A hugely diverse week in terms of activities and meetings draws to a close. Hopefully you will have seen the latest Napo Pay Briefing issued to Branches on Monday: https://www.napo.org.uk/news/probation-pay-circular. Essentially, it explains the background to the 0% pay offer and the respective responses from Unison and ourselves. We have invoked the authority vested to us by the National Executive Committee and the Probation Negotiating Committee to immediately signal rejection on your behalf. Unison will be consulting their members by way of an indicative ballot. One common thread between us is that both unions have refused to endorse the payment of the contractual entitlement to progression as an element of 'reward', or some special feature of the pay offer. It is nothing of the sort.
The other area where Unison and Napo are in total agreement is on the question of why, if it was Ok for NOMS to pay a 1% award over and above pay progression last year (within the existing Coalition pay policy), is it not ok this year?
Given the number of times that Ministers have publicly praised Probation staff for their hard work and dedication during the TR reforms, Napo members are entitled to ask why no gratitude has manifested itself in financial terms.
Monday also saw the start of the 2015 programme of Napo's appraisal system for its staff - your employees. The Annual Development Review (ADR) is the vehicle by which line managers (which obviously include myself) are able to identify and agree a range of objectives and/or development opportunities for the reported for the next 12 months, and of course to map progress from the previous years contribution.
I mention ADR because the Officer Group have not only endorsed the need for this important management tool to be in place and maintained, but for it to be regularly available by way of the quarterly one to one meetings, where issues of concern can be identified and resolved. It also enables Napo staff go about their daily tasks of trying to deliver support for members either on a collective or individual basis, organise forums and conferences, regional meetings, sub-committees and the AGM, within a supportive and collaborative environment. It's another part of Napo that works well.
New on the block
Tuesday saw something completely different in the form of Napo's first encounter at national level with Sodexo. Forget the temptation to draw analogies with it being akin to a visit to Dracula or smart questions as to whether Yvonne Pattison and myself required a lavish supply of Holy Water. This was business pure and simple, where we sought firstly to introduce ourselves as a highly competent Trade Union and Professional Association, but to also talk through our concerns about the operational aspects of the TRCF system they have bought into and initially explore their thinking around future business direction. Answers on the latter issue were surprisingly in short supply, as it's clear that the CRC owners are in the process of discussion with CRC Chief Executives about their mobilisation plans
We have a number of similar meetings with the other contractors and these are taking shape in the diary, and on which we will report further. Meanwhile, I will shortly be writing to Napo Branch Chairs to encourage them to try and arrange meetings with the local representatives of the new CRC owners. Some Branches have already got underway in this respect but it's worth reminding ourselves that the Sodexo's and Interserve's of this world are just that - owners and not your direct employer. That's why we secured the National Staff Transfer agreement last year which will guarantee that the NNC collective bargaining machinery will be the vehicle for negotiation and consultation about your terms and conditions whether you are in the NPS or a CRC.
Some old business resurrected
Ordinarily, meetings of the NNC Joint Secretaries and the one that occurred this Wednesday would not feature as something to write home about. This is not in any way to diminish their importance but they ought to be a routine part of Napo's activities on behalf of our members. Unfortunately, the somewhat toxic negotiating climate that we have been working under because of TR has helped to create a pretty low benchmark for effective partnership working.
I will be updating the Probation Negotiating Committee next week and will report again afterwards but we made progress in breaking the logjam of a number of long outstanding policies and, at long last, the Constitution for Joint Consultative arrangements in CRC's and positive movement towards agreeing a disputes procedure (should it be needed) within the NPS. I really hope that this was a pivotal moment in terms of us resurrecting something else that has served our members well over many years.
Today saw a particularly interesting meeting of the Probation Consultative Forum covering some important vocational and operational issues but I will start with that and lots more besides the next weeks blog contribution.
Blog type:
General Secretary's Blog
- ilawrence@napo.org.uk's blog
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