Napo has helped design a new Pay System for Probation, which is now being recommended to members. If accepted by NPS union members, the new system will:
- give significant pensionable increases to all NPS staff over the two years of the deal (April 2018-March 2020), ranging from 13.6% to a minimum of 6%. In cash terms, all staff will receive between £3772 and £1405.
- increase current band maxima by at least 3%, giving the first consolidated increase for staff at their band maxima for nearly a decade.
- fully consolidated increases range from at least 3% for all staff already at their band maxima, rising to 12.2% for some staff progressing through their pay ranges.
- facilitate progression to the band maxima in less than 6 years in all bands
- progression to a new 17% higher band maxima in no more than 2 years for lowest paid Band 1 staff
- guarantee further progression payments in 2020-21 for those still not at their band maximum.
- link future pay progression from 2021 to a new Competency Based Pay Progression Framework or CBPPF (see more below), which will be designed in partnership with the unions, aligned to National Probation Professional Standards which should also cover CRCs
- trigger a joint-review of management grades from Band 5 upwards, recognising the additional pressures and workloads implementing the new CBPPF will bring, as well as the changing nature of the role since TR.
If accepted in the NPS members’ ballot, the reform will have been hard fought and long overdue. It will substantially address the crippling unfairness in the current system. The majority of staff in most grades have been stuck at or below their mid-point, even after a decade or more of service, earning thousands less than colleagues doing the same work.
Tables A and B highlight some of the increases contained in the offer for staff who’ve been stuck in the middle of pay bands.
The broken pay system has hindered recruitment and retention of new staff and seen probation pay fall behind other public sector professions. The value of the job at the maxima has been further devalued because miserly Treasury remits have been entirely swallowed up by progression pressures. This balance will shift significantly once most staff are at the band maxima, normalising probation pay with other public sector professions.
Table B highlights the increases contained in the offer for staff at their band maxima, some of whom have had no consolidated pay increases since 2010.
The CBPPF also gives scope to fully recognise the professionalism of PSO’s and, when aligned with new Professional standards, give structure to career pathways and professional development for all staff.
The review of management grades also included in the deal recognises the additional pressures and challenges facing managers since TR. In this review, Napo will argue for more managers, fairer and more competitive pay in comparison to civil service and prison service comparators, and clear professional development pathways for those aspiring to be senior probation leaders.