Category: probation

Opinion: 10 reasons why the civil service can’t do probation

Since Chris Grayling’s disastrous 2014 probation reforms, first part of, and since 2021 all of the probation service has been run centrally from Whitehall, as part of His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) in the Ministry of Justice (MOJ). Its staff are civil servants. As a consequence, HMPPS has struggled with operational delivery. A central model of probation delivery is simply too remote and too top-down to manage probation effectively or efficiently.   

UNISON is campaigning with the Labour Group of Police and Crime Commissioners for probation to be removed from civil service control and handed back to local delivery, expertise and democratic oversight. Here are 10 reasons why. 

Central control is bad for local delivery 

Prior to 2014, probation trusts were high performing local services working on the same footprint as police forces. This allowed effective working with partners like the police, courts, local authorities, the NHS and the voluntary sector. In 2014, trusts were abolished in favour of direct management by the MOJ for half the service and privatisation for the other half. And performance has never recovered. From June 2021, the whole service was unified under MOJ control. 

Central control tramples over professional independence   

Before 2014, there was a chief probation officer in every local probation trust, working at the same level as the chief constables in local police forces. Thirty-five of these chief probation officers collectively led an independent profession.  

The 2014 reforms to probation axed all these positions and now there is only one chief probation officer, who is a senior civil servant. This completely undermines independent, local, professional leadership. 

Generic jobs damage local responsiveness 

HMPPS has removed specialist probation jobs and replaced them with generic roles that cover too many responsibilities. This includes the closure of divisional sex offender units and the removal of specialist enforcement officers. This cost-cutting measure has destroyed local responsiveness.

The prison service dominates  

The prison service is now the dominant partner in HMPPS, with probation forced into a subservient position. This means that frequent prison crises eat up ministerial attention and resources which are denied to probation.  

HMPPS wants to own the professional register 

There has been talk for many years of setting up a professional register for probation practitioners. HMPPS first proposed that it should become the registration body for probation, which would make it both judge and jury over professional matters.  

MOJ central services are inefficient 

The civil service centralises functions like payroll, HR, facilities management and training, which has led to probation pay and conditions, including pensions, being poorly administered. This is an inefficient system that has lowered staff morale and productivity.

Civil service pay is chronically low 

The probation service is unable to recruit and retain skilled staff due to the chronic low pay issues in the civil service. In March 2024, the Public Accounts Committee identified the link between longstanding pay issues and staff satisfaction. 

Workloads are unmanageable 

The Probation Service has a workloads crisis, which is why UNISON is part of the joint union campaign Operation Protect. Staffing shortages, unmanageable caseloads and high levels of stress have not been managed down by HMPPS, which means that probation workers, people on probation and communities are all put at risk. Meanwhile, the civil service is too slow and bureaucratic to tackle this.  

Constant reorganisation causes churn and disruption

The civil service is in a state of almost constant top-down reorganisation, which has never allowed probation to just get on with its core mission. The One HMPPS strategy to align prisons and probation is just the latest in a series of ill-conceived and poorly delivered change programmes designed to reduce the independence of probation and make it more difficult to extract it from civil service control.  

More senior managers won’t solve these problems  

The One HMPPS strategy has created a totally new layer of senior managers (area executive directors) at great cost to the public purse, when what is really needed is a focus on supporting frontline staff with better pay and conditions. 

Probation workers and unions know better than anyone that, until probation is removed from civil service control and handed back to local management and oversight, it will continue to struggle. Overall, the priorities of the civil service are totally incompatible with a thriving, independent probation service that delivers for both people on probation and local communities. 

Read more about UNISON’s Operation Protect campaign 

The article Opinion: 10 reasons why the civil service can’t do probation first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Opinion: 10 reasons why the civil service can’t do probation

Since Chris Grayling’s disastrous 2014 probation reforms, first a section of the probation service – and as of 2021, all of it – has been run centrally from Whitehall, as part of His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) in the Ministry of Justice (MOJ).

As a consequence, HMPPS has struggled with operational delivery. A central model of probation delivery is simply too remote and too top-down to manage probation effectively or efficiently.   

UNISON is campaigning with the Labour Group of Police and Crime Commissioners for probation to be removed from civil service control and handed back to local delivery, expertise and democratic oversight. Here are 10 reasons why. 

Central control is bad for local delivery 

Prior to 2014, probation trusts were high performing local services working on the same footprint as police forces. This allowed effective working with partners like the police, courts, local authorities, the NHS and the voluntary sector. In 2014, trusts were abolished in favour of direct management by the MOJ for half the service and privatisation for the other half. And performance has never recovered. From June 2021, the whole service was unified under MOJ control. 

Central control tramples over professional independence   

Before 2014, there was a chief probation officer in every local probation trust, working at the same level as the chief constables in local police forces. Thirty-five of these chief probation officers collectively led an independent profession.  

The 2014 reforms to probation axed all these positions and now there is only one chief probation officer, who is a senior civil servant. This completely undermines independent, local, professional leadership. 

Generic jobs damage local responsiveness 

HMPPS has removed specialist probation jobs and replaced them with generic roles that cover too many responsibilities. This includes the closure of divisional sex offender units and the removal of specialist enforcement officers. This cost-cutting measure has destroyed local responsiveness.

The prison service dominates  

The prison service is now the dominant partner in HMPPS, with probation forced into a subservient position. This means that frequent prison crises eat up ministerial attention and resources which are denied to probation.  

HMPPS wants to own the professional register 

There has been talk for many years of setting up a professional register for probation practitioners. HMPPS first proposed that it should become the registration body for probation, which would make it both judge and jury over professional matters.  

MOJ central services are inefficient 

The civil service centralises functions like payroll, HR, facilities management and training, which has led to probation pay and conditions, including pensions, being poorly administered. This is an inefficient system that has lowered staff morale and productivity.

Civil service pay is chronically low 

The probation service is unable to recruit and retain skilled staff due to the chronic low pay issues in the civil service. In March 2024, the Public Accounts Committee identified the link between longstanding pay issues and staff satisfaction. 

Workloads are unmanageable 

The Probation Service has a workloads crisis, which is why UNISON is part of the joint union campaign Operation Protect. Staffing shortages, unmanageable caseloads and high levels of stress have not been managed down by HMPPS, which means that probation workers, people on probation and communities are all put at risk. Meanwhile, the civil service is too slow and bureaucratic to tackle this.  

Constant reorganisation causes churn and disruption

The civil service is in a state of almost constant top-down reorganisation, which has never allowed probation to just get on with its core mission. The One HMPPS strategy to align prisons and probation is just the latest in a series of ill-conceived and poorly delivered change programmes designed to reduce the independence of probation and make it more difficult to extract it from civil service control.  

More senior managers won’t solve these problems  

The One HMPPS strategy has created a totally new layer of senior managers (area executive directors) at great cost to the public purse, when what is really needed is a focus on supporting frontline staff with better pay and conditions. 

Probation workers and unions know better than anyone that, until probation is removed from civil service control and handed back to local management and oversight, it will continue to struggle. Overall, the priorities of the civil service are totally incompatible with a thriving, independent probation service that delivers for both people on probation and local communities. 

Read more about UNISON’s Operation Protect campaign 

The article Opinion: 10 reasons why the civil service can’t do probation first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Unmanageable probation workloads putting the public at risk, warn unions

Soaring workloads in the probation service are putting the public at risk, unions warn today (Monday). 

Napo, UNISON and GMB, which represent staff working in the probation service in England and Wales, say crippling workloads will lead to a catastrophic breakdown of the service if the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) does not intervene.  

Probation workers are responsible for monitoring people on probation in the community. 

But a recent restructure and staff shortages are making it extremely difficult to keep tabs on some of the UK’s most dangerous individuals, say the unions.

Employees are buckling under the pressure and many workers are quitting, leaving newly qualified and less experienced staff to take the reins.   

Unions fear overstretched staff are being scapegoated for the effects of an under-resourced service, prompting yet more staff to seek employment elsewhere.  

Calls for immediate government intervention have gone unheeded, say unions. This has led to the launch of today’s campaign aimed at reducing workload. 

The three unions are hopeful that the campaign, Operation Protect, will raise wider awareness of the issue and the threat posed to the public.

Napo general secretary Ian Lawrence said: “It would be all too easy for this much-needed campaign to be seen as a negative move from the probation unions. But among the key objectives is a call to senior leaders in probation and His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) to play their part by reaching an agreed workload reduction and management strategy with unions. This will allow the service to start to recover from the incessant and damaging changes it has gone through for more than a decade. 

“Probation can and must do better with the right levels of investment, but our members need to see that this government is taking their concerns seriously.” 

UNISON national officer for police and justice Ben Priestley said: “Probation staff are determined to keep the public safe and rehabilitate those on probation. But overwhelming workloads and staffing shortages have created a dangerous situation, which the government must address.” 

GMB national officer George Georgiou said: “The probation service has seen 10 years of underfunding and increasing workloads for all its staff. This campaign seeks to address the working conditions for our members who are being made unwell through high workloads. It will also protect staff, the communities they serve and their profession.” 

The joint union workloads campaign is being launched later today (Monday) at the MoJ. 

Notes to editors:
-The joint unions’ workloads campaign seeks to: 

  • work with ministers, HMPPS, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation, Probation Institute, sentencers and statutory partners to agree a strategic probation workload reduction programme
  • agree a safe workloads and case allocation system
  • ensure that all staff have high-quality supervision, when and how they need it, to manage their workloads effectively 
  • give probation staff the confidence, tools and support to challenge excessive workloads 
  • reach an employee care agreement with the Probation Service to protect the health, safety and wellbeing of probation staff.

– In June 2014, 35 probation trusts were abolished, and probation work was divided between two separate organisations. The National Probation Service (NPS) was directed to manage people on probation posing a high risk of serious harm to others and those subject to multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA). The NPS also had responsibility for probation services to the courts, including writing pre-sentence reports, and for victim contact work. The rest of the probation service was allocated to 21 newly created community rehabilitation companies in 2014 (CRCs). In February 2015, the CRCs were sold to private companies. 

-After a long campaign by Napo, UNISON and GMB the service was eventually re-unified into public ownership in June 2021.

Media contacts:  
Ian Lawrence, Napo M: 07788 118005 E: info@napo.org.uk  
UNISON M: 07778 158175 E: press@unison.co.uk   
GMB M: 07813 542050 E: press.office@gmb.org.uk

The article Unmanageable probation workloads putting the public at risk, warn unions first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Delegates pass key motions to protect probation workers

The second day of UNISON’s police and justice conference passed several key motions on the development pathways of police staff, as well as on improvements to the probation service.

Conference passed a key motion on securing development pathways for police staff within the context of ‘operation uplift’ – the government’s pledge to recruit 20,000 additional police officers by March 2023. As of March 2022, 13,576 officers had been recruited.

UNISON believes the increase in police officer numbers is having an adverse effect on police staff, given that many police officers are now taking up roles that have been previously held by police staff.

The motion called for UNISON to enter into discussion with the College of Policing to introduce, without delay, a career pathway for police staff, including guidance on why the police staff roles should be done by police staff, and tackling the ‘blue ceiling’ of manager roles taken by police officers.

Dave Bryant, speaking on behalf of UNISON West Mercia police branch, told delegates: “For too long, police officers have had the majority of opportunities within police services”.

Supporting the motion, Anne Marie Short, from Suffolk police branch said: “Police officers have a clear pathway, working their way up the rank structure and specialising in certain areas. Police staff don’t have such clear guidance. We need a standardised process for all forces to use for the development of their police staff”.

A delegate from Lancashire described how, after accepting her dream community engagement role in 2020, she has found her unit disestablished. She said: “I’m no longer able to do a role that I qualified for at masters level, at my own expense. I shouldn’t have to undervalue the skills and experience that I bring.

“Over a 12-month period, virtually all of our team drifted away, either to other roles internally, or chasing other positions elsewhere. The knock-on impact on my stress levels, on finding out our roles were essentially worthless, was not inconsequential”.

Probation service 

Several key motions were passed on providing security and support to UNISON members working in probation, after years of turmoil and instability due to the rapid restructuring of probation due to the failed ‘transforming rehabilitation’ agenda led by Chris Grayling.

Christine Grant, introducing a successful motion on probation service policies on behalf of the national probation committee, said: “Ever since the creation of the national probation service in 2014, UNISON has been fighting to defend our members’ terms and conditions.

“Members who have been transferred to the probation service from community rehabilitation centres (CRCs) have retained distinctive probation service terms and conditions.

“The Ministry of Justice fail to understand the pay and conditions of probation staff. We have had to enter disputes and legal action in order to safeguard our members’ interests.

“We’ve had to fight to retain the right to negotiate over subsistence allowances. We’ve had to fight to get back pay for members who have been upgraded through job evaluation because the civil service does not give back pay on job evaluation outcomes. It is a continual struggle and there is much work that lies ahead to secure our members’ terms and conditions.”

UNISON recognises that, while reunification of probation – after years of fragmentation and privatisation – is a triumph, members working in the service have absorbed huge amounts of turmoil and change. One of the motions passed unanimously demanded the union works to slow down the rate of change within the probation service, to provide consistency both for UNISON members and the people on probation who they support.

Frank Radcliffe from Eastern region probation branch, said: “What we are faced with now is an organisation led by a small army of civil servants, intent on introducing policy after policy, initiative after initiative, making the service more bureaucratic and less independent.”

Jill Harrison, speaking on behalf of the service group executive, commented: “Six years and half a billion pounds of taxpayers’ money poured into the ground, Grayling’s transforming rehabilitation experiments collapsed into disaster. In many respects, it was out of the frying pan and into the fire, because the probation service is now wholly in the control of the civil service, and probation is where the government always wanted it to be, under its thumb.” 

“Every week, there’s an avalanche of consultations on ways of working, new jobs and new ideas. Probation staff have not had the chance to settle into the new service. The so-called ‘One HMPPS’ is an attempt to merge the probation and prisons service, and UNISON is opposed to this. We’re working with a broad coalition to protect the future of probation and secure the future of an independent probation service.”

Resisting prison-related plans

Another motion was passed on resisting attempts by the government to impose policies designed for the prison service onto the probation service. Speaking in support of a motion to ‘protect probation’s identity’, one member working in HMP Chelmsford reminded delegates: “The probation ethos is to ‘advise, assist and befriend’. We may share the same service users as the prison service, but our ways of working are very different.”

Vice president of the service group Debi Potter said: “The profession of probation is under threat. The Ministry of Justice is gradually eroding its independence and ethos. First probation was split up, then privatised, then reunified after several years of mismanagement.

“Now, under centralised command under HMPPS, probation remains under threat because the public service ethos is being subsumed.”

Prior to the privatisation of probation in 2014, the probation service was run by 35 independent probation trusts, each run by a chief probation officer with authority equivalent to that of a chief police constable. 

Ms Potter said that the independence of the probation service was “always seen as a threat to the Ministry of Justice: too independent, too outspoken in defence of probation, so they had to go. Now there’s only one chief probation officer, who is a civil servant, and recently the justice secretary made a decision to prevent probation officers making recommendations to parole boards on the release of people from prison.

“We’re facing the threat of merging probation with prison services. We’ve already seen probation officers line-managed by prison governors. We need to maintain the independence and ethos of probation.”

Other motions passed included those on police health and safety, and removing job-related fitness tests for police staff, which do not make allowances for any person with disabilities, menopausal women or an ageing workforce.

The article Delegates pass key motions to protect probation workers first appeared on the UNISON National site.