Napo has campaigned tirelessly over the last seven years to
reunify probation following the disastrous privatisation of
probation under the then Secretary of State . We welcome the interest and scrutiny that the
Justice Select Committee has given probation over the years and
we welcome this report of their findings.
Whilst the report includes a number of key recommendations, the
committee has chosen to focus on staff workloads and the number
of cases that staff carry at any given time. However, Napo would
urge caution on this. Probation cases vary in terms of
complexity, needs, and risk management and in order for staff to
do their job they need the room to focus on those complex cases.
The ongoing issue of workloads in probation requires a far more
holistic approach including providing the service with the
resources it needs to employ the adequate number of staff, the
pay and recognition staff deserve and flexibility to address
workload and stress issues. An arbitrary number will become the
bench mark and this may ultimately do more harm than good.
The Dynamic framework, the part of probation still being
contracted out, has been badly affected by the pandemic in terms
of delays to the timetable for bidding and awarding contracts. As
such we are now under immense pressure to complete the process of
transfer in a very short space of time. Those staff members
transferring to these new providers under TUPE must be consulted
with and provided with assurances, which are currently not
forthcoming. It remains to be seen whether these new contracts
will provide the promised involvement of specialist voluntary and
third sector providers and there remain concerns that some of the
mistakes of the past will be repeated.
Over all however, the report is welcome. Napo would like to thank
the committee for its time but also to ask that it keeps
probation under scrutiny going forward. We have a long way to go
to effectively rebuild the profession, the service and staff
morale. This will require further investment, a commitment by the
Ministry of Justice to listen to the experts and follow the
evidence.
Ian Lawrence, Napo General Secretary said: “The last seven years
has taught us that you cannot have an effective probation service
built on ad hoc, ideologically run policies. Probation is a
critical part of the criminal justice system, of rehabilitating
clients and protecting the public. It cannot do this effectively
if it is starved of resources and under constant change. The
Minister must now commit to providing the probation with adequate
funding so that it can now begin to stabilise and return to being
the most effective public service justice system.”
