Today’s news on the Probation staffing deficit
As you would expect, Napo has been contacted by a growing number of media outlets following the BBC news feature this morning about a serious deficit in the number of Sentence Management staff and how this will exacerbate the capacity crisis in Probation.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy7yj0gkl3zo
In many respects the results of the BBC’s enquiries will not come as a surprise to our members. Nor should it come as news to senior HMPPS management and Government Ministers whom we have been urging for some time to reveal the full extent of the operational state of Probation. This should have happened in the form of an agreed joint statement which we have been trying to arrive at, rather than a result of speculative journalism.
This afternoon an emergency call was held between Senior HMPPS management and the Probation Trade Unions to discuss this development and the key issues identified in the BBC report. It’s clear that what has been revealed must be the subject of a further in-depth debate at an emergency meeting of the Probation Joint National Committee and further discussion with Ministers.
Napo General Secretary Ian Lawrence responded swiftly to a request from the BBC for Napo’s perspective on this morning’s Today programme on Radio 4, and you can listen to what was discussed here.
Starts at 49:44 minutes
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002hb5s
Napo have long held the view that insufficient attention has been afforded to the myriad problems in Probation, most notably by the previous Government, but that despite the warm words from senior Ministers as to how valuable you are within the Criminal Justice infrastructure, the workforce needs to feel it is being properly valued and respected.