Wednesday 5 March 2014

The Bigger Picture

As stalwart Napo members head off to Birmingham for a Special General Meeting called to rubber stamp constitutional amendments that take account of TR, the mood is tense to say the least. Many are angry about what they perceive has been only a half-hearted campaign by the union and are looking to vent some of that feeling within the portals of Birmingham Town Hall. Don't take my word for it though, just peruse a few days worth of comments left on this blog, such as this from a couple of days ago:-

The unions representing probation staff are not campaigning unions, they are more interested in securing membership numbers and focusing on day to day stuff. But come the big battles they are not fit for purpose. Grayling and MOJ researched how effective probation unions would be and came to the conclusion that they were not capable of combating TR. the opposition to TR and attacks on other aspects of the CJS have NOT been co ordinated, by unions involved, or the TUC or labour. I'm sure the civil servants who did the initial TR risk assessments will confirm that. 

The SGM appears to be a farce and the decision to amend various napo constitution elements to facilitate and legitimise TR is already done. Why do you think the SGM was arranged for a Wednesday!!!! Not only work commitments but family commitments etc will see few ordinary members attend. The fight to prevent TR is all but over. The staff split has happened, Key senior managers either appointed or leaving under voluntary redundancy, Hundreds of years of professional experience gone never to come back, Logos for new CRCs have been produced by MOJ, New staff id's being prepared, Profiteers meeting trust senior managers, visiting trust buildings, shite systems being put in place, case allocation system, re escalation systems, etc etc. 


Hundred of probation staff and MOJ staff taken off their normal duties to enable TR at the tax payers expense to simply hand over to profiteers - it's all but over, there is nothing in the pipeline from the unions, labour to ramp up opposition to TR. No doubt as part of the recriminations union reps will blame the inactivity and apathy of union members, which may well be the case, but the unions have failed to galvanise and motive probation workers. Plus ask yourself, why so many anonymous posts on here and elsewhere, that's a true indicator of worker fear, expressing opposition in today's workplace does bring with it recrimination-fact. 

So there you have it, in 2 or 3 years time a London CP situation will come to light, due to whistle blowers, more than likely a new government will need to pick up the pieces of a smashed once proud, internationally acclaimed probation profession. But whatever happens what will be lost on the 1st June 2014 will never be put back together again. The profiteers and TR supporters will have filled their pockets to varying degrees, whilst highly trained, dedicated and loyal ex probation workers disappear into oblivion or are found stacking shelves in a supermarket. The future is bleak, the future is TR. unless... Happens!!!! Discuss.


What has become quite obvious to me, ignoring for one moment the fact that TR is an utter pile of shite and will quite quickly prove to be a complete disaster, is that we have become embroiled in a much bigger ideological battle. This is not just about the rights or wrongs of a daft idea to privatise probation. Everywhere you look there is a pernicious attack on all public services and every part of the post-war settlement that we have come to know as the Welfare State.

When pondering what the hell to write today, I was struck by yet another amazing piece of serendipity. Last night I found myself in the company of a small band of concerned citizens for the purpose of a private viewing of Ken Loach's epic antidote to today's travails 'The Spirit of '45'. 

A wonderfully uplifting trip down memory lane, this 90 minute epic splendidly captures the joy and excitement as a nation, worn down by war, unequivocally decided to cast off the old class structure that perpetuated poverty and instead enthusiastically embrace socialism through public ownership and common purpose. Peter Bradshaw of the Guardian writes:-

The events and attitudes revived in Ken Loach's documentary-homage are so exotically distant that the "the spirit of '45" might as well mean the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745. It consists of archive clips from the postwar Attlee government that brought in the welfare state, and interviews with surviving members of that generation – not the high-ups, but the doctors, nurses, trade unionists and general citizen-consumers of the new statist consensus that survived until Margaret Thatcher arrived in 1979. There is perhaps something a bit patrician-nostalgist in Ken Loach's movie, but I found myself increasingly swept along by the calm simplicity of its presentation, which makes it clear that the NHS is our last stand, the last survivor of the Beveridge spirit; it arose from the war, and this film reminds us that admiring the health service has become a distinctively patriotic virtue. There is no shortage of medical corporations licking their lips at the rich pickings it represents — a mass of privatisable loot. There are corporations who wouldn't be averse to putting ex-ministers on the directors' board a few years down the line, corporations who are naturally delighted at every anti-NHS news story. The Loach '45 spirit may be mocked – yet it seems preferable to the 21st-century spirit of austerity and paradox in which we found money to nationalise failing banks, maintaining the spirit of what Milton Friedman called socialism for the rich, free enterprise for the poor.

I've heard a lot about this film; the standing ovations at cinema screenings; the public meetings it spawns; the tears that it provokes. It's all true. As we continue the fight to save the Probation Service, the National Health Service and every other Public Service, get to see this film and get prepared for the nonsense politicians will be spouting as we head for the General Election of 2015. 


  



28 comments:

  1. Left Unity is a socialist political party born out of the Loach film and the Loach vision of a better society. Probation would be safe in their hands. Left Unity will be fighting for the NHS and they are standing in the European elections this year support them.

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  2. The trouble is there is no spirit. There are spirited individuals, take a bow JB, but the collective is absent. Totally. Like many others in the public sector and those outside who support(ed) the Beveridge settlement, we have been worn down by the drip-drip of right to buy, PEP,TESSA, ISA, no win no fee, BUPA, consultancies, anti-union laws, the creation of an unemployed bank of non-workers, bonuses, PbR, charities doing statutory work, not-for-profit companies, sold-off Building Societies, managerialism and of course privatisation.

    We feel we are on our own, even when we hear others with the same complaints, we aren't convinced that collective action can succeed and we are right. I'm not at Birmingham, because for the third time in my career I'm on the verge of resigning from this joke of a Union because I am again disgusted at its ineptitude. "Unity is strength" and disunity, petty squabbling, cover-ups and a blame culture towards members is weakness.

    I can shed a tear for the memories of class solidarity and the ideals of the post-war generation, but that means nothing in the present. We should have been on strike, maybe for a few weeks until it had an effect, not taking a couple of extended tea breaks and thinking that three people and a placard was going to do anything at all.

    On the verge of the end, our union is debating "constitutional amendments" and packs the day with guest speakers as if that will make the trip more worthwhile and interesting and increase turnout.

    There isn't a fight here, there will be some guerilla skirmishes by way of non-cooperation, work to JDs, exploiting and exposing the holes in the plan. That may actually be enough to sink TR after the event but it's a bit late then.

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  3. Serco profits plummet after scandals

    By Gill PlimmerSerco revealed a 62 per cent drop in profits on Tuesday as it admitted that chasing sales at the expense of customer service had cost the company key British government health and justice contracts.“There’s been concern that there been so much pressure to achieve growth that we may have reached too far for some contracts . . . We want to be aware of these and we hope we will be disciplined to do that and not bid for contracts that we can’t deliver,” said Ed Casey, acting group chief executive.The outsourcing group is still trying to repair its reputation after being battered by scandals in the UK, ranging from manipulating data for out-of-hours healthcare services to charging the government for electronic tags on prisoners who had died or were back behind bars.Serco, which employs 120,000 staff in 30 countries, last week poached Rupert Soames from Aggreko as its new chief executive in an attempt to turnround the business.The scale of the challenge facing Mr Soames was laid bare on Tuesday as Serco said pre-tax profits fell by 62 per cent to £106m in the year to December. Its order book shrunk by £2bn to £1.7bn, while its debt swelled by 21 per cent, hitting £701m last year and prompting talk in the City of a rights issue.Two of Serco’s rivals – G4S and Capita – have had to raise capital through rights issues over the past year. But Mr Casey said he was “comfortable with the debt levels at this time”. “I don’t see any reason we would issue a rights issue,” he added.The company said the £3.7bn of new business it generated last year showed it continues to win work outside the UK. This included a $355m deal to provide traffic management services in the US state of Virginia for the next six years, as well as a $1.25bn contract providing support for people enrolling for medical insurance under President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act.Serco remains under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office for overcharging the government for electronic tags on prisoners. It has agreed to refund £68.5m to the UK Ministry of Justice after an audit showed it, and rival G4S, had charged for putting electronic tags on criminals who were not being monitored, were in prison or dead.Rachel Lomax, former deputy governor of the Bank of England, has joined the board and will chair Serco’s new corporate responsibility committee, set up in the wake of the tagging affair to have ethical and governance oversight of the company. Mike Clasper, former BAA chief executive and HMRC chairman, and Tamara Ingram, WPP vice-president, will also join the board.Shares in Serco closed 3.89 per cent up at 467.3p.

    Related companies

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  4. I see people going to Birmingham Special General Meeting Today are Tweeting on #NAPOSGM - Dear readers please help those who cannot be there get a sense of the atmosphere and exchange info by tweeting what you cannot speak in Meeting or write it PLEASE

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  5. Anon 8.19 I agree with you, but the wider picture is that we are in the middle of a neoliberal onslaught that is engulfing the European Union. If your focus is only on Probation you are not going to see this. Left Unity at the moment is our only hope of recreating "the Spirit of 45". Neoliberalism is Grayling's agenda the fight against it should be ours.

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  6. So we're going on strike again. I feel so despondent, I simply don't have the appetite for this. I can fully understand why they chose those dates but I'm so stressed I'm not sure I can cope with this as well. It's too little, too late. http://www.napo.org.uk/about/news/news.cfm/newsid/337

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    1. What do others think? Based on comments in my team i cant see many wanting to go on strike. General consensus was thst first strike was pointless.

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    2. Agree with 18.55. Stressed. Despondent. Too little too late. Think lots will feel the same.

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    3. Same view in my office. Nobody I spoke to would agree to more strikes. And on the day napo went off to change their constitution to save their own skin. It's a joke. I will not be walking out this time.

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    4. 2 days is not enough. No one will care that we are striking for 2 days. More to the point, we ourselves feel that 2 days is apathetic. 2 weeks would be more of a statement and a stand. 2 weeks would show guts and determination and would leave the government floundering. 2 days is barely more than the 2 half day dithering we did before. Grayling is determined to privatise probation. We have to match that determination with our own. If we do not, we deserve to lose.

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  7. Could these be Grayling stooges commenting today. Show some courage to save your jobs and current pay scale.

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    1. Not at all. I'm the poster at 18.55. A hard pressed Probation Officer assigned to the CRC. I'm only staying in the hope of redundancy. I don't care about my job or my pay scale any more.

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    2. Anon 2010 once again when posters express their heart felt views we are being accused of being a troll or grayling stooge. I am poster at 1932. This is a genuine post by PO shafted (sifted) to CRC. It is sad to say but myself and many others are completely fed up of the whole thing. I wish they would offer redundancy so i can escape this madness. Sick of fighting, have done everything napo has asked. Completed grievance only to find out very few others in area had done so. Went on strike- pointless. I dont want to fight anymore ,just want decent redunancy pay and to be able to wave goodbye to probation . Sick of the job -UTTERLY PISSED OFF. Anon 2010, do not think myself and the few posters above are not the only ones who think like this. Get real!

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  8. Quote of the day re: further tagging debacle. This from 'Buddi', who got sick of the unreasonable approach of the MoJ.

    "The MoJ have been an extraordinary diversion of much of our resources for two years now and this cannot continue, and we are excited for the prospects of the business now we are free of this unproductive and frustrating relationship."

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    1. Article definitely worth a read: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/supportservices/10678028/Buddi-withdraws-from-MoJ-tagging-contract.html

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    2. Buddi, the mobile alarm and tagging technology company, has walked away from a multi-million pound Ministry of Justice contract to tag offenders, branding the process "unproductive and frustrating."
      The Telegraph has learned that Buddi, the Aylesbury-based company backed by hedge fund manager Crispin Odey, has told the MoJ that it will no longer take part.
      Buddi was to provide the unique GPS technology which would allow the tagging system to operate.
      It is understood that Buddi refused to hand over its intellectual property without the provision of a Government guarantee that it would not be used by other companies involved in the tagging scheme.
      In addition, the MoJ changed the specification of its requirements, and expected Buddi, which employs just 25 people, to foot the bill.
      After Buddi refused to work to these changes, the MoJ decided to retender Buddi's part of the contract, with a recompete notice sent out at the start of this week.
      The departure of Buddi, following a series of difficulties, comes despite the Government's target that 25pc of central government spend will be with SMEs by the end of next year.
      Ms Murray has previously said that this contract, and Buddi's involvement in it, would be an interesting test case for the Government's seriousness around such aspirations.
      Announcing the contract last August, Chris Grayling, Justice Secretary, said "Government is serious about making our contracts accessible to small and medium enterprises."
      However in a memo to staff, a copy of which has been obtained by The Telegraph, founder and chief executive Sara Murray said that she wrote to the MoJ last week to highlight a series of problems, not least that the company was asked to complete development work without being paid.
      "We have agreed yesterday with the MoJ not to push on with this," she wrote in the memo, sent to staff earlier today.
      "They want the development of a product, which does not yet exist, and we want to sell the breakthrough products we have already designed and are making, which we know will work," she continued.
      Buddi was selected as one of four companies to tag and monitor offenders, following an extensive tendering process. The other three were Capita, Astrium and O2's owner Telefonica.
      The value of the contract - to replace monitoring of 20,000 offenders in England and Wales previously carried out by G4S and Serco - has never been quantified, but Capita is on record as saying its part of the contract alone was worth £400m over six years.
      G4S and Serco pulled out of the tendering process after an investigation found they had been over-charging.
      Unlike the existing contract, where tagging technology sends a fax to police stations if an offender leaves his home, the new tagging system is set to incorporate GPS technology to allow them to be tracked.
      The contract was split into four parts, with Buddi meant to provide the software and the tags that go around the offender’s ankle.
      The MoJ released a statement which said that it is still on track to begin rolling out the new tagging system by the end of this year.
      "We have been unable to agree on certain technical and commercial aspects of the contract with Buddi to provide tags," said an MoJ spokesman.
      "We have therefore decided to recompete this element of the contract to ensure we deliver an efficient service that represents best value for hardworking taxpayers while protecting the public."

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  9. I wouldn't consider myself as a stalwart Napo member but I thought that given I had concerns about Napo in recent months and the support / leadership or possible lack of it was important for me to attend today and see for myself. It helped me put the TR fight into perspective. A union is what we make it and for months I have been waiting for Napo to provide me with guidance as to what to do, however after today I realise that we are empowered to take positive action ourselves which in turn will influence the direction the union takes and decisions it makes. I am not giving up and I for one am ready to strike.

    A strike isn't the only action we will be taking and I think the better ways of communicating with Napo is a great idea. I'm sure the info from today's meeting will filter through in the next few days.

    To those who have recently had the staff split imposed and are feeling a bit despondent, it may take a few more weeks before you feel ready to fight again. Take that time, look after yourselves. I know it took me a while (we were one of the first trusts to go through it I believe) but when you're ready there is a lot still to fight for.

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  10. Yes its not the end and I have said this before I could retire in two/three years but no I staying put to help build a resistance.

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  11. If I'm honest, in my heart of hearts I have no appetite for another strike. But I will still be on the picket line because it's the right thing to do. For me, being in a union is more than paying my subs every month, it's about taking collective action because - and I know this sounds cheesy - we are stronger together.

    New dimensions of this omnishambles are emerging every day - the latest being the suggestion that there will have to be a further round of sifting to ensure the "right balance of staffing" (i.e. they cocked up the original one so badly that they had to include hundreds of successful appeals in the NPS). If we're serious in saying that probation work is about protecting the public we need to do what we can to ensure that the public knows about this dangerous farce and the incompetents in charge of it.

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  12. Trust me people, I'm a probation officer after all, tomorrow is going to be mega and please keep your collective peckers up the fight is not over by any means. Fear is a state of mind banish it and start to enjoy the struggle. "You have nothing to fear but fear itself"; Roosevelt was right then and I'm right now.

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  13. probation officers are fed up both with their employers and their union - who by the way want us to strike probably to divert more criticism away from today actually being about save napo not save probation. Both are weak and self serving at all points facilitating the m o j. To be called trolls on top of all that is, in my view, beyond disgusting! I am appalled at that comment by anon 2010. People are entitled to their own views for heavens sake! They do not need to be called trolls. What's more, you'll probably find they're widely held views. It's a disgrace that most probation officers only knew of this by listening to the news.

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    1. Guys - can we please desist from calling each other trolls! Just got back from Birmingham and I'm tired and irritable enough as it is. Cheers.

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    2. Hmmm. Sounds like a serious bit of blogging is in the offing. I wasn't there today, I feel we're 18 months behind MoJ's activities - irrespective of how useless it all is - and gut instinct suggests 24 hr strike is pissing in the wind. 30 yrs ago NUM set their stall out against Thatcher, killer of the spirit of '45. The pain of their belief and integrity lives on - but its also important to acknowledge the damaged families and broken relationships. What's my point? Not sure yet, just rambling, but maybe that is the point? It feels like NAPO is just rambling, not cohesive. I saw a group photo on BBC website. Was that today? Who had the time for gathering a group piccy when there were guest speakers to listen to and constitutional matters to mull over? Oh, and some TR stuff too, maybe?

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    3. I was hoping the action would be concerted with other CJ unions and Lawyers (yes that is news, Lawyers strike) , surely a more co ordinated approach would give us all confidence that NAPO is not flip flopping about to the TR tune. I think a quick straw poll would suggest that a day (another 2 half days to protect the pension payments!) serves only to drive a wedge between both CRC and NPS colleagues .....will we hear the call "you are ok and not striking , when we are not and are on strike" .
      I wanted to use the word Folly , because I like it , and this call for action may be that folly , an action out of context and to cost more than the loss of wage for a day.

      Why has there not been an effort to challenge the bidders, to show them what a belligerent group we are ? I know NAPO has had opportunity to go to events planned by the MoJ with bidders and has not, why not?

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    4. I would like to have seen a more diverse strategy from Napo (although I accept we may not know everything that has gone on), but what is strike action if not showing belligerence?

      For me the question is easy, if you oppose TR you need to support this strike, whatever doubts you may have.

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  14. I think you'll find that the reason you didn't know about the strike was because the employers hadn't yet been told. Ian Lawrence announced the strike in a closed session just before lunch and said he would be advising the employers by the end of the week. Not sure how it got out to the news at lunchtime. Am not convinced that was IL' s intention.
    Deb

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  15. It was on NAPO news at 1.30!

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  16. Impressions from the meeting yesterday: NAPO is tiny little Union but it is well advised. There is a pretty coherent strategy afoot, involving work with Lords, the Public Accounts Committee, and crucually,, evidencing the disintegration of the split and sell-off timetable and plans, AND the non-cooperation of staff. Strike -and the date- are very well placed to make a major impact: the potential join-up with Legals is very real, Graylings birthday on 1st is hilarious, and so the potential for a)good impact b)lots of fun, is significant. Long campaigns are the hardest, the most soul sapping. We can win this, though. The Probation Service wont be the same as the one we started wtih, but it wont be sold off. I am going to see this one through.

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