Napo and Unison jointly will be holding an open meeting on the Probation cuts for the Yorkshire and Humberside Region in the Victoria Hall (Chapel Walk) Sheffield from 2.00pm – 3.30pm on Friday, 5th June.
]]>Locally the picture is patchy, ranging from TPOs being taken on for a six months temporary basis, some not being taken on at all, and some, appallingly, still being left in the dark.
Bulletin 7 reported Napo’s cautious welcome of the TPO Clearing House Protocol. Napo remains clear however that the priority at this time remains to campaign for TPO employment within the Probation Service.
Campaign Action
Now is the crucial time to intensify campaigning activities specifically on the issue of the TPO’s.
All members are asked to write to their MP about the cuts and the TPO employment situation - A model letter is available from your branch, or email your MP direct from the box on the napo website.
Petitions will be sent out via branches and direct mailing shortly. Please circulate copies amongst your friends and relatives.
Branches are encouraged to contact their local media and to join in local events to publicise the cuts and the affect on TPOs.
Campaign material will be sent out to branches shortly to assist with this.
Lobby Jack Straw
Napo has written to the Justice Secretary seeking a meeting with TPOs at risk of unemployment, who can explain their situation and demand action
Branches will be circulated with a request for delegation names
Read more about the campaign in Bulletin 8
]]>The meeting was moved from the House of Commons to Millbank at the last minute, because of parliamentary business, and this adversely affected MPs’ attendance. Nevertheless, half a dozen MPs did manage to make it to the meeting to hear about the extent and effect of the cuts across the regions.
At the meeting staff from Suffolk reported that management felt the service was no longer viable and that it would have to merge with Norfolk. Staff from Hampshire and Kent told MPs about a steady stream of office closures to keep within budget. And Reps from Chiltern Counties branch reported that the time spent with individual offenders was 15 minutes a week or less.
Maria Eagle, the new Minister, attended for the last half hour of the session, and heard from London branch of the problems of lack of staff, stress and heavy workloads. She seemed under the impression, presumably from London management, that problems were not as bad as described!
Future meetings are planned with Maria Eagle and Jack Straw over the future of TPOs and the inability of the service to manage its workload in the future.
Look out for more campaign information in Campaign Bulletin No 7 - coming shortly to branches.
During the course of the question session 19
MPs intervened to tell Straw that probation staff
in their constituencies were experiencing
soaring caseloads and lack of resources. Time
and time again the Secretary of State was told
that resources were not reaching the frontline.
His only response was to repeat the mantra that
the Probation Service has received a 70% uplift
since 1997 and to claim, again, that areas were
comparatively well off.
The chasm between what MPs are being told
on the ground and the message from the
Ministry could not be wider. The debate again
shows the power of lobbying and members are
urged to continue the fight.
Read in full on Hansard
Download Cuts Bulletins 5 and 6
Napo and Unison jointly will be holding an open meeting on the Probation cuts for the Yorkshire and Humberside Region in the Victoria Hall (Chapel Walk) Sheffield from 2.00pm – 3.30pm on Friday, 5th June.
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Download file
The wording of EDM 1521 is: “That this House urges the Government to ensure that the Probation Service in England and Wales has sufficient resources to ensure that it can carry out its statutory duties in an effective and efficient manner.”
Members of Napo are urged to write to their MPs asking them to join the signature list.
You can find your MP and email them direct - and also find a model letter to use - on the Napo home page - just type in your post code and click "GO".
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The purpose was to explain to MPs the impact of the cuts, the affect on trainees and subsequent consequences for crime. By the end of the day, 25 MPs from all Parties had attended the sessions. They included a majority of MPs who do not normally come to Napo events. All were sympathetic to the plight of staff and the service.
MPs attending included Philip Dunne (Ludlow), Michael Fabricant (Lichfield), Rob Marris (Wolverhampton), Meg Munn (Sheffield Heeley), Ann Winterton (Congleton), George Howarth (Knowsley North and Sefton East), Andrew Mller (Ellesmere Port), Robert Key (Salisbury), Doug Naysmith (Bristol North West) and Dan Rogerson (North Cornwall).
All MPs agreed to write to Jack Straw to express concerns and to table parliamentary questions about the effect of cuts in their area, and most will sign an Early Day Motion on Probation resources.
A second event is now planned for London, Southern and North Thames regions, probably in June.
]]>This time it was Jack Straw who faced a question from David Anderson, Labour MP for Blaydon in Northumbria. What, the MP asked, would the Secretary of State "advise me to tell the people who work in the probation service in the north-east? How are they supposed to improve reoffending rates if, because of deficit cuts, they lose £1.6 million this year and £4.2 million in 2012, and do not employ the 24 trainee probation officers who have been trained over the last three years, at a cost of £2.5 million to the public purse? Surely that cannot be correct?"
Jack Straw's response, as well as repeating the Ministerial mantra about the "70% incease in Probation funding over the last 12 years", was to offer a meeting. "My colleagues and I are always happy to see my hon. Friend—and, if necessary, a delegation from Northumbria probation service—about their concerns", he said. We will keep members posted on the outcome of the offer.
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]]>While on Wednesday 29th April, Elliot Morley, Labour MP for Scunthorpe, secured a second debate on Humberside Probation and the cuts. During the debate supportive comments were also made by MPs Ian Cawsey (Brigg and Goole – Lab), Shona McIsaac (Cleethorpes – Lab) and Graham Stuart (Beverley and Holderness - Con).
Interestingly, in replying to the debate, Minister David Hanson said: “Indicative budgets have been set for each probation area and have been issued. However—this is important for my right hon. Friend to recognise—the director general of the National Offender Management Service has now made it clear that the indicative probation budgets were issued without the knowledge or approval of Ministers, and so have no authority, as there is no comprehensive spending review settlement for 2011-12 onwards. Therefore, there cannot be any accurate indicative budgets for any area of Government spending beyond that period.”!
Also interestingly, the Chief Executive in Humberside has since written to staff withdrawing the announced compulsory redundancies and indicating that TPOs, who had been told there would be no jobs for them, now have some hope of employment.
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Download a pdf of this bulletin below
]]>The official signing - 9 December 2008
(Standing left-right: Robin Fallon, PCS, Mark Scott, Napo, Megan lliott, Napo, Joe Simpson, POA, Joyce McAndrew, UCU. (seated) Alan Green, Unison.
The TUC said "The Probation Service is facing a cut of approximately 20% of its budget over the next three years, making the Justice Unions' 10 point Charter for Justice (launched last December) increasingly important and relevant for the uncertain future that lies ahead. In Northumbria Probation Area (Tyne& Wear and Northumberland) there is a predicted deficit of £1.6 million in the financial year 2009/10."
Megan Elliott from NAPO said 'The primary purpose of the Probation Service is to reduce the risk of reoffending and protect the public from serious harm. Budget and staffing cuts on this scale will inevitably reduce the ability of the Probation Service to carry out this work effectively and safely.'
Download a copy of the charter below
Download file
Download a pdf of this bulletin below
]]>Details have now been sent to Napo from 35 Areas. These have been turned into a briefing and distributed widely. You can download a copy below.
Napo believes that unless the cuts are rescinded the Probation Service will not be able to fulfil its statutory duties. In particular, on professional grounds, courts will need to be told that normal supervision standards cannot be guaranteed, in appropriate cases.