Monday 17 March 2014

Latest From Napo 18

This is the latest email from Napo HQ sent to all members earlier this afternoon:-

About those lies
 
We’ve had numerous emails at Napo HQ expressing despair and anger at the multitude of confusing messages about TR.  Who is telling the truth and who’s lying?  Why is Grayling announcing the Probation Institute?  Why are some Lords and Ladies screaming “The Unions signed up to this!” while the other side of the House roars, “Oh no they didn’t!”  There is no magic bullet here.  In a short and possibly futile answer, this is just politics in all its ugly, frustrating and counter-productive madness.  We can’t change it or control what people say and while we will obviously challenge the lies, what we can do is try to address your concerns.  We know you’re all really busy so we’ve tried to digest this as much as possible.

The Offender Management Act 2007
 
This is the legislation by which the government seeks to privatise us.  They are totally refusing to debate it because they say the legislation has been debated once already- in 2007.  We don’t believe the Secretary of State is allowed to do this and it’s causing a lot of the uproar. Along with our allies, we are seeking to challenge it.  Legally, it’s a complex issue and we are trying to find a clear way through it.
 
The Offender Rehabilitation Bill
 
In the main this relates to supervising the under 12 months and changes to enable resettlement prisons.  It will be enacted into law at some point (the government has most MPs and Lords- it’s a numbers game).  While we have serious doubts about this hasty, poorly drafted and, at times, utterly bizarre piece of legislation (every offender being subject to the same sentence?) the passing of it does not impinge whatsoever on our campaign to stop privatisation.

The “Agreement”
 
We have not agreed to privatisation and we have not agreed to the staff split which was imposed.  What we have done is agree as much protection for members as possible in terms of pensions and terms and conditions (through the NNC Framework Agreement).   We are a trade union representing member’s interests - so it would have been remiss of us not to negotiate.  Essentially, this agreement makes the CRCs more expensive for private bidders.  It is a good thing.  Of course the government is trying to spin it and say that we’ve agreed everything (hence the pantomime referred to above) but if we didn’t agree anything we would be politically in the same boat.  The government would shout “This was on the table and the unions walked away!”  Except, the tangible difference is that members would have lost future protections.

The Probation Institute
 
The government is using this for cynical political purposes.  Again, they are spinning it to say that the Probation Institute will help privatisation.  Again, this is complete rubbish.  The founder organisations are Napo, Unison, the Probation Chiefs and the Probation Association.  We are directing it and it will be a member led organisation protecting the profession and ensuring standards of training are met.  It will not act as a trade union or as an extra layer of management but if the Institute fails to make headway in this difficult climate, training and professional standards will be the responsibility of NOMS (horror!) Because their record is patchy at best, and in complete disarray at worst, and the CRCs who, contractually, only have to say that they have “sufficiently trained” staff.  This means less than nothing!  Imagine Capita or Sodexo setting professional standards!  It does not even bear thinking about.  The Institute is governed by people who know and love probation work.  The MoJ is not directing it because we are independent.

When is all of this just going to go away?
 
Not any time soon we’re afraid.  As we predicted this campaign is long and morale sapping.  Some people are battle weary, some are angry, some are depressed, and others feel it’s all pointless because TR is a done deal.  We all go through these feelings but, in the main we are a strong and united union and although we are facing an awful time we can pull through.  All we can say is that we just have to carry on.  We have to demonstrate why TR is an appalling mess and we have to do it on the evidence.  Centrally, we will struggle to do this without your involvement- please continue to e-mail any examples of TR nightmares to: campaigns@napo.org.uk.

Is it a “done deal”?
 
No!  Some trusts are saying this to staff (some with a heavy heart, others with disturbing gusto).  It is the job of senior managers to make the best of a bad lot; it is a union’s job to stop it.  That’s the nature of the beast.  Register grievances, appeals, get stress risk assessments, ask to see any new risk assessments prepared by your Trust and demand equality impact assessments, try and hang on to your cases, and crucially, please take part in industrial action.  Do whatever you can and take heart from the Public Accounts Committee hearing which revealed the MoJ as being a department unworthy of the name.  We are just going through the replay of the committee evidence and will email highlights.  Even the 1st of June (the date for the formal split) is starting to look shaky.  Keep going, together we can prevail!

Best wishes

TOM RENDON - National Chair                    IAN LAWRENCE - General Secretary

14 comments:

  1. If more information like this was given to staff on a more regular basis they may feel less confused about whats happening, and NAPO would be subject to far less critisism.
    I would have liked a paragraph explaining the specific objective of strike action at the end of the month, but non the less grateful for the information provided.
    I hope they continue to read this blog too!

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  2. It may be information but it is not enlightening. On the probation institute it is downright misleading as the PI will have no powers to enforce anything. We know that Napo does not agree to privatisation, not does Unison I assume, so some explanations for the divergent strategies would be helpful. The assumption of a strong and united union is precarious in the face of ballot turnouts and those willing to strike. The note finishes with the belief that 'We can prevail'. Quite what this means is unclear. All Napo has to do here is tell the members how we will know when we have prevailed, spell it out, tell us the objectives then we can judge progress, as at present it seems Napo is like a needle stuck in a groove.

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  3. Maybe any Unison readers of this blog might want to comment on campaigning,TR,PI and strikes?

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  4. I would like a little more gusto on the JR issue to me this seems to be the single most effective tactic at the moment. We are in the same fight as the "legals" that want to challenge the 2007 act; one cant's know the outcome of a scrap in the middle of the fight you just have to give it your all. NAPO if the members want it really you must go for it.

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  5. Arrived just before I left work. Napo's latest campaign bulletin. Strike Rally set for 1st April in London, in conjunction with the Justice Alliance. Rally will start at 11.30 (assembly point tbc) with guest speakers followed by a march on the MoJ. Guest appearance from the 'now famous' Grayling puppet! At last, something that will hit the news. I'm definitely going, and a straw poll of the NAPO members still in the office when it came in indicates we'll be sending a contingency.
    Deb

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    1. Sorry, meant to say contingent. Was just too excited about what I was typing.......and I hate the wrong use of words.......
      D.

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  6. Thank you Tom and Ian, this e-mail is more what we are looking for. Keep it up! And strike rally in conjunction with the Justice Alliance - great! A lot of areas have also been discussing their strike plans, I think it's going to even better than the last one :-)

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  7. Stone the crows!!!..... Has someone finally fired up the coffee machine at Chivalry Road and woke somebody up? Surely they didn't let the trainee have the run of the office today?

    This is a bit more like it. Coordinated action. Motivating the members on the ground. If they announced a JR at the same time then they might be accused of doing what their membership pay them to do. Well done. More of this please

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  8. This is more like it NAPO. Henry V comes to mind 'once more unto the breach my friends...' 'cry god for our profession, our union and our communities...'

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  9. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-25223687

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  10. Autumn Statement: Osborne to make fresh spending cutsJames Landale
    By James Landale

    4th December 2013

    Deputy political editor

    George Osborne will announce a fresh round of spending cuts for Whitehall departments when he gives his Autumn Statement on Thursday.

    The chancellor has written to cabinet colleagues to say budgets will face total extra reductions of £1bn a year for the next three financial years.

    The first £1bn will come mainly from unspent reserves, he will say.

    Labour urged ministers to ensure the economic recovery did more to help "most working people".

    In his statement, Mr Osborne is expected to say health, schools, foreign aid, local government, revenue and customs and the security services will be protected.

    Treasury officials said that, although financial discipline and efficiency savings would play their part, departments would have to find cuts of 1.1% in 2014/15 and 2015/16.

    The Ministry of Defence will have some flexibility to protect any underspent budgets. So the biggest losers in Whitehall will be those such as the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice.

    Officials refused to say what the savings would be used for, but the government does have to find money to pay for recent commitments such as marriage tax breaks, more free school meals and potentially any fuel duty freeze the chancellor may announce.

    Officials said the tough decisions showed that this would be a responsible recovery and there would be no giveaways while the government completed its long term plan to fix the economy.

    Some of the details of Mr Osborne's statement have already been announced, including:

    An extra £150m to update and build kitchens and dining rooms in English primary schools
    A move towards subsidising offshore wind farms instead of onshore wind farms
    Plans for £375bn of investment in energy, transport, communications, and water projects
    Selling off the government's 40% stake in the Eurostar rail service
    A further £50m to redevelop Gatwick Airport's railway station
    Financial support for the development of a new nuclear power station at Wylfa, north Wales
    A confirmation that a UK guarantee has now been agreed for the £1bn Northern Line extension to Battersea in London
    Improvements to the A50 around Uttoxeter, in Staffordshire, and improvements to the A14 around the port of Felixstowe in Suffolk
    The BBC has also learned that the chancellor will cap business rate increases in England and Wales to 2% next year, rather than the rate of inflation, in an effort to boost firms and High Streets.

    For Labour, shadow chancellor Ed Balls said: "Growth being back is good but this is no recovery at all for most working people. We need action now - to deal with the cost-of-living crisis, to freeze energy bills, to get young people back to work, to help parents with childcare, to boost investment in our economy and manufacturing and housing for the long term.

    "These are the things to do to help working families to build an economy which works for all. I really hope the chancellor will deliver on that agenda, but I'm not holding my breath."

    In the House of Commons, Deputy Speaker Dawn Primarolo said Mr Osborne would be "mortified" that details of his statement had been reported ahead of Thursday.

    This followed Conservative MP Peter Bone saying: "This is not the first leak… and the chancellor must be mortified and I wonder if he is coming to announce a leak inquiry".

    Ms Primarolo said she had not seen media reports about the statement but she was "sure he's correct that the chancellor will be mortified".

    She added: "The Speaker has made it absolutely clear that any government announcement should be made first to this House."

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  11. 'Why is Grayling announcing the Probation Institute?'

    Because it's at the heart of the TR project and will be central to it's success

    'Why are some Lords and Ladies screaming “The Unions signed up to this!" '

    Because in effect, they have. Unison hasn't so much as registered a dispute, and despite all the puffed up rhetoric, NAPO is not taking any meaningful action to oppose the introduction of TR

    'The Offender Management Act 2007 This is the legislation by which the government seeks to privatise us... We don’t believe the Secretary of State is allowed to do this and it’s causing a lot of the uproar. Along with our allies, we are seeking to challenge it'

    But not with timely legal action, apparently

    'We have not agreed to privatisation and we have not agreed to the staff split which was imposed'

    We've just changed the constitution of our union to accommodate TR, and barely commented upon the grotesquely unfair 'split' let alone taken any action to fight it


    'The Probation Institute. The government is using this for cynical political purposes'

    and yet we're right behind it!

    '...it will be a member led organisation'

    and those members will be Sodexo and all of the other privateers

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    1. What you say reflects the facts. All Napo can do is spin. It's main concern is to hold onto a membership base. Note 18 is the usual claptrap and yet judging by some of the comments it's earned a standing ovation! And the strike will be a roaring success because that's how, irrespective of the facts, it will be reported by Napo - and so the illusion is maintained.

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    2. Careful anon at 23:42 and Netnipper - you will get this blog accused of disseminating misinformation.

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