon another lost cause for Napo put us all in the firing line while applying for roles outside of his inexperienced. Naive at best complete idiot at worst yet elected not quite knowing his arse from his elbow.
DeleteIf we go down this route do we not run the risk of increasing the potential for reoffending as, for some, they may see it as having nothing left to lose?
ReplyDeleteI’m a Court Probation Officer. If this becomes law, I won’t be proposing Unpaid Work for anyone in future. This is dangerous and puts people and their families at risk.
ReplyDeleteAnd we’re yet to hear what the judiciary have to say about all this.
Deleteor napo, or the legal profession, or the media (seeing as they only seem to regurgitate press releases these days), or (dare I say it for fear of conjuring him up), jenrick*.
Delete* To be fair, naming & shaming, humiliating & othering is right up his strasse so he's probably having a party to celebrate with lamey as his guest of honour.
2005 you will do as your required as prison is far worse besides it won't be up to you. The numbers for the contract will be a directive and shoplifters are not going to jails anymore. Easy talking here 9to 5 not so much
DeleteMost staff be happy snapping photos given the culture
ReplyDeletearmando's work is always worth a listen, especially as words are (or should be) an important part of the probation universe
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002jttq
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prisons-and-their-resettlement-providers#full-publication-update-history
ReplyDeleteA list of prisons and their resettlement providers: September 2025
NAPO on-line magazine (no) update on 2025 pay claim. What does this mean? It’s 4%? Or less?
ReplyDeleteI've had a small hint from my union rep that it isn't high enough to recommend accepting, and it has all been delayed again due the change in Justice Sectetary.
DeleteThank you for the response.
DeleteThe Cobbler's cobblers about serco's pisspoor tagging record:
ReplyDeletehttps://committees.parliament.uk/publications/47508/documents/247874/default/
"this administration has worked tirelessly to hold Serco to account and improve performance... We believe electronic monitoring is a vital tool for justice... The performance of Serco is unacceptable... [we] will continue to work closely with Serco..."
Previously...
https://bylinetimes.com/2024/05/01/ministry-of-justice-serco-g4s-sfo/
MOJ Slammed for Hiding From Parliament £500m in New Contracts to Companies Probed by SFO for ‘Deliberate Fraud’ Against It
"Serco and G4S overcharged the Ministry of Justice for the same service – then the MOJ tried to hide from the House of Lords that it gave both firms new contracts"
* G4S was granted a £175m contract to deliver monitoring technology, which includes devices for location monitoring and alcohol monitoring.
* Serco landed a £200m MoJ contract to deliver electronic-monitoring services in England and Wales for six years to May 2030. The deal will be worth an additional £75m if two one-year extension options are exercised.
But wait... guess what, HMPPS says ‘lessons have been learned’:
"In a letter to members of parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, HMPPS chief executive Amy Rees said the service’s approach to the new contract arrangements had “been informed by previous experience and lessons learned, as well as government best practice”. "
https://www.civilserviceworld.com/news/article/hmpps-says-lessons-have-been-learned-as-serco-and-g4s-bag-electronic-monitoring-contracts
Also:
* Serco, the international provider of services to Governments, has been awarded a contract by the UK Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to run Her Majesty’s Prison and Young Offender Institute (HMP & YOI) Fosse Way... The new contract has an estimated value of more than £300m over a ten-year term and the MoJ has the option to extend the contract for a further two one-year terms."
"Serco, a company with operations spanning industries from defence and health to transport and justice in the UK, currently manages five adult prisons: HMP Ashfield, HMP Doncaster, HMP Dovegate, HMP Fosse Way, and HMP Thameside. In October, it initiated legal proceedings against the UK government over a prison services contract."
"Serco, the British outsourcing giant, has initiated legal proceedings against the UK Government concerning a prison services contract. The claim, filed with the High Court's Technology and Construction Court by Serco's law firm DWF, pertains to a procurement issue related to a government tender for an unnamed prison. Although details remain undisclosed, it is known that Serco did not secure the contract."
From Twitter:-
ReplyDelete"I'm an Ex-offender and really get frustrated when "EXPERTS" who've never worked with Offenders or been in Prison decide what rehabilitates Prisoners. They need to start talking to front line Staff and those who've been through the system to find out what actually works."
"I had a voluntary position in the community whilst finishing a sentence to reintegrate into society from Open Prison
those I worked with didnt know I was a Prisoner. I strongly believe those on UPW should have their identities protected as people may refuse to work with them."
New rules mate you know the game. If you can't take the punishment don't commit the crime.
DeleteI’m sure that was the initial response to stoning, stocks and hanging too !!
DeleteProbably but reform takes many ways for some it works. This is the probation test platform. It is toughen up time across the spectrum. Ex offenders whining they want even softer treatment or stays quo illustrates the point offenders get the punishment not set the rules of it.
DeleteI remember this BJCJ journal well. Open access, timely to challenge TR, and dedicated to giving space to academics, practitioners, and even offenders. You don’t see much like it anymore, now that so many have gone quiet and few speak up.
ReplyDelete“The Editorial Board of the British Journal of Community Justice hope in this issue to provide a significant snapshot of some of the considered thoughts of academics, probation practitioners, ex-offenders and other commentators about the recklessness at the heart of these unwarranted, untried and risky changes.”
I cannot help but thing HMPPS are delaying making a formal pay offer on purpose until Christmas to break the threat of strike action
ReplyDeleteApparently they have made an offer which was unacceptable to Napo so they rejected it for further talks and possibly a bitter ballot.
DeleteThere's no apparent offer as this has to be put to members. What threat of strike Napo voting dismissed this option already catch up.
Delete16:51 read the latest post on the on-line mag.
DeleteHas the offer been put out formally as information even.
DeleteIt's apparently confidential! I assume HMPPS are hiding behind the 2.9% civil service remit bollocks which apparently never applies to Prison staff. As a none Napo member I've asked why it's confidential, surely they should be transparent during the negotiations, its not as if its commercially sensitive
Deletenapo blurb that's undated, so no indication as to how recent/relevant:
Delete"The recommendations of the Prison Service Pay Review Body do not apply to Probation Service staff who are subject to different terms and conditions as well as a separate pay process.
Probation Service pay is informed by the Civil Service Pay Remit Guidance, but importantly then subject to negotiations between the employer and Napo, alongside the other recognised trade unions. These negotiations are ongoing at this point. When a final offer has been arrived at it will, after being discussed by members of our Probation Negotiating Committee to consider whether to recommend it to members or not, be put to a ballot of Napo's Probation members. Further information will be shared with members when it is appropriate to do so depending on the status of the negotiations."
That is absolute bollox . Napo has had a pay offer it is obliged to put it to members. The notion you describe is in fact a negotiated position that when agreeable you will put to members to ratify . This avoids any consultations on dispute. Members get the Napo nod to comply yet again . So worn out yet so obvious.
DeleteAI says:
DeleteOverview of pay claims (2014–2025)
General trend:
Probation salaries have lagged significantly behind the cost of living. According to a report published in NAPO Magazine, probation pay increased by only 11% since 2010, while the cost of living (inflation) rose by over 80%.
For a mid-band salary, this has amounted to a real-terms loss of over £21,000.
Key pay disputes:
2014: UNISON's probation members voted to take industrial action over a zero per cent pay offer for 2014.
2020 & 2021: A pay modernization deal included shortening National Probation Service (NPS) pay bands, which helped pay progression. However, unions highlighted that this did not increase the value of most NPS salary points, which had only been revalorized by 1% since 2013.
2021: Union members were asked to vote on rejecting a pay freeze and indicate their willingness for potential industrial action. Unions stated that contractual increments should not be confused with a real pay rise and that pay had lost significant purchasing power over the decade.
2022: A multi-year pay claim was submitted by probation unions, noting that since 2010, the real value of pay for probation staff had risen by only 1% compared to much larger increases for other public sector workers, such as police (15.8%) and NHS staff (14.2%).
2023: Union pay claims continued to highlight the cumulative effect of low pay rises. A NAPO report contrasted the average 44.8% pay growth across the wider economy since 2010 with just 7.6% for probation staff over the same period.
Latest developments
As of September 2025, unions such as GMB are still engaged in pay talks with the employer and senior government figures to pursue a "restorative pay settlement". This indicates that the legacy issues of low pay and inadequate pay rises continue to drive negotiations
Crikey that's not ai. It's piece from Napo rag. Your assesment recognition skills lacking are they.
Deletetext is from 'AI Overview' - try typing "probation pay claims last ten years uk" into google. Crikey... you might find that AI simply gathers information from existing sources & spews it back out.
DeleteThere seems to be a resumption of intentionally unhelpful disruptors in the blog audience : (
Well sure it's not ai then is it. Ask ai to write you a song it will . No originating author just ai. Do a Google search you get the Napo old rag. Actually no one is being disruptive here just clarify the sources so we can make an informed view. Blimey touchy
Delete"Ask ai to write you a song it will . No originating author just ai." Yup.
Delete@11:09 here replying to @13:08 & @16:16 ... I didn't ask AI to make something up, I asked google to search/summarise the pay situation for probation staff over the last 10 years. The post was what 'Gemini' replied with. I never thought of asking it to make up a song about it.
DeleteI'm not sure its reasonable to call @14:02 (who clearly found the same response from google) "touchy".
This blog while brilliant has a partial slant to some grainy issues and we have to read very carefully to avoid appreciate the bias. Asking Gemini or Google is just a search. I as much an amateur interest in the new ai stuff appreciate when tested ai makes the details its own work. It also in this bulletin just regurted Napo tripe. To me that's not ai generated but a simple search. I would hope so could help us all plan a better strategy than Napo.
Deletelammy's gone beserk at conference... biggest expansion of prisons since victorian times, intensive supervision, probation as unsung heroes... it was confused & contradictory... and sadly i don't think his kind words about probation will be matched by cash or reduced caseloads or the respect of hmpps.
ReplyDeleteIndeed saw the same and agree with you.
Deletehttps://labourlist.org/2025/09/labour-conference-david-lammy-conference-speech-full/
ReplyDeleteThis is not just another brief for me, it feels like coming home.
Conference, in taking the role of Lord Chancellor, my starting point is Magna Carta:
No one is above the law. No one should have justice delayed. No one should have justice denied.
And yet under the Conservatives, Prisons bursting at 99% capacity. Courts with record backlogs — rape victims waiting years. Legal aid deserts across the land. Probation officers at breaking point.
Justice delayed. Justice denied.
That is the Tory legacy we have been left to fix.
So, conference, this is how we will put it right.
First, we will rebuild trust.
Because justice is not a slogan...
... Probation officers told me: “Help us spend less time on forms, more time changing lives.”
So, we will use technology for people, not against them:
AI to cut paperwork. Electronic tags to keep communities safe. Digitalised courts that deliver justice without delay.
Third, punishment that works.
In fourteen years, the Tories built just 500 extra prison places.
In fourteen months, we have delivered 2,500 — and we’re on track for 14,000 extra prison places by 2031.
The fastest prison building programme since the Victorian age.
We are recruiting thousands more probation officers.
And let me just say, we in this room know that probation officers are the unsung heroes of our justice system.
And we are reforming sentencing, so justice is not just locking people up, but turning lives around.
If you go into prison addicted, we will help you clean up.
If you go into prison without skills, we will help you train up.
If you go into prison without a chance, we will help you leave with an opportunity.
Our Labour Party will never give up on the power of redemption.
Working hand in glove with our NHS, with DWP, with businesses and industry, with Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous.
Because justice is not the work of one minister, it is the project of a nation united in its pursuit of fairness.
While others divide, we will build coalitions that work.
And today I can confirm my commitment to the expansion of Intensive Supervision Courts.
For too long our criminal justice system has been stuck in a cycle – short sentences that change nothing.
The same people reoffending again and again.
Intensive Supervision Courts are about breaking that cycle. They bring the full force of the courts together with local services.
And they keep reoffenders coming back to face the judiciary as they turn their lives around.
It’s tougher, it’s more demanding. And its punishment that works.
"In fourteen months, we have delivered 2,500 — and we’re on track for 14,000 extra prison places by 2031.
DeleteThe fastest prison building programme since the Victorian age."
And how proud we are!
Lammy today: "it was the honour of my life in my first weeks as Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary, to meet with the Hillsborough families and bring the Hillsborough Law to Parliament.
ReplyDeleteSo here in Liverpool I say: working people seeking justice will never walk alone again....
... And when Keir Starmer brought the Hillsborough Law to parliament last week, what did he want?
Justice for all."
Or opportunism for some?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c70r58xxrnwo
12 July 2025
A Liverpool MP has said he is "bitterly disappointed" after his attempt to get the original draft of a Hillsborough Law through parliament failed.
Labour's Ian Byrne introduced the original version of the bill, drafted in 2017, to the House of Commons for a second reading, but it was blocked.
Byrne called on Starmer "to keep his word and support the bill for the 97, for all victims of institutional failure, for truth and justice".
He made the comments after an attempted second reading of the bill was blocked by a government whip on Friday.
Byrne tabled the original bill on 2 July.
Sir Keir Starmer told the House of Commons earlier this month a Hillsborough Law would be brought forward, but he wanted "to take the time to get it right". "
https://www.dacbeachcroft.com/en/What-we-think/The-new-hillsborough-law-bill-key-takeaways
DeleteThe long-awaited 'Hillsborough Law' Bill - officially entitled the Public Office (Accountability) Bill 2025 - is now here, but - if it becomes law - what will it mean in practice for public authorities (and private entities carrying out public functions) and those who work for them?
The Bill has now begun its journey through Parliament, but is likely to be some way off becoming law.
It will now undergo various stages of scrutiny in the House of Commons and then the House of Lords and may well be subject to amendments along the way
_____________________________________________
And it WILL have an impact upon the probation service (assuming one exists by the time the Bill becomes Law)
What a line-up. The guest blog 104 author is right to ask: where are our voices and champions today?
ReplyDeleteReading through these essays, I see familiar and respected names, Mike Guilfoyle, Russell Webster, Fergus McNeill, alongside our Napo Mike Guilfoyle essay winner and others. Their words, written so far back in 2013, still ring true with unsettling relevance.
It sends a cold shiver to realise how accurately and easily these voices foresaw the shambles that followed, and how completely they were ignored. Perhaps that is why so few speak out now: because it was all said over a decade ago, and nobody took notice.
Consider these warnings:
“If the Ministry of Justice does not get it ‘right first time’ then its reforms may fall incredibly short of its proposed intention to draw on the best services that can be offered by practitioners across the public, private and voluntary services, so that better support can be delivered to offenders. The risk is that if the current level of support, rehabilitation and risk
management is not maintained, in conjunction with the necessary opportunities for the continuous training and development of practitioners within the field of probation and community rehabilitation, then it is not just probation workers that will affected, but to a larger extent service-users, victims and the public that may suffer, potentially with grave consequences.”
https://mmuperu.co.uk/bjcj/articles/the-implications-of-transforming-rehabilitation-and-the-importance-of-probation-practitioner-skills-methods-and-initiatives-in-working-with-service-users/
“The long term outlook is either the consolidation of a society based on surveillance, control and warehousing of an underclass or the resurrection of tradition probation through social work with offenders provided by extending the remit of local authority social work - if, that is, it has in the meantime managed to escape a similar fate.”
https://mmuperu.co.uk/bjcj/articles/risk-and-privatisation/
“Re-offending is a social and costly problem, therefore unless the social issues are addressed, more punishment will not work.”
https://mmuperu.co.uk/bjcj/articles/a-social-approach-to-the-process-of-rehabilitation-2/
“Probation has made a unique contribution to criminal justice and although many would argue that it has lost much by way of its traditional roots, professionalism and identity, it still merits its place at the centre of any rehabilitative revolution. Arguably it has long been transforming rehabilitation. Let us hope that it can find its voice again?”
https://mmuperu.co.uk/bjcj/articles/a-probation-officers-brief-reflections-on-twenty-years-of-rehabilitative-transformation/
“Of course, this plan is politically naive and relies on a hard-to-imagine long-term cross-party alliance that focuses on effective justice policy instead of a competition to be seen as the toughest on crime.”
https://mmuperu.co.uk/bjcj/articles/my-rehabilitation-revolution/
“Doing justice is not a task that we should contract out because it is a civic duty that citizens owe to one another. When we seek to sell off our mutual obligations to one another, we weaken the moral bonds between us, because we treat as merely instrumental things that are in fact constitutive of ‘the good society’. Rehabilitation is one such good; it is a duty that citizens owe to one another. Those that offend owe it to those they have offended. Those that punish also owe it to those that they have punished.”
https://mmuperu.co.uk/bjcj/articles/transforming-rehabilitation-evidence-values-and-ideology/
So I ask again: Lammy, Timpson, Jones, are you listening?
Well researched.
Deletei don't often deign to answer for others, but in this instance i'd suggest the boyband LTJ will chorus:
"No. We're not listening. la-la-la. Anyway, we can't hear you above the white noise of our own egos & ambitions"
I remember this stuff. They didn’t listen then, won’t listen now.
Delete“The recent reducing re-offending statistics released (Ministry of Justice, 2013) reveal that the probation service has been producing good results in terms of reducing reoffending, with a number of probation trusts performing better than expected. This success is in addition to the Probation Service winning the British Quality Foundation gold medal for excellence in 2011 (Ministry of Justice, 2011) and with a number of Trusts individually awarded 4 and 5 star status for excellence. There has also been a recent report by HM Inspectorate of Probation (2013) which provides positive results about the performance and practices of probation trusts. Nonetheless, in the not too distant future the Ministry of Justice intends to change the landscape of probation as we currently know it.”
https://mmuperu.co.uk/bjcj/wp-content/uploads/sites/441/2020/08/BJCJ_11.2-3_Hylton.pdf
This journal is something else.
DeleteAnd still they didn’t listen!
“We are not disputing that for there to be a substantial decrease in recidivism rates the current system needs to change and draw on the skill sets of other agencies with expertise in specific fields relating to the causes of offending behaviour. However, it appears that the current plans are unlikely to achieve this. Rather, we advocate a revisit to the offender management model. One example of such work might be a model in which the probation service becomes the commissioner of such services on a local level whilst holding on to supervision and remaining a constant figure in the life of the offender. Can we afford to take a leap into the unknown?”
https://mmuperu.co.uk/bjcj/wp-content/uploads/sites/441/2020/08/BJCJ_11.2-3_Calder__Goodman.pdf
Anon 20:56 and don’t forget that old government musical favourite “Things Can Only Get Better”
ReplyDelete