New recruitment to come on top of 2,300 pledged since Labour came to power
An extra 1,300 probation officers will be recruited, the Ministry of Justice has announced.
The department has announced a £700m investment in probation by 2028-29, which includes recruiting an additional 1,300 trainee probation officers across 2026-27, on top of the 2,300 pledged since Labour came to power in 2024.
The funding also includes a £100m expansion of electronic monitoring, meaning that thousands of extra domestic abusers, thieves and burglars across the country will face GPS and alcohol monitoring. The MoJ described this as “the biggest expansion of tagging in British history”.
As part of the investment, a £5m pilot will be launched to introduce proximity monitoring technology which alerts the Probation Service when offenders convicted of crimes such as domestic abuse and stalking come within a preset distance of their victim – a key commitment from the government’s strategy to end violence against women and girls.
As part of the expansion, frontline probation staff will be given access to cutting-edge technology allowing instant access to the location of certain tagged offenders, which will help to identify escalating risk and allow for earlier interventions.
The Probation Service will also change its approach to supervision so that officers can focus their time on the most dangerous offenders, with those assessed as lower-risk to require fewer routine appointments.
It is also investing £8m in new technology to reduce time-consuming admin tasks and save up to 250,000 days of valuable time every year, allowing frontline staff to spend more time monitoring offenders and keeping the streets safe.
The MoJ said the crisis it inherited in the Probation Service has placed too great a burden on hardworking staff, with new statistics showing that between 2023 and 2025, 31% of target probation appointments did not take place due to unmanageable workloads.
It said this has meant officers have been unable to pay enough attention to those offenders who pose the greatest risk.
It said the reforms, announced on Thursday, “will enable overworked probation staff to focus on the parts of their job that have the greatest impact on public protection, and will unburden them from tasks that are less impactful when it comes to protecting the public”.
Martin Jones, the chief inspector of probation said: “I welcome the government’s plans for further investment in the Probation Service, and attempts to focus time and resources where they matter most.
“I have been clear that urgent action is needed to support a service that is currently facing significant challenge, with too few staff, who have too little experience, managing too many cases.
“We are entering a crucial period as the implementation of the Sentencing Act reforms begins. There must be a sharp focus on ensuring the Probation Service can recruit, train and retain sufficient staff, and give them the tools and support they need – both to keep the public and victims safe, and to turn offenders’ lives around.”
Lord Timpson, minister for prisons, probation and reducing reoffending, said: “This is the biggest expansion of tagging in British history and means the most dangerous offenders will now be watched more closely than ever before.
“By combining new technology with a stronger probation workforce, we’re making sure those who pose the biggest risk are under constant scrutiny to better protect victims and the public.”
really? yet *another* £700m & a further 1,300 recruits? Or just the same announcements rehashed for a third time? Say it often enough & people will believe it.
ReplyDeletemay 2025: "England: £700m plan to tag 40,000 offenders...The government has commissioned Google and Palantir Technologies to develop AI software to assess an offender’s risk level."
Deletejune 2025: "Ministers talked up their new direction, promising a £700 million increase in funding by the end of the spending review and a recruitment drive to bring in 1,300 more officers this year."
aug 2025: "Announce the Ministry of Justice's £700 million funding boost by 2028 and plans to recruit 1,300 probation officers by April 2026 to address staffing and workload issues."
dec 2025: "Unions representing beleaguered probation officers also fear a promised £700m cash injection to meet the extra demand will be swallowed up by expensive contracts with private tagging firms... The government has pledged to recruit 1,300 more probation officers by April next year"
feb 2026: "The government has committed to providing an additional £700 million funding for the Probation Service over the next five years... "
No I think it's the same money and reading it they have announced the reorganisation. So regardless of pay offer they were doing this to change probation and the ²% in top of the 4 is their trickery carrot. Watch Napo offer no more support and blindly push us into this settlement as we had been the last time.
ReplyDeleteThere’s a pattern running through all of this that’s hard to ignore.
ReplyDeleteThe pay offer isn’t just about pay. It comes with conditions - continued rollout of a very specific model of probation: more technology, more centralisation, more remote contact, and a review of how progression works.
At the same time, we’re seeing the same announcements repeated - £700m investment, 1,300 new staff, expansion of tagging, reduced contact for lower-risk cases, “efficiency”, “focus on risk”.
Taken together, it doesn’t feel like a set of separate decisions, it feels like a direction that's already been decided which makes the pay ballot something slightly different to what it appears on the surface.
It’s not just a question of whether 6% is enough, it's whether people are prepared (or feel they have any real choice) to accept the model of probation that sits behind it and if they’re not, what happens then.
Because rejecting it doesn’t return things to how they were. It moves things towards industrial action and the reality now is very different to the last time that happened.
There's fewer staff, higher workloads, more pressure. A system already stretched.
This raises a question that sits just under the surface of all this - does that make action less likely or more powerful than it’s ever been? Because the leverage may be greater than before. But so is the cost of using it.
And that’s the point everything seems to circle back to.
The pay is immediate, but the model being set now through reform, recruitment, and investment is what probation becomes.
And once that settles, it won’t be something that gets voted on again.
This headline sums up every uk govt's approach to everything:
Delete"HS2 trains could run slower than planned to save money"
similarly: "UK's transplant system was world-leading - now it lags behind other Western nations... the NHS performs fewer heart transplants, and half as many lung transplants per head than many other European countries... Even after a transplant has taken place, the UK system's five-year survival rates lag behind the best in the world for both hearts and lungs... Another issue for the UK is a "brain drain" of experts, who see more appealing and lucrative opportunities elsewhere in the world... As experienced surgeons leave, he says, the more junior ones lose their mentors and become increasingly "risk averse"
DeleteSound familiar? Once world-leading, now utter shyte, lack of investment, failure to perform, loss of experienced/knowledgeable staff, etc etc etc.
seems EVERYTHING has turned to shit
The only winners in this decision are the tech shareholders and those at the top who are in league with the tagging giants while the wrapping of weasel words around the faulty vision of a fluffier probation service (we all know the the majority of SFOs are triggered from med risk cases) in which tech,comes to address the issue of too many cases and increases remote supervision…….you can write the SFO reviewers script……why did you decide to reduce the level of supervision for Mr X who once spat at a police officer ten years ago. The sheer level of deception here is staggering.
ReplyDeletePAC Feb 2026: "We asked MoJ whether it accepted responsibility for the poor performance of the service following unification... However, we had to ask a second time before MoJ accepted that it was responsible for the service’s performance."
ReplyDeletehttps://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5901/cmselect/cmpubacc/1235/report.html
"Since unification, the Probation Service has remained under significant strain, with staffing shortfalls, increasing pressures and continued poor performance.
HMPPS’s data show that the performance of its Probation Service has worsened since unification in 2021. In 2024–25, it only met seven of its 27 (26%) performance targets.
MoJ explained that workforce shortages, which it inherited upon unification, exacerbated by high staff turnover, were the main reason for poor performance.
HMPPS first introduced a prioritisation framework to help reduce staff workloads in 2022. But workloads remained high, in particular for probation officers, who were working at around 118% capacity on average, with highs of 126% in some regions including London and East of England. Despite this, HMPPS did not introduce further prioritisation measures until its ‘Reset’ scheme in April 2024, and then its ‘Impact’ scheme in April 2025.
To enable it to cope with increased demand and improve performance, HMPPS has set up [yet another] programme (called ‘Our Future Probation Service’) which is intended to further transform the service."
To quote @07:55 - "the model being set now through reform, recruitment, and investment is what probation becomes." No argument. No negotiation. No more pay.
They don’t seem too desperate to recruit despite in our office an “SOS” being sent out. I was a PSO for 12 years, had a sociology degree and yet they put me on the longest pathway to qualify. I asked recently if I could join an earlier cohort to qualify earlier as I have the capacity to do this, and yet this was refused by some high up guy on the progression board. Brought this up with Napo, and I’ve just been ignored. But let’s push people through the 15 month route and then they’ll leave as the NQO period is too tough for them.
ReplyDeleteThe only way they can resolve the recruitment and retention crisis is to further lower the entry level standards.
ReplyDeleteThe direction of travel with this probation model suggests to me that this is already on the cards. Such a move will obviously further erode the quality of the service, and as such will also reduce any bargaining powers the service might have.
A 6% payrise might seem pretty puny now, but I predict any future payrise will be nowhere near 6%.
Its not about intellect and quality anymore, it's about process and quantity.
'Getafix
Been said already way too many times. Napo like it this way no work to do . The vote will say yes . The rest is predicted
DeleteNAPO have sent out an email advising of the upcoming indicative ballot on the 6% offer which will open on Friday. We're told the 6% is conditional but does anyone know what conditions come with it. How can people vote if they don't know what they're actually voting for?
ReplyDelete
DeleteIts been posted once already
https://www.napo.org.uk/sites/default/files/JTU%2002-2025%20Probation%20Pay%20Claim%202025%20-%20Best%20and%20Final%20Offer%20March%202026%20v1.1%20(embargo%20removed).pdf
@17:52 - what you've sent a link for is the vague info from Napo's email. It is NOT the conditions attached to the 6% offer. Napo are insinuating that the conditions are being imposed at Napos request and further strengthen the argument for accepting the new offer. It was read that way by several members in our office and its very far from the truth. The conditions are as posted below by @07:41 (thank you 07:41).
DeleteVoting for 6% comes with a catastrophic set of commitments to cooperate with HMPPS 'Our Future Probation' plans and further limitations for future pay and negotiation. I voted no to 4%. It was genuinely insulting. But 4% without conditions is much better than 6% with all these conditions attached. Incredible that 'negotiators' agreed to all this and are trying to sell it as a win. Yet another short-termist shot in the foot for Napo.
The conditions are basically "cooperate with the changes that we are already going to do" (and do we really think the employer would listen anyway if we objected?) Personally I'm in favour of cutting our losses and negotiate for the next year.
DeleteI'm pretty sure the link was to kte's letter, which is essentially what is posted below by @07.41. I humbly apologise if I got it so very wrong & made you even more pissed off with the world.
DeleteI opened it & it IS kte's letter, as posted by "Anonymous 22 March 2026 at 10:50" in the previous thread (newpayoffer) & reproduced below by 07:41, page break and all. Seems 08:35 couldn't be arsed to follow the link & got his/her knickers a bit twisted.
DeleteBut enough of the bickering, the serious shit is that probation staff have been shafted, double-shafted & double-double shafted by both employer & union (again?!) and no-one in the media gives a shit because, well, what is probation anyway?
"HMPPS’s data show that the performance of its Probation Service has worsened since unification in 2021. In 2024–25, it only met seven of its 27 (26%) performance targets."
That's you, folks. 74% fail. Not your fault, mind... all carefully orchestrated by 'the centre' to facilitate (1) a shit pay offer & (2) a shedload of conditions added to your Ts&Cs because your performance was shit & they claim they're trying to make it better. They'll NEVER admit that's what they did... from TR thru (re)unification & reset & impact through to Our Future... a calculated dismantle & reassemble. At a price they're prepared to pay (with the blessing of napo gs, etc).
I'm pleased JB is allowing the blog to roll over as the disaffection grows & the scales are beginning to fall from an increasing number of eyes as they ***finally*** wake up to the reality.
Breach or recall someone for being mentally ill and suffering trauma for missing an appointment never sent out ,that Wii’s make yoy all feel better
ReplyDeleteThe hunt continues for hostel staff too. In a massice scandal the hostel's have got rid of the private sector contract for night staff without having anything else in place - this has lead to the closing of hostels. Outstanding work
ReplyDeleteThese are the conditions
ReplyDelete"CO/HMT Conditions: Workforce reforms and pay review
You will appreciate how significant this increase is for staff (especially in a one year
pay offer) and the fact that it goes beyond what most other public sector workforces
have received this year. That is why this offer includes conditions that must be
agreed to.
The first condition is that you commit to continuing to work together on the
modernisation of the probation service through Our Future Probation Service
programme (OFPS). This includes:
• Supervision packages;
• Online check-in;
2
• Justice Transcribe;
• Service centres;
• Revising case transfer policy;
• Implementing Sentencing Act reforms.
Standard Annex A consultation processes are being followed, with some complete,
and others in progress or scheduled for the months ahead. All of this remains within
the auspices of the relevant JNC sub-committee.
Looking to the future strategy of pay and recognising that probation pay as it is
currently constructed presents limitations in terms of our ability to deliver timely and
meaningful awards for staff. We have explained the impact that payments made
under the CBF progression framework have on the IRC and that this limits any
additional offer to revalorise pay points. Recognising that there is an active dispute
with ACAS, which we are committed to resolving, this offer includes a commitment to
a full review of CBF and the interaction with the annual pay award by September
2026 with a view to further pay reforms which will be discussed and agreed jointly."
Absolutely outrageous conditions of surrender they can fuck off. Pay is pay new term are new talks simple Lawrence needs be sacked the sink hole idiot.
ReplyDeleteThe correct response to this is….no……no…no….and NO !
ReplyDeleteAgreed
DeleteThe implementation of service centres will see mass changes in t+c for band 2 and band 3 staff, and the Unions are suggesting that their members relinquish any rights to oppose these plans as part of the conditions of the pay deal. I am not hopeful about the CBF review either, and we will continue to wait months for what is a contractually obligated competency-based pay increase.
ReplyDeleteService centres never worked in Crc’s. Communication between admin and officers is critical in casework; it is not process driven issuing of warning letters and daily actions, it is complex decision making which does not work at arms length. No lessons learnt here!
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's that black & white, some aspects worked very well for officers and offenders alike, some didn't. What went wrong as usual was they they were understaffed, under resourced and often so badly managed admin left or were got rid of, especially experienced ones. We need to collaborate and provide ideas whilst protecting standards, pay and conditions or we will just be seen as an obstacle and obstacles are only ever dealt with by being removed
DeleteWhen you want to get rid of a service first rule of thumb is to make it difficult to run,then de fund it, state it doesn’t work and produce a private company that promises the earth, they ( private companies) are good at talking the talk but as soon as something gets difficult they find a host of excuses as to why probation will have to do this and this soon ends up with the tail wagging the dog……..
ReplyDeleteSlightly off topic but has anyone come across or attended one of these https://hmppsinsights.service.justice.gov.uk/insights_blogs/celebrating-insights25/. Also I note from NAPO’s website two very full comments by a NAPO Rep Iangould5
ReplyDeletePay offer total insult. 6% and condition to agree to conditions that are now being CBF linked and really are not good for probation. I see no reason where we’re being compelled to “agree”. What other detail have they hidden in there. I vote no. A well overdue pay increase should be unconditional. Let’s goto industrial action.
ReplyDeleteThe soul of probation is now at stake…..accept the 6% and be shackled to a service that will feel free to erode terms, conditions and impose any amount of bull……..the MOJ and Government are acting like bullies……but how should we respond?
ReplyDeleteAs long as Napo has Lawrence your all dead in the water he's assisting them . Bloke is incompetent seen this over the last pay deal the jr and the the torpedo transfer agreement for redundancies .
DeleteDon't forget that incompetent piss taker Dean Rogers a complete idiot who destroyed the reps panel to save money for pay nast bastard.
DeleteWe cannot rely on any union now, the old adage rings true…….if we stand for nothing…….we fall for everything!
ReplyDeleteWhen the leader of the trade identified management as his own collegiate group instead of the people he must not confident or conceded anything too then you have a problem. Lawrence never crosses them as he wants to be seen as collaborative managerial he has never had to battle properly negotiate aggressively or represent individuals effectively . He is and will always be a rookie . His pcs was admin support observer always a sheltered from proper negotiation development. He lacks the skills of delay caution aggression and shows it. The fact is any other coalface workforce would not have him as he's a dud . Napo have low level accountability no way of supervising or managing his conduct and he avoids the NEC process through fielding others in a way that places others to account for Napo fails . Napo has been totally fucked over by Lawrence since he started it has no clout because he is not seen as credible .
DeleteNo point in attacking the individual. Napo has been dysfunctional for a long time. It has a postal address some shack in west London no offices and no combined workplace for the remotely placed staff. It is questionable why they hold an HR post when no office brings the staff into one place. I suspect when the funds are depleted by the general secretary his bar tab and salary they are bunkered in while holding out for the redundancy payout at the double rate agreed in the transfer agreements. That being said I would now seriously question if Napo could be regarded as a union in legal terms given it no longer provides genuine service of the minimum requirement. It is worth reporting so we could start a new staff side team. The employers use Napo to push through their plans and we pay the price.
ReplyDeleteSounds more like Napo have a ‘Partnership Agreement’ with HMPPS… 🧐🤨
DeleteWe're the most monitored organisation of the CS, every report breach/progress viewed by courts, one to ones, supervision, seeds, appraisal, hmip inspections and yet we're expected to prove our worth for a move up the scale by the stress of an interview to demonstrate competency!!!
ReplyDeleteBreach hearts by heart bleats for you , done more than any one to increase prison population , Micheal Howard would be a PQIP these days , for the PQIPS look him up , hes not a love island contestant
ReplyDeleteInteresting in a week when a 6% pay rise is pushed to its members by the unions and the ‘conditions’ not fully explained. Does it mean that a new contract between a Registered Probation Officer and ‘the employer’ is to be delivered and signed or do I stick on what I have? Have you heard about HMPS and issues with the ‘Fair and Sustainable’ model pushed out several years ago, sign up or mark time and get no opportunity for promotion etc. Furthermore the new ARNS on-line training is launched, three modules, two which just regurgitate what experienced staff have done for years, ‘ collaboration’ that is working with the offender/prisoner/client/service user/punter etc to work towards change and desistance from offending behaviour, befriend and assist in modern terms. However, ARNS is just a tool of control of staff, it is dumbed down sentence planning for the 15 months super PQUiPs, corrections staff, public punishment, recall and breach specialists.Simplified working for limited experience managers with the leadership skills of a newt. It is another shocking piece of work from the QDO teams full of probation staff with limited experience of working either in the community or prisons and whose operational experience could be recorded on the back of a postage stamp. This will be followed by the new risk assessment software again dumbing down the need for professional judgement and professional curiosity, the change in re-offending rates so that everyone moves down a level and the need for interventions reduces to the subject few, but then again strengths based practice stops the need for the hard questions about risk and offending who, what, why. Like everything else in this country it is looking for a cheap answer both in the community and custody. ‘The Purge’ will not be science fiction it will be science fact and the HMIP inspectors both in the community and custody will be throwing Registered Probation Officers under the bus. Sickness levels at an all time high because the recruitment process is significantly flawed and the straight out of university types have no lived experience or resilience, let alone no self defence training, PARVA or Kevlar jackets.
ReplyDeletehttps://hmiprobation.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/document/dynamic-inspection-of-public-protection-in-east-of-england-region/
ReplyDelete"We last inspected the East of England in 2024. Since then, the region had introduced a number of significant changes, specifically to keep people safe, which reflected the seriousness with which it took its public protection responsibilities... Nevertheless, in three out of four key questions, fewer than half of the cases inspected sufficiently met our standards."
https://hmiprobation.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/news/concerns-reported-in-public-protection-inspection-of-the-probation-services-east-of-england-region/
"Martin Jones, Chief Inspector of Probation, said: “While strategic public protection work had been strengthened, and we saw improvements since our last inspection, fewer than half the cases inspected sufficiently met our standards in three out of four key questions. A notable theme that ran throughout our findings was a lack of engagement with partner agencies, including police; and limited professional curiosity also continued to be a concern.”
______________________________________________________
Meanwhile, let's take note of the following headline on another report *before* lammy & the hmpps fuckwits get their fumbling destructive mitts on it:
" “Impressive” East Riding of Yorkshire Youth Justice Service, rated ‘Outstanding’ following inspection"
"On probation, the two governments and Wales’s four Police and Crime Commissioners have committed to work together to produce a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen flexibility within Wales by the end of 2026. An agreement published today (25 March 2026)sets out the expected content of that MoU and the process to be followed in completing it, with local government also expected to be signatories.
ReplyDeleteThe MoU will focus on areas where reoffending can be reduced through closer cooperation between the Probation Service and devolved services in Wales like local government, housing and healthcare among others.
The UK Government remains committed to a strategic review of probation governance in the course of this Parliament, and as part of that it will explore with Welsh Government how devolved models could enable them to be more locally responsive."
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/agreement-between-uk-government-and-welsh-government-on-youth-justice-and-probation/agreement-between-uk-government-and-welsh-government-on-youth-justice-and-probation
Is Wales leading the way ?
'Getafix
Grow up memorandum of fuck all. Those docs mean nothing sound glamorous . If it isn't terms and conditions with a primary legislative routeway it's all hot air . Contractual obligation is all we can rely and it's time probation staff faced the realities of being passive has brought. Any continued bullshit wish wash film flam from the Welsh or woke cymru is just more of their sectarian crap . Grow up the lit of you militancy aggressin and non cooperation with the authorities abuse is the only way to arrest our destruction. Oh and before you all claim offended you will be when your clocking in a uniform that reality is coming.
DeleteMaybe but probation are not police,we have a separate,unique identity and should not be subsumed by any other agency while still working alongside them !
ReplyDeleteSeems you missed that we were subsumed, swallowed and shafted by the Prison Service roughly 20 years ago...
DeleteYes that is true up to a point but we have more in common with the prison service than we have with the police
DeleteWhat is probations unique identity?
ReplyDeleteDiscuss.
That we are not police and search for understanding through which we endeavour to work with people to deter them from the path that led them to us in the first place, that’s why what happens in the room when genuine working relationships are formed is actual magic……most of us will have seen it at one point or another……..that is our identity which has been under attack for a number of years from those who only seek to punish rather than understand…..
ReplyDeleteNot the police ? Worse then
ReplyDelete“We have pushed negotiations as far as they will go.”
ReplyDeleteNo — that’s not an accurate reflection of how negotiations work. GMB recommended accepting 4%, and Unison was relatively quiet. What we need now is a clear position from Napo.
Is 6% also considered an insult? What is Napo’s actual recommendation to members?
If HMPPS has already moved from 4% to 6%, that demonstrates there is room for further movement. Why, then, is 12% — which still falls well short of what pay restoration would require — being treated as unrealistic?
Additionally, the conditions being attached by HMPPS — linking pay to CBF, AI, and future changes that members have not agreed to — should not form part of a pay offer.
So I’ll ask again: what exactly has been “negotiated”? And is there another 6% minimum for 2026/2027?
https://napomagazine.org.uk/is-6-the-end-thats-your-decision/
"negotiations" (if that's what they were) were handed over to Paul Nowak... who?
Delete"Paul has been an active trade unionist and campaigner throughout his working life.
He first became a union member when he worked part-time at Asda aged 17. Paul worked in a call centre for Cheshire County Council’s bus information line in the late nineties, after working on an agency contract in a BT call centre. He also worked as a hotel night porter."
Oh, *that* Paul Nowak. The TUC executive committee member.
Its the Chuckle Bros school of negotiating - 12 to 4 to 6 to 6 with conditions... erm, ok then, and we'll tell them there's nowt else available so we don't have to bother each other again. Sweet!
I refer readers back to an earlier post where it was suggested you all say yes, get your backpay then resign en masse, cos you ain'y getting owt else from hmpps.
In other news, looks like romeo's under fire for failing to do something fundamental re-grooming gangs when she was at the home office. She'll no doubt wriggle out of that one too, seeing as Squealer's fair & balanced Nick Robinson leapt valiantly to her defence this morning.
So now we know where Our Future Probation Service came from:
Deletehttps://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/16716/pdf/
Tuesday 11 November 2025
"Q5 Chris Murray: Do you think restructuring the senior team is sufficient to address the challenges?
Dame Antonia Romeo: Absolutely not. As I have said, I have a whole plan called Future Home Office. There is a whole raft of work going on. I have five main themes. One is sorting out accountability. This is the third Department I have run. In running big organisations, accountability and transparency are absolutely at the centre and a lot flows from that. You can tell a lot about an organisation and its ability to deliver its objectives by where the accountability sits and whether that is clear to everybody"
And on the waste of public funds (again):
Q113 Chris Murray: I want to ask a bit about the new announcements on asylum accommodation and the move to large sites. A couple of years ago, the Home Office tried large sites and the National Audit Office’s report into it was utterly damning. It was a catastrophic failure of public procurement. How are you going to ensure that you do not make the same mistakes again?
Dame Antonia Romeo: This is a good example of where we have learned a number of lessons. There are a lot of capability issues here. You must have property experts and really good contract management, make sure you know what you are doing on due diligence, and be clear about who is doing what across Government."
This is the killer for me:
"We are doing all those things in a way they were not previously done."
Erm, except for Probation, where you did exactly that & it was a total fucking disaster.
Still, why not just spout bolloxspeak shyte & be promoted to the top of the pile for your arrogance & dishonesty & lack of care for the public purse & your utterly calamitous record of abject failure, leaving chaos & misery in your wake?
A view of romeo here from the 'spiked' team:
Deletehttps://www.spiked-online.com/2026/02/15/keir-starmer-has-let-the-blob-run-amok/
"Starmer’s ‘favoured successor’ to Wormald is widely believed to be Antonia Romeo, the permanent secretary to the Home Office since 2024. In other words, she has led the department that is largely responsible for the most crippling failure of Starmer’s reign: the relentless rise in illegal immigration. Incredibly, Steven Swinford of The Times reports that Romeo had ‘impressed Starmer with her handling of the small-boats crisis since taking over at the Home Office’. With around 66,000 migrants having made it over the English Channel since Starmer came to power, one can only wonder in horror what ‘disappointment’ would look like.
Then again, you can see the appeal of Romeo to someone like Starmer. She is undeniably a creature of the Blob, with all the ideological baggage that entails. Romeo served as the ‘civil service gender-inclusion champion’ and has waxed lyrical about her efforts to make departments ‘more inclusive for trans staff’. As a committed woke activist, her claim to want to stop illegal immigration is about as credible as Starmer’s, a man who venerates the very human-rights laws that have made this task impossible.
Romeo’s failure as permanent secretary at the Home Office isn’t the only red flag to her appointment. As consul general to New York, she requested more than £70,000 from the government to redecorate her house. When this was refused, her former staff members claimed that she asked them to solicit private companies to carry out the renovations for free. Various reports suggest she spent most of her time in the Big Apple ingratiating herself with celebrities. Former staff have also accused her of bullying. There seems to be little to recommend her for the most senior position in the civil service, beyond being a career Blobber.
Worse, Romeo’s appointment would be bound to precipitate yet another crisis. Speaking to Channel 4 News on Wednesday, Simon MacDonald, who was in charge of the Foreign Office during her stint in New York, made a remarkable intervention for a former senior civil servant. He said he would help No10 with any ‘investigation’ into her, heavily hinting that he’d try to block her from the job. ‘Sometimes appealing through the media is more effective than doing it direct’, he said. Then Gus O’Donnell, a former cabinet secretary, popped up on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme to slam Starmer directly. Meanwhile, senior civil servants have spent much of the week briefing the media anonymously, leaking about Wormald’s sacking, Romeo’s skeletons and Starmer’s dreadful judgement."
Nowak is a career seeking spinner who uses in phrasing to leap without any real experience. Seen him perform many times he is limited but promoted on that accent . As a negotiator he can only phrase what's been read in the sociology books or tuc stats he's a moron really. As for Napo offering any position forget it. Napo has always shafted us and this is the same hold onto a better offer but attached strings means we are dead for good. Pay is pay strings are another day consultative process but Napo ain't saying that they are helping the employers Napo is the problem. The GMB only speaks for a few managerial staff and need to get lost and unison has priestly who will blame Napo he's useless.
DeleteMeanwhile, back in the land of the forever-privileged:
ReplyDelete"Two hereditary peers who are set to be removed from the House of Lords will be allowed to keep their parliamentary passes and ceremonial positions.
The Duke of Norfolk, Edward Fitzalan-Howard, and Lord Carrington won the concession after raising concerns privately about the need to keep their role in organising state occasions.
"The point about the Earl Marshal and the Lord Great Chamberlain is that they are both dignified and efficient," Lord Roberts said.
"To spare them from the exigencies of the bill should be done on the grounds that membership of this House would allow them to maintain more easily the contacts that help them perform their duties."
The role of Earl Marshal dates from medieval times and has responsibility for arranging state ceremonies, including coronations, state funerals and the state opening of Parliament.
It has been held by hereditary right by the Howard family since 1672 and the current holder is Edward Fitzalan-Howard, the 18th Duke of Norfolk, who inherited the position from his father in June 2002.
The Lord Great Chamberlain controls the parts of the Palace of Westminster reserved for the monarchy and manages the royal family's interests in Parliament.
The role was first created in the 12th century and Lord Carrington - the son of a former Conservative cabinet minister - has held the office since King Charles ascended to the throne in 2022.
Lord Carrington became a hereditary member of the Lords in 2018, after winning a by-election to replace a retired peer."
Email from NAPO about voting on the pay offer. Ticked NO. Can I take a second to ask everyone to consider what they are voting FOR when making their decision.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely this. Also voted No.
Deletehttps://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69c15863bb0dfe55b83e4bb6/West_Midlands_Probation_-_public_protection_action_plan_-_March_2026.pdf
ReplyDeleteprobation for dummies - a new series on hmpps website
ReplyDeletehttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/how-do-you-get-people-on-board-exploring-what-matters-for-interventions-implementation-in-the-community
________________________________________________________
New revelations are discovered by researchers that prove past probation was shit & these are the new facts:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69bbc4534b1db2e4ba9b6430/IOM-impact-report.pdf
Key findings & Implications:
• Desistance is a gradual and non-linear process
* Trusting relationships underpin engagement
• Tailored, person-centred approach is critical
* Collaborative working enhances delivery
* Enforcement and support are interdependent
• Supporting motivation works
* External factors shape effectiveness
* Staff capacity is essential
• Dedicated roles strengthen collaborative delivery
* Peer mentoring shows promise
• Constraints of systemic pressures
* Pope is a Catholic
* Bears shit in woods
* Pay rise scenario isn't going to end well
From 2012 - "Community Sentences: A Problem With Perception?" https://crimlinks.wordpress.com/2012/03/18/community-sentences-a-problem-with-perception/
ReplyDeleteI voted no
ReplyDeleteWell done but useless . The Napo Lawrence playbook will be to announce the divided figures for acceptance of the offer means there is not enough overall strength to mount any continued campaign . There we are a racist submission without looking to be blamed and the pathetic officers group just carry in nodding the end of probation.
DeleteType error tacit that should read spell checker has a life of it's own.
DeleteI wonder if the higher echelons at Napo are sitting down and congratulating themselves re the current offer, instead of planning an appropriate response such as closing down courts and APs as a starting salvo……..we peasants are indeed revolting……
ReplyDeleteNapo are on a declining annual budget the take pays staff. They are virtual all working from home with half the staff actually doing nothing. Most of the roles are computer based . The address for Napo is a shed. They have no meeting place and to settle means Lawrence has no work to do for his 10k a month take. He will ride out initial dissatisfaction. Continue to do us down until he takes redundancy as Napo hits the financial buffers. He will continue as usual blaming staff apathy as long as he can while top table who all lack the necessary skills won't hold him to any account. A job where appraisal assesment and accountability are just ignored because the staff officers group don't have what is required Napo members elects duds Wannabees and egos . This group or type of idiot saw Napo sell it's building rent in pcs and end up in court for stitching up its members. Some officers who have dealt with him know of useless persona but have no capacity to manage his atrocious record. The NEC lack a central core because his tactics have weakened the collective to virtual teams chit chats . Nice job if you could get it. People are hoping he retires but his greed won't let him and it's that prospect of a pay out that sees him hold on which is why he made sure no one else was selectable in the last unpopular appointment.
DeleteNapo needs a new leader before we have any hope of real fight back but this latest black bag sale is designed to destroy us to new terms without us seeing any proposals. I'll bet we end up on prison terms offering shift work and flexible structures to 24hr monitoring. Whatever it is without full proposals for open conversation we should all be voting to reject the insincere inappropriate offer. Someone needs to tell the Lawrence idiot to do his job. Without proposals outlining the full intentions of changes there could be no deal. Any able general secretary would have done that to a conditional offer before trying to split the members and then scurry us into a deal. He's a fucking scammer and dumped on a divided staff group rather than lead the revolt from the front coward Lawrence absolute coward.
This requirement is to support the Authority (Ministry of Justice) and His Majesty's Prison & Probation Services (HMPPS) in the future delivery of temporary resources for Probation Services across England and Wales. The Probation Services is seeking a supplier(s) to provide qualified probation operational workers to address temporary staff shortfalls that could jeopardise the delivery of core business objectives. This may include covering periods of absence, in lieu of permanent recruitment or to manage temporary increases in work. Probation operational temporary staff include Probation Officers and Senior Probation Officers, both of whom must hold the relevant qualification for their role. Other key roles include Probation Services Officers, Victim Liaison Officers, and Unpaid Work Supervisors. All candidates are subject to security and identity checks prior to taking up post. The worker volume will fluctuate dependent on business need. HMPPS employee base is diverse and geographically dispersed across England and Wales. Temporary Probation workers may be based within one of the c.120 public or private prison establishments, c.170 courts, c.110 Probation Delivery Units, c.100 Approved Premises, or some are based within Council Buildings or Police Stations.
ReplyDeleteThese services are currently being delivered by two providers and these contracts expire in October 2026 necessitating the need for a new contract(s).
Total value (estimated)
£122,000,000 excluding VAT
£146,400,000 including VAT
That's enough cash for c.3,000 staff at £35k a pop (£105million) + £17 million for the agency excluding vat... but there's fuck all for existing staff.
DeleteHow are they planning to magic up all that staff? Previously they have used a variety of agency staff paid at a higher rate who in my experience ( not all) are here today gone tomorrow….
ReplyDeleteShould have bitten the bullet and played hard ball with temps years ago. Too many staff paid over the odds who have little invested in their rolls and are draining cash out of budgets that should be spent uplifting the salaries of permanent staff. The idea of a temp SPO managing a team without even the commitment of a contract is farcical. Some of these parasites have been doing this for years and years. No wonder we cant fill vacancies properly. Get rid of them and wait for them to apply for permanent jobs. After all, where else are they going to go??
ReplyDeleteNowhere they bailed out the service stopped it going under. Helped out until recruitment took place. Stood in over holidays so staff could have family breaks and stayed late so many others did not have too. Mixed markets bring different outcomes grow up.
DeleteHidden heroes (n't)
DeleteIndeed respect is lacking for collegiate workers the professional snobbery so disingenuous.
DeleteNot a temp, but I've known a few. Temps appreciate the freedom to go where they want, take leave when they want and if they end up with an impossible manager they can go elsewhere. Yes the pay is better, the uncertainty can be difficult but managers know that if they are totally shitty to their temp staff they just take their ball home.
ReplyDeleteAfter the tr clearances I started to receive emails from an agency (snapper?) offering £40/hour for 150 hours/month contracts across Eng&Wales. I don't doubt some mercenaries without ties found it very lucrative. To be honest, if I'd been in a position to, I'd have probably done 6 on/3 off for as long as it lasted at £6k a month. Self-employed, offset travel/living expenses against tax, sort out a private healthcare plan, ensure NI was paid-up. An old friend did similar in child protection, only she did 6 on/6 off; worked summer around the UK (she reckoned £40k gross but lived frugally on expenses) then wintered in the southern hemisphere, sometimes working, mostly playing.
DeleteAnd now she's probably just realising she'll have to do that until her final breath as she can never retire.
DeleteStop complaining then you get a pension fund and she won't it's different markets for your labour simple as .
DeleteOh. You again.
DeleteConstant moaners on here and you say you again when the contrary position is put. You take no account for your colleagues selling your role out . The incredible double standard of you again is nauseating . When officers retired and a week later were back in sessional role wandering around earning the same whilst on a new pension no one said a word. That history of paying off bad staff than scandal and bringing back old staff as a favour made this service a joke what the HR agenda is to stop all that so we ended by having these overpaid temps perhaps but they cost no pension cause no issues to be dropped and are in fact cheaper while getting the job required done. Cannot say that about too many in full time equivalent role your too busy decrying all your obvious benefits on another extended coffee and fag break. You don't deserve a pay rise but attitudinal training won't hurt you lot.
DeleteA quick response to the unpleasant judgemental views of, erm, probation staff? Really?
DeleteSo, my friend is extremely well & happy, having retired early. For about four years she lived in a modified transit van when in the uk and bought property in southern Europe (pre-brexit) with her savings, where she now lives with her partner. They have a modest income from letting some of the land & property she owns, and from selling olive oil & fruit harvests. They don't need vast pension pots or a state pension to live; not like us poor saps in the UK who are lied to & held to ransom by idiotic self-serving politicians, endure outrageous price gouging and get fleeced each & every day we open our purses to buy anything.
Great to read that good and bloody luck to them living a life than as you say being judged by tossers on here for the time they put in to getting out to freedom. I love to hear people doing well .
DeleteWe are good at moaning because that’s all we have left from a once great and respected profession!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteFair enough I moan a bit too but not at any individual our problems came from our pathetic disposition. Like I said returners created a private industry inside responsible public services. Probation got knifed by grayling and the free market for professional standards of written work. Lawrence the GS of Napo failed to mount any professional relationship arguments between the courts and the report writers. Failing to demonstrate the professional obligations to clientele in a working relationship that carries the dynamic of breach or recall. These tasks are based on risk assesment public safety and often for the further protection of the client from more destruction to themselves and others. This assesment skills comes with identifiable evidence a process of discussion or absence and decisions based on the risk as I said professional calculated alongside the standards of attendance and or the assesment of the officer. This stuff is not covered by a few dozen high priced knickers off reports yet we never saw the case made at judicial review in fact Napo hid their submission because it was so awful. We opened our practices to the police who criticise us as weak and submissive to offenders demands. They apply police values to weaken ours and it has been destructive . Worsened by the same effects of the pom and prison values of custody punishment control. Probation has been exposed to these harsher discipline based organisations and they won't let us go. Instead we are subsumed as a piece of new direction to both strict authoritarian practices. In pay matching we are worth less. Valued badly and controlled because they know in police and prison officers tuning keys on the inside and police chasing them into cells on the outside is not skilled work. It's not a professional practice with a body of knowledge and experience. There is no assesment to locking door or chasing crooks in a runner. A border collie would do both those things if you gave him some treats. No in probation they have to buy ex professionals pay a lot and ask for skilled reports how we got here and have accepted such conditions is beyond me. Market forces are great if you have the right structure but using an ad hoc structure for cherry picked work puts us all back. We should never have been led into omic on a professional argument and not collaborate with the police as an identity breach of professional standards identity and impartial to the police conducts that led to sentencing.
DeleteWe are now seen the same group no longer a shining beacon of professional independent care protections management support and friendly where needed. We have been destroyed by our apathy to respite properly.
Police work is very skilled. Being a prison officer must be one of the most miserable jobs on the planet. Don’t do these important jobs down. Probation doesn’t fit in with the new political narrative that’s the long and short of it.
DeletePolice have full access to everyone's privacy via computers and records. Not hard examining people's lives in a team is it then cos decide what the charges are based on the evidence . They don't make analysts do they. As for turn keys get real . You can be as thick as a post and they will put a uniform on you. Securicor group 4 and serco securities illustrate the next level down that's it. We all know it you just don't want to say it.
DeleteGood prison officers head off problems before they arise, in that job you can commit or coast, the majority of prison officers I have met have been committed to their role ….
ReplyDeletegov donohue @ HMP Lincoln: took off jacket & tie then walked onto rampaging remand wing & talked down a potentially serious riot before tornado troops arrived. That took commitment & saved injuries, possibly lives + £shitloads of public money. But that was many moons back. Not sure if there are many left like that.
DeleteAlways one offs prisons are run for officers easy days . There should be mass daily activities but that too hard reform is bite size probation for the blame the others make it worse.
Delete"The Lord Chancellor has approved the appointments, for three years from 2 March 2026, of Jessica Jacobson and Rokaiya Khan as members with expertise in academic research and the rehabilitation of offenders respectively."
ReplyDeletehttps://www.gov.uk/government/news/appointment-and-reappointment-of-members-of-the-sentencing-council
'Getafix
Rokaiya Khan is Chief Executive of Together Women, a leading charity supporting women and girls across Yorkshire and the Humber. She has over 30 years’ experience in the voluntary and criminal justice sectors with a strong focus on prevention, rehabilitation, and gender responsive services.
Deletefor information re-"cicada" covid variant:
ReplyDeletehttps://health.stonybrookmedicine.edu/new-covid-variant-ba32-cicada-what-to-know/
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-duty-cost-allowance/public-duty-costs-allowance-guidance
ReplyDelete"All former Prime Ministers’ are eligible to draw on the PDCA... The limit is currently set at £115,000 and has remained frozen since 2011. It will remain frozen at this level in 2025/26 and 2026/27."
See. Former PMs aren't getting a rise at all! They just have to get by on their accrued £millions & a measly £115,000 towards any ongoing public duties.
I voted no, not because 6% is meaningless in isolation, but because Probation is repeatedly treated as an outlier: late, conditional, and expected to accept less certainty than comparable roles. This deal doesn’t materially improve things for lower-paid staff, doesn’t address structural unfairness, and comes with ambiguous conditions at a moment when the service needs us most. I’m not pressuring anyone else – people should do what’s right for them – but for me, accepting now would mean accepting a pattern I no longer believe will change unless it’s challenged.
ReplyDeleteGood assesment
DeletePeople on benefits will be getting a 6.2% increase this year. Our pay rise still falls woefully short of what is required.
DeleteRecall em !
ReplyDelete