ilawrence@napo.org.uk's blog

Earlier this week I issued Branch Circulars 24/2015 and 25/2015 which alerted branches with members in the 21 CRCs in general and those in Sodexo in particular, of plans to announce redundancies.

Don’t hold your collective breath but we are at last set to get around the table again over the now somewhat ancient 2014 pay claim.

Both Unison and ourselves are still in dispute over the shoddy response and the insulting delay which preceded it; and Unison have already consulted their members on the offer as it stands (which in case you have forgotten currently stands at 0%).

An unexpected, but as always, welcome opportunity to explain the important contribution that is made by our members to public protection, came in the form of Tuesday’s release of a report secured under the Freedom of Information Act. The subject matter was the number of registered sex offenders who have vanished from the map whilst under police supervision.

It is well known that the wheels of power often move very slowly, but it was encouraging to see a response to a submission that Napo made to Margaret Hodge, the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee last year.

Attendees at this week’s £1700 a head ‘bun fest’ that according to the supporting literature, was organised by the MoJ on behalf of the UK Government to celebrate the origins of the rule of law, but which looked remarkably like a Tory party pre-election gimmick in disguise, had an unexpected and (by the look on many amused faces at the conference centre windows) additional distraction on Monday, as the Justice Alliance Stand Up For Legal Aid event hit town.

A bit more news following the story I touched upon last Monday.  It’s about the dreadful shambles over the pay of some new NPS starters who have been told that the failure to get their records processed in time for the February pay run originally meant that they would not get paid at the end of this month. As I said in the Branch Briefing17/2015 that I put out earlier today, we tried our best to intervene but the best that NOMS can offer is a 70% payment of gross salary to the individuals concerned.

Reports are reaching us today that at least two CRC’s are in serious difficulty with their planning for the provision of the Governments flagship ‘Through the Gate’ support scheme (TTG).

Whilst none of us should really be surprised at this news, I have asked Napo Branches to provide me with details of what is (or what is not) happening across CRC’s in their locale in order that we can establish the whole picture.

The first week of the new order did not get off to a particularly auspicious start. Firstly the expected (but not surprisingly delayed) resignation of Paul McDowell former HM Inspector Probation, which followed the Sodexo conflict of interest story. There have been many reports and intense speculation about the circumstances of who knew about what and when in terms of his original appointment and the fact that his wife was a potential beneficiary of the TR outsourcing, and I somehow don’t think we have seen the last of this.

TV and media appearances are part and parcel of a General Secretary's job spec. Departing at 6:00am on a freezing snow bound Sunday morning from Kent to Broadcasting House for my appointment with Breakfast TV, a round trip of nearly three hours (courtesy of the BBC), leaves a good deal of time for reflection.

Somewhat predictably the lead in to the final day of Probation under public ownership has been marred by further chaos and confusion. This time its not about the operational situation which sees little sign of getting better, but the thorny problem of continuity of employment for members seeking a transfer into the NPS from CRC's before they transfer into private ownership on 1st February.