What's Going On?

Just recently news has been filtering through as to 'things going on' at the MoJ and in particular an effective 'audit' of CRC caseloads. Things escalated yesterday with a reader pointing me in the direction of an email from Suki Binning, CEO Seetec, subsequently followed by a mailout from Napo:- 

Dear colleagues

This year we have been tested in ways none of us could have predicted. I have never known a period which has required us to continuously reshape and change our service for such an extended period of time. I am enormously proud of the way you have worked with courage, using your initiative and with the utmost care for the people and places you serve.

Even though our focus is on tackling the impact of coronavirus (Covid-19), it is my responsibility as chief executive to look to and prepare for the future. We know that next year, probation structures will change once again. I want to share with you some important developments regarding the changes.

Firstly, the Ministry of Justice communicated to prospective suppliers yesterday that they have suspended the process to appoint new probation delivery partners as they review the impact of coronavirus (Covid-19). We are seeking clarity from the Department on what that means in practice and will keep you updated.

My view is that the pandemic has underscored the value and resilience of the mixed economy of providers. We redesigned our services quickly, developed new ideas to support other public services through the crisis and used our financial strength to support you by setting up a hardship fund and implementing planned pay rises of up to 11 per cent, skewed towards the lowest pay bands. The pandemic has also created new challenges that are likely to continue for some time requiring an ethos focused on delivering value for money, flexibility and innovation. As the Secretary of State said last year in the House of Commons, KSS CRC is an example of where 'best practice has been achieved, showing an excellent delivery of unpaid work placements and a comprehensive range of programmes on offer'. We can be proud of our record delivering probation services for the communities we serve.

I want to secure what we have built and apply our expertise for the benefit of the whole system as we recover from the virus. As you know, I have chosen to remain in the private sector in order to lead Seetec's Justice division, which is bidding to operate and manage new activity hubs and the new probation delivery partners. Over the course of the coming year, our challenge will be to continue to deliver services while preparing for the new arrangements and our transition to a new organisation. My focus will be to use that time to strengthen the whole system, for those who will transfer to the public sector and those who will transfer into the new delivery partner. We will work closely with NPS leads in the respective regions who have already contacted us regarding engaging with those colleagues who will move to the public sector.

In terms of the new organisation, it's vital that stakeholders and partners are able to easily understand its role and purpose. Our focus on criminal justice should also be clear. With that in mind, we have chosen a new name - Justice Interventions Company - which provides both clarity about what we do and what can be expected from us.

Rest assured, we will embed into the Justice Interventions Company the best of our sector's identity and values. We will build on the culture, record of service delivery and goodwill that we have developed for KSS CRC because I truly believe that what you have achieved here is very special, vital and must be protected. As the Government's announcement of the new arrangements this time last year made clear, probation has a long history of providing the right kind of interventions that are effective in helping offenders to turn their lives around, reducing reoffending and protect victims. We have been at the forefront of that work. Our Justice Interventions Company will build on our record to date but will focus entirely on developing tailored, evidence-based approaches for the people in our local communities that you understand and serve so well.

While I know we are in the midst of responding to the Covid-19 crisis, I want to reassure you that we continue to prepare for our future. Thank-you for everything you have done in recent weeks, which comes on top of the challenges and obstacles you have overcome over recent years. Your professionalism and dedication to the people we support remains a source of pride and inspiration for many, including me.

Any queries as always feel free to contact me.

--oo00oo--

This from Napo yesterday:-

Probation Reform bidding process is suspended due to C-19 pressures

We were advised yesterday afternoon at our regular engagement with Senior Leaders from the Probation Reform Programme that a decision has been taken to suspend the current bidding process for the intended Probation Provider Contracts due to commence in 2021. This is not a cancellation of the programme and we understand has been caused by the current operational pressures on the MoJ and HMPPS caused by the C-19 pandemic.

The attached letter sets out the actual position and also confirms that CRC providers have been notified of this development. We can also confirm that no decision has yet been taken by the Minister as to whether existing CRC contracts are to be extended, and the previous speculation by some CRC providers to this effect is unfounded.

More information about the Probation Reform Programme will be included in a future member mail out as soon as it is available.

Ian Lawrence General Secretary
Katie Lomas National Chair

--oo00oo--

28/05/20
Dear all, 

I am writing to clarify the current position in relation to the Probation Delivery Partner competition. 

On Tuesday, we issued a notice to the organisations involved in the PDP competition that we were suspending the process. This is simply to provide us with a short amount of time to work through the implications of Covid19 on the Probation Reform Programme. 

I am aware that there is some rumour that the PDP competition has been cancelled. That is not accurate. 

Delivery of the Probation Reform Programme remains a top priority for the Ministry of Justice and we are committed to moving at pace to deliver reforms. You will understand that Covid19 is an unprecedented challenge and it is right that we take a small amount of time to ensure the programme is best placed to continue with reforms in this new and difficult operating context. 

I would be very happy to discuss this further if you have questions on behalf of your members. 

Yours Sincerely, 

Jim Barton

Latest From Napo 208

The following Bulletin 12 was sent to members late yesterday and can be found on the website:- 

Napo maintains pressure on CRC pay

Over the last few months Napo negotiators have achieved some important breakthroughs in our longstanding campaign to seek pay parity for our members employed in the Community Rehabilitation Companies. This has been a difficult task to say the least, and the levels of engagement between CRC employers and the unions have seen a mixture of positive outcomes alongside some very disappointing responses.

Below is a summary outlining what has been achieved so far:

SEETEC

SEETEC KSS CRC eventually made a pay offer at the turn of the year covering staff across all of their regions for 2020/2021. The offer followed a marked improvement in industrial relations between senior SEETEC Management and the unions and was a major factor in the offer being possible. This was in stark contrast to the attitudes and practices that were demonstrated by Working Links when they operated in the CRC areas that SEETEC took over in February 2019.

SEETEC KSS CRC were the first employer to declare that they were prepared to match the current NPS pay rates; a signal breakthrough for Napo in our long running campaigns to achieve pay parity across both arms of the Probation service. The offer tacitly recognised the need to motivate and retain existing staff and also make the company more attractive to potential employees. Indeed, within days of the pay offer becoming public, Napo learned of a number of employees from a neighbouring CRC leaving to take on better paid jobs with Seetec. General Secretary Ian Lawrence adds: “This should serve as a serious warning to all of Seetecs competitors or any would be bidders for new Probation Contracts.”

Union members subsequently voted by a huge majority to agree to the realignment of all salary bands to the current NPS Pay Scales. This resulted in 74% of the workforce receiving an increase of 4% or above, and 52% of the workforce receiving an increase of 5% or above.

While this settlement brought the pay dispute to a welcome end, the unions have reserved the right to make further representations if pay developments elsewhere warrant this.

Durham Tess Valley CRC.

The DTV CRC pay deal for 2020/21 and 2021/22 covers the remaining 15 months to contract end in June 2021, the pay deal provides a guaranteed minimum pay award of 6%, payable from April 2020 and assimilation onto the NPS pay scales. This means that the new pay scales will significantly reduce the time to progress through each pay band and the value of progression will be larger than in the current pay structure. Also, the offer guarantees each member of staff a minimum increase of 6% and some staff will receive a greater increase.

As this offer met our demand that the pay scales at DTV CRC are aligned to the NPS. Napo recommended acceptance of the pay offer and as a consequence Napo members voted overwhelmingly to accept the offer. The result of the ballot was 92% accept and 8% reject with a 50% turnout.

Sodexo

The Sodexo Pay Offer covers the six Sodexo CRCs (Northumbria, Cumbria & Lancashire, South Yorkshire, Essex, BeNCH and Norfolk & Suffolk). The pay offer covers the years 2020/21 and 2021/22 (contract end). This offer is for a two year pay deal and is being made following the work undertaken in previous years to modernise the pay structure so staff will reach the top of the scale within a much shorter timeframe.

The main terms of the offer are below:

2020/21 Pay Offer
2.5% Non-consolidated payment for those at the top of their pay band
A minimum pay increase for all other staff of 2.0%. For most this will be achieved through incremental progression however in instances where incremental progression is less than 2.0% a non-consolidated payment will be made.

2021/22 Pay Offer
2.5% Non-consolidated payment for those at the top of their pay band
A minimum pay increase for all other staff of 2.0%. For most this will be achieved through incremental progression however in instances where incremental progression is less than 2.0% a non-consolidated payment will be made.

Despite not meeting all the unions’ aspirations Napo and UNISON believe that this is the best deal achievable by negotiation taking into account the unique circumstances we find ourselves in because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, the unions did not make a recommendation to members and it is up to the members to decide. A ballot on the offer has been initiated and will conclude on the 27 April and members will decide to accept or reject the offer.

MTC

Pay talks commenced in February. The first session since the imposition of a pay award last year backdated to April 2019 which saw Staff moved up one spinal point and a non-consolidated payment of 1%, staff at the top of their scale received a 2% payment. The back pay element of the agreement was only relevant to basic pay not overtime or allowances.

The theme of disappointment continued as MTC declared that their ability fund a pay award for 2020/21 was challenging. Napo stated that if MTC want to invest in people, then they have to pay a going wage, otherwise this would impact on attrition rates in their CRCs in London and Thames Valley. It was noted that one of MTC competitors had put out a pay offer to match NPS pay banding. Napo also said that if MTC were among potential bidders for new contracts, the employer needed to do much better on pay.

Interserve

The unions have submitted our claim (CLICK HERE) and employer has provided us with pay data, but they haven't done the work to cost our claim. For this reason a meeting to discuss the claim was postponed from this week. It will now take place in the coming week.

WWM

Pay talks are still delayed and the unions are pressing for engagement to take place soon, but the unions have submitted the joint pay claim referenced below. A further update will follow once there is more news to report.

RRP

Pay discussions have got underway after a long delay, but have not got off to a good start with the employer claiming that the company are unable to fund an additional pay award beyond the cost of annual increments .

Napo and our sister unions are now consulting with members to test their views on a range of responses, but the next step will probably be an approach to the RRP Board to express members’ disappointment. Napo will also point out that if RRP see themselves as serious potential bidders for the intended Intervention and Programme Contracts from June 2020 they will be lagging seriously behind their likely competitors.

Napo at Work in the South West 29

As always, thanks to the reader for sharing the following:-

Dear Colleague, 

PAY NEGOTIATIONS LATEST..... 

Union members to be balloted on pay offer from SEETEC 

At long last and after months of hard work by your trade union representatives across the two regions of SEETEC KSS CRC, a pay offer has emerged. This follows an earlier joint pay claim and the declaration of a pay dispute. 

It is fair to say that the improvement in industrial relations between senior SEETEC Management and the Unions since SEETEC took over the CRC contracts in Wales and the South West from the dreadful Working Links, has been a major factor in this pay offer being made. Whilst there will always be issues where it is not always possible to reach an accord, we have seen a tangible improvement in the working relationship over several months between SEETEC and the Probation trade unions. 

Last week’s news that SEETEC are to become an employee owned enterprise and news of this pay offer are both positive developments and are in marked contrast to the ineptitude and contempt for their staff that was demonstrated by the previous CRC provider. 

The offer and what happens next 

The Unions believe that this pay offer from SEETEC sends a strong signal to its competitors and all interested parties who may be contemplating bids to become Probation Providers following the termination of CRC Contracts in June 2021. 

SEETEC KSS CRC are the first employer to declare that they are prepared to match the current NPS pay rates, which is a signal achievement by the unions in our long running campaigns to achieve pay parity across both arms of the Probation service.

The offer and the two options on which union members will be balloted, also demonstrates that the employer tacitly recognises the need to motivate its existing staff and also make the company more attractive to potential employees. 

Whilst the offer is a major step forward the unions are not yet in a position to make a recommendation to members as we have immediately raised a number of questions with senior management to which we hope to obtain early answers. Our questions and managements response will be included in a more comprehensive pay ballot briefing that we will be issuing at the earliest opportunity, Our aim is to ballot our respective members in good time to allow for payment of the offer (subject to acceptance) from 1st April 2020. Please look out for more details of the ballot arrangements from your union over the next week or so. Please note that the ballot will only be open to trade union members. 

The following offer for the 2020/2021 pay year has followed some very constructive dialogue with the recognised Trade Unions. 

The following options have been put to us: - 

Option 1 – Apply a 3% increase to base salaries 

Option 2 – Realignment of all salary bands to the NPS Pay bandings (if this results in less than a 3% increase for any employee, Seetec will apply an unconsolidated payment for the % differential) 

Note: All Options above would be inclusive of the contractual incremental increase and result in unconsolidated payments for those at the top of their pay band. 

Aligning Salary Bands to NPS Bands (Option 2) 

In 2018 the NPS introduced new pay bands increasing the minima and maxima and consolidating the number of points within the Band and proposed a move to this position over a two-year period. 

Option 2 proposes moving directly to the 2019 NPS position. Increasing the maxima of the band enables employees at the top of the current pay band to receive an actual increase on their base pay, KSS CRC does not apply salaries below Band 2 salary scale point 35, (currently £18,654) and the employer proposes that this will remain the case. This would mean that the new minimum salary for any employee will be £19,977.

Mirroring the NPS bandings would result in 74% of the workforce receiving an increase of 4% or above, 52% of the workforce receiving an increase of 5% or above. 

If this option is accepted, the percentage increases would be as follows:

Increase (%) No of Employees      Increase (%) No of Employees

2% - 2.99%* 33                               7% - 7.99% 105
3% - 3.99% 264                              8% - 8.99% 20
4% - 4.99% 259                              9% - 9.99% 29  
5% - 5.99% 223                             10% -10.99% 43
6% - 6.99% 179                             11% -11.99% 7 

*An additional unconsolidated award will be applied for these individuals 

The above Data has been presented as being accurate as at 30.11.2019, but the unions are seeking verification of this together with assurances about future pay arrangements prior to the termination of the existing CRC Contracts next year. 

It’s time to join a trade union 

The pay offer and the work that has gone on in trying to secure improved working conditions and employee engagement is testimony to the value of trade union membership. Please engage with colleagues who may not be members of one of the recognised trade unions and encourage them to consider joining. 

Ian Lawrence                       Siobhan Brown                           Helen Coley

General Secretary Napo      Regional Organiser UNISON     Regional Organiser GMB

   

Transfer News

Despite complaints in some quarters recently regarding the apparent lack of visible activity from Napo HQ, thanks go to the reader for forwarding the following from Napo Cymru and KSS (both edited) :- 

NAPO Cymru AUTUMN NEWSLETTER 2019

The transition of CRC staff to the NPS is still scheduled for 2nd December. While there is the festive holidays, a General Election and other distractions this will be uppermost in the minds of many members. Please read all advice and information coming to you from Napo HQ. 

If you are doing that, you will be aware that Napo is in dispute with the employers regarding T’s and C’s with particular respect to Enhanced Voluntary Redundancy. This emergency motion was passed at the recent Napo AGM in Cardiff: 

‘In light of the General Secretary’s announcement today and bearing in mind the urgency of the intended transfer of staff in Wales on the 1st December this AGM instructs Napo’s Officers and Officials to demand that the MoJ honour the principles in the 2014 Staff Transfer and Protections Agreement for the transfer of staff from CRCs to the NPS in Wales in 2019 and in England in 2021.’ 

Agreement has been reached that any subsequent agreement on the issue will be backdated to the date of transfer, but this does mean that CRC staff transferring to NPS in December will do so on their existing terms and conditions. 

Letters to transferring staff: Staff transferring to NPS from CRC should receive letters confirming this imminently. If you are expecting such a letter, and don’t get one by 4th November, please contact Napo immediately 

Campaign for full reunification: its not over yet Napo continues to campaign for the full reunification of Probation in the public Sector, and the inclusion of all our colleagues in Programmes, Interventions and Unpaid Work. 

Health and Safety: There are important H&S considerations for staff moving to new workplaces: we are endeavouring to ensure risk impact assessments are made in advance of moves, please update reps with concerns.

Commission on Justice in Wales: a rebalancing of Justice with rehabilitation at its heart 

The two-year Commission on Justice in Wales launched its report at the Senedd on Thursday 24th October. Napo Cymru submitted written and oral evidence to the commission. National and branch officers attended the launch and pressed for more attention to be paid to the qualifying training for Probation staff. 

The comparison between this painstaking, principled, evidence-based report and the ideological guff regarding crime issuing from No 10 Downing Street is stark. The MoJ is isolated its stubborn adherence to a marketized justice model, centralised bureaucratic control and building and filling prisons. 

While the report is light on detail regarding Probation, despite one of the commissioners being a previous Probation CEO, there is much to welcome, including recommendations regarding Women’s Centres, Victims, ACE informed practice and a greater investment in. Welsh Government First Minister Mark Drakeford opened the event and also addressed our AGM (see below). In Wales, Probation has many friends and champions You can read the summary of the Commission’s report here and the full report here. 

Napo AGM News 

It was a packed and dramatic AGM conference this year in Cardiff, 11th and 12th October, you can see reports on Napo online and in our magazine. First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford opened the AGM and pledged the support of the Welsh Government for a unified public sector Probation Service in Wales unleashed from the Civil Service. We are fortunate in Wales to have ministers with cv’s which include probation work, and principles and policies that chime with ours.

Welcome to new members! 

At the last count, membership of Napo from Wales had increased by 10% this year. There is a very steady increase in membership across England and Wales. Probation staff are increasingly alive to the need for representation for their own protection, and for heft in the protection of our profession. We were delighted to see so many new Napo Cymru members at the AGM this year. Napo Cymru members worked as stewards at this years AGM, and having worked their socks off doing that, scooped up the unused packed lunches and distributed them to the sadly very evident and numerous street homeless in Cardiff. 

Further AGM News

Serious further offences and workload 

For Napo Cymru, Mairead Finn proposed the motion “This AGM moves that an officer’s Workload Management Tool must be a mitigating factor when in a serious further offence investigation. WMT must be discussed during the Serious Further Offence process and be included in any official documentation or report on the findings of the Serious Further Offence.” 

This was passed unanimously and therefore becomes a campaigning issue for your Union. Napo Cymru proposed (and won) other motions, including a call for an overhaul of the qualifying training, policies which contribute to tackling climate change, and housing and benefits for prison leavers. 

Working for you 

Your reps and officers are working hard in your interests. In addition to national and local negotiations they are lobbying hard (wearing holes in the carpets of both Westminster and the Senedd according to one) and importantly supporting and defending individual members. At the last count, Napo Cymru was working on some 20 individual cases, spanning disciplinary, sickness, redundancy, displacement and grievance procedures. 

Contribute! We have need of additional Napo reps. Please consider offering to contribute your talents: for example, as a Health and Safety rep, you will receive training and as a rep, workload relief and expenses for your time and trouble. Contact your local reps or chairs if you would like to “think about thinking about this”.

We can’t work for you if you’re not joined. Make sure you are paying by direct debit! If you are transferring from CRC to NPS, you must pay your subs by DD. 

https://www.napo.org.uk/SWITCH

--oo00oo--

KSS Staff Transfers to NPS Pay Advances

HMPPS is offering pay advances to our staff transferring to NPS on Sunday 1 December. This is to support you with any potential financial pressure over Christmas that may occur due to the change in pay date, and allow you to re-arrange dates for outgoing finances.

The pay advances will be based on a percentage of net pay. Net pay is the amount of pay remaining after deductions (such as tax and national insurance). Net pay is estimated to be about 65% of gross pay. Gross pay is the salary before any deductions. The salary used to calculate pay advances will be the salary paid by KSS CRC on Monday 18 November 2019.

The pay advance dates and percentage of pay options offered as an advance will be:

Wednesday 18 December 2019 – 25%, 50%, 75% or 100%
Friday 17 January 2020 – 25%, 50% or 75%
Tuesday 18 February 2020 – 25% or 50% 

The advance payment, if requested, will be issued on 18 of the month. The remainder of your pay (where applicable) will be paid on the standard NPS pay date, which is the last working day of the month. 

If you receive an advance payment, your payslip at the end of the month will show your full salary and the advance payment will show as a minus figure. 

We have identified a contact for each business unit, who will collate all the advance payment requests for staff within their unit for each month. One list from each business unit will be returned to a central point in HMPPS for processing. Details of the contact for your business unit, and the internal deadlines, are below, along with the form to be used for advance requests. The form must be completed for each individual month.

Troubled Takeover

There seems to be yet more trouble in the South West according to the following from a reader:-

Dear members

Please read the following joint Union message:

Unions raise concerns over employers DBS assessment requests

Local Branch Officials from Napo/UNISON/GMB have been inundated with requests from members for advice about the recent request issued by KSS CRC/SEETEC. This seeks staff permission to undertake a new DBS assessment and provide authority for further checks to be carried out in relation to wide ranging and comprehensive personal data. These include: 

• Employment history
• Education
• Professional Qualifications
• Membership of professional organisations
• Character and professional references
• Asking staff to confirm that information provided can be subject to further verification
• Providing background information for new criminal and credit record checks
• Association with Credit Agencies or Government organisations
• Authority requests of staff to sign off permissions that include driving records checks and personal financial data.
• Confirmation that staff are content for this sensitive material to be shared across European partners and others organisations

Our concerns

Yet again, the employer has launched a sensitive communication without consultation with the unions. In the absence of a number of reassurances we remain to be convinced that some of these requests do not breach many of our members individual rights to privacy and the right to data security. The Unions have no further information other than the vague assurances in the letter to staff, but given the difficulties that we were alerted to at the time of KSS CRC taking the place of Working Links (where personal files were stacked in boxes in Middlesbrough), this is not a reference that can be relied upon.

The unions have had no consultation with the employer about why they are seeking this information which appears to go above and beyond what is actually necessary. Staff reading the list of intended inquiries and the scope for third party involvement have relayed their shock and disbelief at the level of invasive checking, including the need to produce passports and domestic bills as a form of identification.

We will be urgently raising the issue with the employer and until we receive a satisfactory explanation, we must remind members that they are under no obligation to provide this material afresh as it should already be in your established online data records. If this has been lost between employers then this is a serious issue.

The unions have had no assurances about where and how this information is to be revealed and remain doubtful that this request is compliant with the existing General Data Protection legislation.

The GDPR legislation sets out seven key principles:

• Lawfulness, fairness and transparency.
• Purpose limitation.
• Data minimisation.
• Accuracy.
• Storage limitation.
• Integrity and confidentiality (security)
• Accountability

We also intend to ask the employer to explain why, when relevant record checks last up to 4 years for a standard DBS, they need to conduct this exercise. We will be writing to the employer to record our concerns and we will also be considering the potential for a complaint to the Information Commissioners Office on behalf of the staff affected.

We will also remind the employer of the additional costs involved in this process especially as the employer has claimed that it does not have the resources to improve upon their recently imposed pay award.

The unions will be issuing further information to members at the earliest opportunity.

Meanwhile, and as a self-protection measure, the unions recommend that all members withhold their permission for these checks to be carried out until further clarity has been provided.

Ian Lawrence, General Secretary, Napo
Siobhan Brown/Simon Dunn/Debbie Monksfield, Regional Organisers, UNISON
Helen Coley, Regional Officer, GMB/SCOOP

Napo at Work in the South West 27

As usual, thanks go to the reader for forwarding the following. (I have not included the exchange of correspondence between the unions and Seetec).

Dear Members

Please read the attached documents from Napo GS and sister unions. We remain in dispute with Seetec over pay amongst other things. While we seek a fairer pay award we have had nothing that goes anywhere near a reasonable offer let alone fair. Instead Seetec continue to rewrite their own account of the truth. Their derisory, pathetic minimal contractual pay imposition on our members is just insulting when they won't attend properly to fair and assessed weighted workloads.

While we all look forwards to the new 80% staffing and workloads return to Public Services where pay is agreed by members and reflects a better pay value of staff, although still short of what Probation staff are worth. We can see now despite early day flannel in the Seetec CRC your worth less. They continue to expect more and their duplicitous campaign to damage our STAP protected policies. Your terms will be worsened should you be unfortunate enough to remain in a future CRC when and if new arrangements are brokered into place. Let's hope not then but for now you have the opportunity to register the dissent we hear from members daily in the anger staff feel at the way Seetec operate their attempts to force another major series of ill prepared changes whilst still ignoring the urgency of the recent HMIP report. This is an indicative ballot and a good response in number is important to register your continued unhappiness at the way the Seetec group continue the same tactics of their failed aggressive predecessors Working Links. Read carefully the good efforts of the NAPO Head Office to work positively with Seetec only to be aware of their real intentions of further and unreasonable delay tactic. 

Finally let you, the hard pressed staff down with the most miserly CRC pay award and differential between East and West that is incredible to try and front up. They have no sense of acting properly to pay well and equitably and this cannot be allowed to continue. Vote now, vote early when the survey comes to your e mail and let's ensure a full response so the Unions leaderships have a measure on what direction to push our action while unfairness on pay continues.

Dino Peros 

Napo SSW Branch Chair.

--oo00oo--

SEETEC KSS CRC FAIL TO ENGAGE ON PAY – UNIONS LAUNCH INDICATIVE BALLOTS

In this special bulletin 

• Employer fails to supply relevant data and rejects further pay talks
• Shoddy pay award imposed on staff
• Staff told they should be grateful at ‘the further (non-pay related) investment’ by SEETEC
• All CRC members to be asked how we should now proceed

Why we are in dispute

Last month we advised members that the probation unions had formally notified KSS CRC/ SEETEC that we were now in dispute with the employer on Pay following their failure to comply with their obligation to supply data that would inform meaningful negotiations.

Despite a realistically structured pay claim and a detailed presentation to KSS/SEETEC senior management, it became clear that there was no real intention (or it seems any authority) to engage properly with the unions. Moreover, the information supplied (when it eventually arrived), was not only inadequate but failed to explain the reason why the employer is intent on maintaining a two-tier workforce with pay disparity between the east and west of their extended workforce. We then asked the employer to join us in common cause to make a case for additional funding from the MoJ/HMPPS and to meet with us again to see if any progress could be made towards improving their pay offer. The employer has rejected both of these requests.

All of the foregoing is in stark contrast to the promises from the employer to constructively engage with trade unions when they stepped in to replace the failed Working Links CRC. Some things do not change it seems.

Hard-pressed staff deserve a decent pay rise!

The astonishing revelation back in early 2018 that Working Links/Aurelius were paid £4.2 million by the MoJ in that financial year (part of a four year package reportedly worth £277 million to shore up the 21 CRCs in England and Wales) caused understandable anger among many members who had not seen a decent pay rise for some years. Just how much of this was pocketed by directors and shareholders is anyone’s guess.

It was quite reasonable for members to expect that once SEETEC had moved in to replace the shambolic Working Links regime there would be room in the new funding arrangements between SEETEC and the MoJ to offer staff a decent pay rise, especially as rates of pay in the NPS are substantially higher. Instead, their new employers have treated you with gross disrespect.

The imposition of a two-year award for staff working in the areas originally covered by KSS CRC has compounded matters and that award still falls short of the joint pay claim. This is why all CRC members are encouraged to take part in this important consultative exercise. This is an opportunity for members to demonstrate solidarity with each other across all of the regions now covered by the employer.

Appended to this bulletin are copies of correspondence between the unions and employer illustrating our efforts to negotiate and their response. We intend asking some serious questions in Parliament about the current funding structure that has been put in place and why SEETEC have obviously failed to undertake appropriate due diligence prior to replacing Working Links.

We want meaningful dialogue and transparency

We need to make it clear to all our members that the unions would rather not be in this dispute. We want to engage in dialogue where the employer shows a willingness to explore every avenue to pay staff what they deserve. Unfortunately, this will require a change in approach from the SEETEC board, who seem to think (as did the former disgraceful employer), that trade union members are an irrelevance. Just like their predecessors, they fail to understand that staff know more about what is actually needed to improve the catastrophic state of operations that they inherited. If they want your support in this regard then they ought to get back around the table and find the means to pay up now!

Indicative ballot - your chance to direct the dispute 

We need to get a better understanding from our loyal members as to what they think about the current situation and your willingness if necessary, to move to the next stage of this unnecessary dispute. Napo, UNISON and GMB are now launching a series of consultative ballots for our members across the whole of the KSS CRC. Please look out for more news about the balloting process and please show this bulletin to colleagues who may not be in a trade union and encourage them to sign up with the union of their choice and join the campaign for fair pay! 

We are asking all union members to make a clear statement in this ballot by voting ‘Yes’ to the relevant questions.

Ian Lawrence, Sarah Friday, Tania Bassett. Napo

Siobhan Brown, Debbie Monksfield, UNISON
Helen Coley. GMB

Napo at Work in the South West 24

Thanks go to the reader for sharing the following:-  

10th June 2019

Some progress on improving the dialogue but Unions reject shabby Pay Offer

This bulletin sets out the key outcomes from last weeks’ meeting between KSS CRC and SEETEC senior leadership and the Trade Unions in Reading over 6/7th June.

This engagement followed the recent correspondence from Napo, UNISON and GMB in which we explained our serious disappointment at the lack of tangible progress by KSS CRC and SEETEC senior management following agreed actions from the earlier meetings’ with the unions. Even allowing for the chaos that SEETEC have inherited from Working Links, the employer has so far failed to show that they are that much different when it comes to recognising the role of the unions and entering into negotiations.

It has taken some time, but at least a number of joint objectives on future engagement were agreed. We expect these to help facilitate urgent and long overdue dialogue on a range of very important issues. Many of these are the result of the legacy failures of the incompetent former CRC provider Working Links. Some are existing priorities (such as the transfer of Offender Management work to NPS Wales by December this year and the overall operational plan up until April 2021).

New structures for improved engagement

The unions have agreed to a regional engagement structure. One will cover the former Kent Surrey and Sussex area of the enlarged CRC, and one for the South West, West and Wales. There will be a standardised agenda to ensure consistency and an overarching JNCC comprising of union reps and senior management as has been the case in the meetings at Chippenham, Cardiff and Reading. We need to see a serious improvement from what has happened so far.

There will also be a restoration of localised and more informal ‘short sides’ discussions to try and deal with day-to-day issues that may arise in between the above.

Specific working groups are be established covering:

• The transition of OM work from Wales
• Unpaid Work
• Workloads as a result of the intended Operational Model

More details of dates for these and the names of the respective union reps will follow.

Pay dispute on the cards

Sadly, it did not prove possible to make any progress whatsoever in terms of securing an acceptable position on pay. We were strongly critical of the employer who has not only failed to understand the dreadful position that they have inherited, but have not provided us with information that we are legally entitled to and who also apparently lack the authority to actually negotiate an acceptable outcome.

Moreover, we said that the Probation U-turn has markedly changed the longer-term approach to pay reform that the employer envisaged. The unions are demanding that urgent remedial action be taken NOW to establish pay parity across the whole of the extended CRC, and redress inadequate pay rates following the imposition of a pay award to staff in the original KSS area last year.

The employer has undertaken to reply to the Unions by the middle of the week and we will issue further news as soon as it becomes available. Meanwhile, we have put the employer on notice that in the absence of a positive response we reserve the right to move to a dispute.

Future of Probation

As you would expect, a debate took place at Reading following the news of the Governments policy U-turn which will see an estimated 80% of offender management work move to 11 new NPS regions by the time that the current CRC providers are shown the door by April 2021 (latest) or sooner if there is a Labour Government in power. This means that the National negotiations on the selection and transfer process for Wales will be vital in terms of these being the benchmark for England. The unions have also said that we expect the employer to carry out the instructions it receives from the centre, and that we are not prepared to see this, or any other CRC provider, determine the future placement of staff to the NPS.

We reiterated that while the U-turn is a victory for the probation unions it does not give us all that our members are demanding. We have made it clear to senior KSS and SEETEC as well as Ministers, that we do not see any justification for retaining Intervention and Programme work in a so- called ‘mixed-market’ and we will continue to demand:

• The total reunification of all probation work to public control
• The harmonisation of all staff on to NPS Pay rates before the ending of CRC contracts

Join a union now!

In light of the foregoing, we must again emphasize the importance of belonging to a trade union. Please share this bulletin with colleagues who may not be in a trade union.

The unions are campaigning for:

• Fair pay for all
• The reunification of all probation work
• An end to all privatisation
• A moratorium on formal action against staff caused by inept management and the operational failures identified in previous HMI Probation reports (e.g. Gloucester and Devon, Dorset Cornwall)
• Restoration of effective collective bargaining across the extended KSS CRC
• Immediate action to reduce workload pressures
• Staff to be treated with dignity and respect.

Can you afford to leave the struggle to everyone else?

Ian Lawrence General Secretary Napo

Siobhan Brown/Simon Dunn/Debbie Monkfield Regional Organisers UNISON

Helen Coley Regional Officer GMB/SCOOP

Napo and Seetec

In what feels alarmingly like a re-run of the original TR process, unfortunately I suspect we are in for quite a number of fairly turgid posts over the coming months as we all try and get a grip on exactly what is being proposed under modified TR2. In this regard, Napo SSW seems to feature large, not least due to the efforts of their energetic Chair Dino Peros, together with the willingness of readers in that neck of the woods to share information. Here we have the latest info concerning Seetec CRCs, but I suspect will be of interest to other contract areas as well:-

Update for members in the Seetec owned CRCs - Joint Trade Union Bulletin

Unions make our anger about poor engagement very clear

Trade unions recently wrote to the KSS CRC Chief Executive Suki Binning. Here we set out our serious disappointment at the lack of tangible progress by SEETEC senior management following agreed actions from the earlier engagement meetings with the unions. The letters are attached to this joint bulletin and articulate the range of issues where we feel no progress has been made.

Pay

In these communications we have among other things been strongly critical of the disinformation that has been issued by some senior managers. Evidence reaching us suggests that it is being said that unions are preventing staff from getting a pay rise! This is a complete fabrication on the real picture which is that SEETEC have failed to undertake appropriate due diligence and have made an unacceptable pay offer which is both inadequate and lacks any acknowledgement of some key facts. Further news on pay will follow.

Engagement with unions

After some quite farcical events leading up to the cancellation of planned pay discussions which should have taken place on 23rd May, it has at last been possible to agree that talks on pay and the issues referenced above can now get underway on 6th and 7th June.

The unions have made it very clear that we have reluctantly made significant concessions (which have caused personal pressures on a number of our reps) to help accommodate these latest changes to scheduled talks. We now expect to see a reciprocal show of commitment from the KSS CRC Chief Executive.

As can be seen from the attached correspondence there are many areas where the level of engagement between KSS CRC/Seetec is no better than the last failing contractors Working Links. While there are many questions to be answered about exactly where all the money has gone to from their insidious and incompetent regime, it’s obviously not reached the pay packets of their former staff.

Our concerns about meaningful engagement and agreeing a programme where the unions can be treated as partners instead of a nuisance, is a situation that needs to be improved and fast. Meanwhile we are making preparations for a series of trade disputes with plans for supportive industrial action should they become necessary.

Future of Probation

All union members and prospective members will have welcomed the news of the Governments dramatic policy U-turn which will see 80% of offender management work move to 11 new NPS regions by the time that the current CRC providers are shown the door by April 2021 (latest) or sooner if there is a Labour Government in power.

While this is a victory for the probation unions it does not give us all that our members are demanding. We do not see any justification for retaining Intervention and Programme work in a so called ‘mixed-market’ and we will continue to demand:

• The total reunification of all probation work to public control
• The harmonisation of all staff on to NPS Pay rates before the ending of CRC contracts

Many as yet, unanswered questions

As members will know, the plan for OM work to transfer to Wales by December this year was announced well before the recent Government U-Turn.

This means it is imperative that the transition plan for Wales is the subject of national and local discussion to ensure a smooth transition. The unions are insisting that we be given access to the transitional board meetings between NPS and KSS CRC and that the overarching transfer arrangements for staff will be the subject of high level negotiations similar to those that resulted in the National Staff Transfer and Protections Agreement back in 2013.

The intended roadshows for KSS CRC staff about the transition plans will have no substance whatsoever without there first being a National agreement in place and we will suggest that SEETEC spend that money improving on their pay offer.

The change in policy for probation is welcome but it now means that we are in a further period of uncertainty as consideration is given to how OM work and staff are to be moved out from failing contractors by 2021.

One thing that has already been made clear to senior HMPPS and MOJ leaders is that whatever arrangements are reached on the selection criteria, the likes of SEETEC and other CRC providers must have no part in deciding who goes into the NPS and should merely do as they are instructed by their paymasters. We have suffered four and a half years of an irredeemably flawed Probation service in which all CRC Providers including KSS CRC in some aspects are implicated. Members in this or any other CRC would be well advised to trust the news coming from their trade unions as opposed to speculative comments from employers who may not even be around beyond 2020.

Join a union now!

If ever there were was a need to emphasis the importance of belonging to a trade union this joint bulletin spells it out very clearly! Transforming Rehabilitation and the disastrous impacts of part -privatisation have featured large in reports from the Justice Select Committee, the National Audit Office and Public Accounts Committee, as well as the Chief Inspector of Probation.

The unions are campaigning for:

Fair pay for all
The reunification of all probation work
An end to all privatisation
A moratorium on formal action against staff for failures not of their making
Restoration of local bargaining across KSS CRC
Immediate action to reduce workload pressures
Staff to be treated with dignity and respect.
Can you afford to leave the struggle to everyone else?

Letter from Napo
Letter from UNISON
Letter from GMB

--oo00oo--

For circulation all Napo Members 

Dear Napo Members, 

Please see the attached letter the General Secretary Ian Lawrence has written to the Seetec company representative. You will read the stark continuity of the Seetec position adopts not much difference from their predecessors Working Links. The facts are as the general secretary describes and who stands very tall today post yesterdays fantastic news. Let us not be complacent the fight to save interventions from the misery and ideological failings of profit from probation's services in Privatisation continues. It is NAPOs common purpose to see the end of the fundamentally wrong flawed and failed Privatisation activity for any offender services. The Intervention reunification arguments will continue as the Private companies now have to come to terms with the reality. Case management goes back to where it can be managed properly and put public protection as the priority before profits.

The talks on the derisory Pay offer from seetec continue next week. I will keep you posted on how this goes. Ian's letter makes clear the fairly low ebb trade union relations are with the new contractor seetec as they fail to get a proper understanding on how to work productively with Trade Union relations or properly under the terms of meaningful discussions as the GS point out. 

I will post out the held over branch report shortly while we have been waiting for the reunification news. The SSW branch congratulate National Napo and all the unions and members for working through and winning part of this great outcome and important U turn on offender public protection services 

Dino Peros 
Napo SSW Branch Chair

--oo00oo--

Suki Binning, Chief Executive
Kent Surrey and Sussex CRC

12 May 2019

Dear Suki,

While I am writing this letter from the perspective of Napo, it will come as no surprise that the probation unions have serious concerns at the lack of tangible progress following the action points that were agreed between Seetec and KSS CRC senior leaders and the trade unions in Cardiff on 9th April 2019. My disappointment is profound, because despite some obvious difficulties, the meeting seemed to mark a significant step forward from the disrespectful treatment that we had become used to under the Working Links regime.

I have also expressed my concerns (as contained in the following narrative) with senior HMPPS leaders in the Probation Programme, in so far that the expected arrangements for engagement between KSS CRC and the unions is already failing to pass muster.

The unions are in receipt of your recent response to the joint pay claim, and I expect that a joint reply will reach you before our meeting to discuss this, on which we are currently trying to identify a date with Paul Giles.

Whilst I readily accept that there were a number of actions agreed upon at Cardiff and that some of these were bound to take longer than others, I must express Napo’s concern at the clear refusal (against a previously agreed action from the Cheltenham meeting) to release the 90-Day Transition Plan. Apart from a brief snapshot which was seriously short on detail, this has still to see the light of day since the Unions were first promised sight of it at the initial meeting. I was genuinely shocked to hear at Cardiff that this was not to be issued to us after all; this was an act of bad faith of the type that mirrored what we regularly encountered from the former employer.

The list below represents some examples of other actions that we had expected would have seen priority action by now. Especially as many of them have featured as legacy issues from the disputes with Working Links.

Communications

As I write, I have just received disturbing news suggesting that one of your managers has claimed during a recent staff ‘roadshow’ that secret meetings have taken place with Napo and management over an operational matter. Suffice to say I am investigating this reported incident and that the events described are a complete fabrication. Moreover, if I receive sufficient evidence to prove that the report of the manager’s comments is accurate then I will be taking the appropriate action.

I am well used to seeing off previously unsuccessful attempts by employers who have sought to discredit Napo with misinformation, and I sincerely hope that this is not another example of such reprehensible behaviour.

Of far more importance however, is the negative feedback from these ‘roadshow’ events that, as reported to me, have featured comments such as: ‘it’s the Unions who are standing in the way of your pay rise’.

This example and the stream of glossy corporate messages that are being regularly issued to staff in the face of the continuing operational issues that we have sought to raise and engage with you on, are being received with a combination of cynicism and sheer disbelief by staff. At best they appear as clumsy ill-conceived propaganda, and at worst they represent a colossal failure by senior management to recognise the difficulties being experienced by their workforce.

The above situation is compounded by the intention to issue a staff survey, which from the feedback reaching me will likely be a total waste of time and precious resources, let alone the questionable rationale underpinning the charitable donations ‘incentive’. I have seen so many employers over the years who believe that staff surveys will give them an entirely different perspective about what is actually happening on the ground, as they have mistakenly reached the conclusion that the unions are simply making up stories (we do not) or are just an irritant to be simply ignored (we are not).

As and when it becomes possible for the unions and your SLT to meet again, I would hope that it would be possible for you to prioritise that engagement as I have been doing. This will provide me with the confidence that your team will have the appropriate level of leadership in place to enable them to make decisions where necessary.

Operational Issues

When your SLT met with the unions to discuss the transition and operational plan for the former Wales, DDC and BSWG CRC’s there seemed to be a clear understanding of one another’s position moving forward. Notwithstanding the non-appearance of the 90-day plan, we did get some encouragement in respect of how we might iron out some areas of the previous dispute and we identified some key areas where work was needed to stabilise the organisation and to assist staff during this latest period of uncertainty.

Of course, there were some areas where there was a difference of opinion and no expectation from Napo that we could resolve all of the issues. Nevertheless, promises to revert on our request to be part of the Transition Board have failed to materialise, while further announcements are made directly to staff that make no mention of the positive agenda being proposed by the unions. I still await sight of the emerging transitional plan and the reasons why we have yet to be invited to the Board.

Much was made in Cardiff about going back to a traditional probation approach. This was obviously welcomed by Napo, but it was acknowledged that it will only happen with an increase in staffing an adherence to existing work measurement tools and a change to discredited and dangerous working practices implemented by the incompetent previous providers whose footprints SEETEC have inherited. This is why we suggested that local JNCC’s should be established pending consideration of the wider collective bargaining agenda. The outstanding issues over the delivery of intervention work which in some areas had seriously declined even before the collapse of Working Links, show no sign of improvement and also need to be a priority subject for discussion.

Another concern discussed in Cardiff was the status of the minimum contact specification regime where we had expected an early invitation to engage with you at regional JNCC level to monitor progress here. We still await tangible proposals and suggested dates for engagement.

In terms of the transition of OM work to Wales, I am pleased to say that engagement between the NPS, Dawn Blower and the union reps from Wales is starting to take shape. The introduction of Sara Robinson will hopefully assist in enabling a smooth transition, but again there needs to be a clarity of message here so that staff who are likely to be impacted can consider their personal circumstances and raise questions in advance of the intended transfer to the NPS which is only just over six months away.

At our last joint meeting, the issue of workloads was discussed at length. KSS CRC acknowledged that workloads are considerably higher in the former Working Links areas and that this needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. The unions proposed a moratorium for staff involved in formal processes such as absence management and capability as a result of workloads, especially in the former Devon Dorset and Cornwall CRC areas. Your SLT agreed to review all the cases, and institute group and individual stress assessments while you considered the union’s request. Since then I have seen no formal response or any such initiatives, but have learned (again by way of announcements at a ‘roadshow’ event) that our proposal has been rejected. This has caused serious anger amongst our members, especially in that area of your estate. I am due to address the Napo SSW Branch AGM next month and I am fully expecting that there will be a call for a member’s ballot for action over this issue.

Another key issue that was on the Cardiff agenda was that of estates. Your team acknowledged that some of the (now enlarged) KSS CRC estate is in urgent need of action for operational as well as health and safety reasons. Reps had identified key location issues and we expected an update from the employer so that joint engagement and inspections could take place. We still await news.

Further work is also required on the future collective bargaining arrangements that meet the needs of both parties whilst acknowledging a wide geographical area. It was agreed that pan-CRC JNC’s will need to be established for collective negotiating such as pay, but that more local forums are required to look at issues such as staffing and workloads.

Agreement has still to be reached on the harmonisation of KSS and Working Links policies and Napo has made our view clear; we stand by the terms of the National Staff Transfer and Protections Agreement and any attempt to depart from that are simply non-negotiable. I also stated that I believe this longer-term discussion will have to wait until we know what the future landscape is for probation going forwards; one that may look markedly different from that we are in now.

It may be that this letter elicits further views from colleagues in Napo’s sister unions on these issues and any others not covered here and I genuinely hope that we can start to see tangible signs of progress on the foregoing. As you would expect I am under some pressure to convene a trade union side meeting to explore the possible options around regional and or collective disputes if we cannot move forward.

After nearly four years of being in such a position with Working Links it is a scenario that we could all do without, and I hope that you will agree that our time and energy would be far better spent in meaningful engagement with a view to reaching agreement.

I look forward to your reply and a suggested programme that unions and the employer can jointly work towards achieving within the existing term of your contract.

Yours sincerely

IAN LAWRENCE
General Secretary