Napo News Issue 244 11/2012

Jonathan Ledger’s AGM address Pages 6

ULR of the year award0

November 2012 Issue 244

Probation Privatisation campaign Page 3

What do we want? A Future that Works!On 20 October, over 300 Napo members, their family and friends, marched alongside colleagues in all the other public sector trade unions calling for A Future that Works. Almost every branch was represented and mem-bers were able to meet-up at Embankment Gardens and stay together for the majority of the march.

Over 150,000 civil servants, local govern-ment workers, nurses, shop workers, teach-ers, fire fighters, transport workers, pen-sioners, unemployed teens, and community activists took to the streets in London to protest against the Coalition government’s austerity measures. Similar demonstra-tions took place in Glasgow and Belfast.

No to austerityThe demonstration was organised by the TUC. Addressing the rally, TUC General Secretary, Brendan Barber said that the massive turnout showed how unpopular

the Government’s policies were. ‘We are sending a very strong message that aus-terity is simply failing. The Government is making life desperately hard for millions of people because of pay cuts for workers, while the rich are given tax cuts.’ Although the purpose of the protest was serious the march was friendly and fun, with a good atmosphere and sense of soli-darity and purpose. Protesters carried ban-ners which read: ‘Cameron has Butchered Britain’, ‘Save the Badgers: Cull the Bankers’ and ‘No to Austerity’ as they marched from the Embankment to Hyde Park. They booed at Downing Street and shouted ‘pay your taxes’ as they passed a Starbucks coffee shop. Addressing Napo members on the march, Jonathan Ledger, General Secretary, expressed his pride in the turnout and the determination of Napo members to stand up for the work they undertake and the communities they serve.

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www.napo.org.ukNapo News 244 November 2012

On 23 October the Ministry of Justice published its response to the Effective Community Penalty consultation – Punishment and Reform. Essentially it makes the case for tougher community sentence proposals announced by the Prime Minister on 22 October.

The new short intensive community sen-tence, which is planned to replace many existing community orders, will be essen-tially punitive in nature and will be char-acterised by GPS surveillance, electronic tagging, unpaid work and participation in short offender-focussed programmes, as features. It will last for six to 12 months. The sentence is being characterised as punitive but also involving restorative justice and

rehabilitation; however the likelihood is that the punitive element will dominate. It would likely involve delivery by the private sector. The announcement also contained the Coalition’s proposals for the spread of Payment by Result schemes. Napo believes that such a sentence will result in significant non-compliance and therefore a sharp increase in breaching and resentencing, with most of those going back to court receiving short custo-dial sentences. The government’s propos-al, therefore, will increase, not decrease, the prison population and will be coun-terproductive. In a press statement Napo said: ‘The government has known for years what makes prisons and probation more effec-

tive. All the evidence shows that reoffend-ing is reduced if individuals participate in activities which impact on their illit-eracy, challenge addictions and increase opportunities for work and better hous-ing. Participation in relevant programmes for offenders reduces crime by a third. Releasing prisoners back to the same con-ditions that led to their crimes in the first place clearly doesn’t work. However the Coalition’s policy of cuts, combined with Payment by Results, is undermining effec-tive practice. Payment by Results failed in Welfare to Work and will fail with Justice. It will prove impossible to measure or monitor cause and effect in both prisons and the community’.Harry Fletcher

Napo slams government’s tougher orders and Payment by Results

Training issues were of high importance at the centenary AGM in Torquay. There was a fringe meeting on PQF (Probation Qualification Framework), and several training related res-olutions including an emergency motion on a threat to PQF in the North West.

The PQF fringe meeting was probably the best attended fringe of the AGM. There were so many questions for the guest speaker – Catherine Fuller, NOM’s Probation Training Projects Manager, Learning and Development – that Catherine did not have time to answer them all. In those questions that were taken issues included difficulties

of accessing and progressing with the qual-ification and widespread inconsistency of the application of PQF, where in some areas new starters are getting access to training faster than existing staff.

IssuesCatherine Fuller explained that work is being done to address some of these issues. She reminded the meeting that the Universities will consider APL (accred-ited prior learning) for their relevance to Community Justice Honours Degree and explained that there are regional training advisors that members can contact if they

need advice. The meeting also raised other issues such as the need for long term work-force planning; the importance of remind-ing PSOs that if they want to get on VQ3 they need to make experessions of interest by March 2015; and improving the way in which Napo receives feedback about PQF. It was suggested that this could include each branch having a named person as the PQF contact person.

The futureIt was the future of the PQF that was in the thoughts of those that moved the emergen-cy motion ‘PQF crisis in the North West’ (for more information see Tim Wilson’s ‘From the Chair’ article in September’s Napo News and see LAURUS/Napo letter on page 11 of this issue). AGM noted with concern the threat that this issues poses to the future of the quali-fication and instructed National Officials to ensure this receives urgent attention in discussions with the employers and with NOMS. Other training related resolutions were on the following:• instructing the Training Committee to

work with NOMS to ensure the develop-ment of restorative justice as a training unit in the PQF

• Union Learning Agreements. • highlighting that PQF has failed to deliver

as orginally intended and therefore ask-ing the Probation Negotiating Committee to take this up in the the next pay claim.

• instructing Training Committee to sur-vey branches to find out what training is on offer and to lobby for universally avail-able professional training and CPD.

Sarah Friday

Training given high profile at AGM

At this year’s AGM Jonathan Ledger and Mark Freeman, Deputy General Secretary of the POA, signed a Memorandum of Understanding that lays down a broad frame-work for joint partnership work to provide a service and a venue for learning to Union Learning Representatives (ULRs), Project workers, employers and employees (pictured with Marilyn Owens and Briony Sutcliffe).

In essence, Napo and POA Union Learning teams will now be working together to provide maximum learning opportuni-ties for Family Court and Probation Staff by utilising the POA’s dedicated network of Community Learning Centres. Most of the centres are located on prison grounds across England, but are not actually within the secure boundaries of the prison itself, thus allowing easy access to the centre by

Napo members and their families. All of the courses available at

each of the Community Learning Centres will be advertised on the Napo Learning and Development website and local ULRs or the ULF team would be pleased to speak to members regarding availability and access.For further information, please contact [email protected]

POA and Napo join forces on UnionLearn

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As Napo News goes to press Napo is stepping up the campaign of resistance against the government’s privatisation plans.

AGM in October saw the launch of the cam-paign with the publication of a pack con-taining a series of briefings highlighting Probation’s successful record, showing that the introduction of privatisation will be a disaster and emphasising the dangers of putting cost before quality. The first of the briefings on Probation Trusts – Targets and Achievements is sum-marised on page 9. The briefing packs are currently being used with the press and parliamentarians, particularly friends in the House of Lords where the amendments enabling the intro-duction of the market will first be tabled

to the Crown and Courts Bill. As soon as the detail of the amendments is known, members will be asked to play their part by contacting their local MPs in writing and in person to get support. This will be coordi-nated in December, when the Bill is likely to reach the Commons.

Gathering SupportAn Early Day Motion (EDM 622), express-ing support for the excellent work of the Probation Service, has been put down by supportive MPs in the Justice Unions Parliamentary Group; and a model letter has been sent to branches to circulate to members asking them to write to their MPs requesting them to sign it. A copy of the let-ter can be found on the Napo website www.napo.org.uk and you can also find and

email your MP from the site.

Branches have also been circu-lated with Briefing 11 in the series – Probation Under Threat. Attached to this briefing, which sets out the details of why Napo is cam-paigning, is a ‘state-ment of support’,

and members are being asked to take this to any and ALL of their contacts in the jus-tice system, as well as local politicians, and to ask them to sign it to show their support for Napo’s position. Branches will be col-lecting these to return to head office or you can send them back direct to Kath Falcon, 4 Chivalry Road, London, SW11 1HT – [email protected].

Probation privatisation: the campaign begins

Napo branches were asked to make their own placards to bring with them on the demonstration on 20 October and many did. More photos and video clips of Napo on the march can be found on the Napo website www.napo.org.uk There will be a fuller report on the demonstration and the Future that Works campaign in the December issue.

March for a Future that Works

Get your MP to support EDM 622“That this House welcomes the news that the Probation Service in England and Wales won the British Quality Foundation Gold Medal for Excellence in 2011; notes that no Probation Trust is deemed to be failing or in need of improvement; further notes that each Probation Trust in England and Wales is meeting its target on the production of court reports, victim satisfaction and the successful completion of orders or licences; and acknowl-edges the achievements of the Probation Service in England and Wales for carrying out its work efficiently and effectively.”

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Voting rightsI relayed on Twitter a recent experience whilst visiting the National Portrait Gallery in London. As I was admiring a portrait of the late and widely admired politician, Mo Mowlem, a group of young people passed by and I overheard one of them ask if it was a painting of Susan Boyle. I smiled rue-fully at the nature of fame and the speed at which such an excellent and effective poli-tician could fall out of public consciousness. As I write the Presidential election is about to take place in the United States as is the vote on the new Police and Crime Commissioners. Whilst the former signifi-cantly outweighs the latter in importance both serve as a reminder of the need for electoral engagement; all the more so as political cynicism has grown in many Western democracies.

Walking the walkThere was nothing but political commit-ment and determination on display at the TUC March for a future that works on the 20 October. Coming just two weeks after our AGM the turnout by members was superb and testimony to the national and branch organisation that went into the prepara-tions. Napo joined some 150,000 trade unionists and community activists on the March and our collective chanting against the privateers who threaten public services reverberated along the corridors of power. Ranjit Singh has made an excellent video of the day which includes contributions from members who marched and this will be available soon via Napo’s website, Facebook page and Twitter account.

Going on the offensiveThe importance of the March is obvious enough for Napo members in the Probation Service as the new MoJ team, and the Justice Secretary in particular, begin to reveal their plans for Criminal Justice delivery and organisation. Napo has had its first meet-ing with our new Minister, Jeremy Wright, and it was a positive enough experience. Mr Wright has a background as a criminal law barrister so is familiar with courts and pro-bation reports. He appeared to understand the discussion we had with him about risk assessment and accountability. Unhappily, the same cannot be said of his colleagues. The Prime Minister’s rant on the future of community sentences in October managed only one reference to Probation and that was a disparaging one. Chris

Grayling’s fixation with Payment by Results from his DWP days is to be a centrepiece of the new punitive proposals for community sentences. And we await the announce-ment of plans for the Probation Service which we anticipate will place privatisa-tion at the core of the Government’s inten-tions. This Napo News updates members on our campaign to defend the Service and the action that can be taken in response. More information will follow.

Tagging alongIt is sad to have to reflect that the first major transfer of probation work took place at the end of October as Serco assumed responsi-bility for Unpaid Work in London. Napo has been busy preparing for this change ensur-ing that we are in a strong position to sup-port and represent our effected members. Branch and national officials have worked hard to address a range of issues arising from the transfer and are to be commended for their work. Ironically, October saw the publication of a report by the Policy Exchange into the delivery of Electronic Monitoring contracts. It highlighted significant deficiencies in the performance of Serco, all the more interest-ing as the PE is a right wing think-tank. As we know from recent debacles involving G4S and A4e failings delivering contracts efficiently and transparently are no barrier to further opportunities to take over public sector work. However, all these incidents provide evidence which can be used to up the political pressure. As always, we should remember that we have friends in high (and other) places. This battle is far from over. Torquay with all the trimmingsThis year’s conference is covered extensive-ly in this Napo News. It was an invigorating (not just for those many hardy souls who ventured into the sea in aid of Edridge!) and inspiring few days. I was struck by the positive and warm atmosphere throughout AGM with a great deal of respect and affec-tion being shown towards those who spoke – old timers and newbies alike! On reflection it is perhaps not surprising that it was such an empowering experience. All of us are proud of our union and wanted to celebrate its centenary in style sending a message of defiance to our enemies. But even more fundamentally, the opportu-nity to meet together with members from across the UK sharing the same values and beliefs provided an oasis from the storms of adversity and difficulties at work. Napo has been the protector of probation and family court staff and their practice for the past 100 years. Long may it continue. Let’s play our part collectively to ensure that it does.

Jonathan Ledger writes

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Almost 700 members and guests travelled to Torquay for Napo’s Centenary AGM from 4 to 6 October. Attendees heard a debate on Probation’s future with speakers Sadiq Khan, Shadow Justice Secretary, Geoff Dobson from the Prison Reform Trust and Police Federation Chairman, Paul McKeever, while Cafcass Chief Executive, Anthony Douglas answered questions from members at the Family Court Section professional session.

In addition there was a full programme of fringe meetings on professional, train-ing and campaigning issues, Napo’s inter-national links, Unionlearn initiatives and diversity issues. The good turnout meant that AGM was quorate throughout and members were able to consider all motions submitted. Resolutions passed at this year’s AGM are contained in a ‘pull-out and keep’ section in the centre pages of this issue.

As well as working hard, attendees also found time to celebrate Napo’s 100th birth-day in style with a reception for all on the Thursday evening and the official party on the Friday. Well, you are only 100 once!

Centenary AGM

Jonathan (right) with Guest of Honour, retiring TUC General Secretary, Brendan Barber.

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The Family Court Section had a bril-liant AGM at Torquay. It accepted the FCS Annual Report 2011-12; elected Steve Hornby and Nicki Kenney as Co-Chairs; chose a new Section Executive and Cafcass Negotiating Committees; paid tribute to Anna Markowycz, who has had to stand down through ill-health; marked the recent sad deaths of Mark Kirman and Glenda Croll; adopted a new constitution; thanked the old Regional Convenors, and endorsed the new system based on office contacts, the three elected national officers and the reformed SEC.

In addition, the SAGM passed two motions which can be viewed on the website: www.napo.org.uk/familycourt.cfm under ‘SAGM Motions’. One motion launched a deter-mined campaign for the humane and just use of Sickness Absence and Performance Policies in Cafcass, while the other instruct-ed the Negotiating Committee to make a claim for a Home Working Allowance.

Workloads disputeMeanwhile the CNC had submitted a motion on the Workload Dispute to the main Napo AGM. This motion, which can also be viewed on the website under ‘Conference Motions Relevant to the Section’, detailed the history of the Workload Dispute from 27 January 2011 until today and gives Cafcass three months from AGM:• To ensure that at least 75% of practition-

ers in all teams are in ‘green’ or below and that practitioners who enter ‘high amber/high red’ receive prompt work-load relief in order to bring their caseload down to a manageable level;

• To demonstrate that staff are working their contractual hours or allow the TU Side’s claim for overtime payments.

• If at the end of the three month period, the SEC considers that Cafcass has failed to deliver any of these outcomes, it is authorised by Napo AGM to run an indus-trial action ballot in the FCS for action up to and including strike action to achieve reasonable and manageable workloads that can be performed within contractual hours. This motion was carried with none against.

Other motionsOther motions relevant to the Section, which were carried at main Conference and which can be found on the website, include a motion to change the name of the Family Court Committee to Family Court Professional, C a m p a i g n i n g a n d T ra i n i n g C o m m it t e e (FCPCT) and allow us to elect the FCPCT and the Editorial Board of the Family Court Journal each year at the Section AGM; a motion, which I personally seconded, resolutely opposing the misuse of sickness absence policies in Cafcass and Probation and committing Napo to join up with other unions waging similar cam-paigns; the FCC’s motion supporting the European Convention on Human Rights, and motions on H&S Reps Facility Time, Dyslexia Awareness and an end to the discrimina-tion of disabled staff that comes as a result of the way offices are now being laid out. The Section had its annu-al social on Thursday evening, which as usual turned into a lively pro-fessional discussion. This was followed on the Friday morning by the Family Court Professional session where Andy Stanton reported back on this year’s prodigious out-put from the FCC under his dynamic lead-ership and Brian Kirby reported on a great year for the Family Court Journal, which he edits and which is fast gathering general respect as an high quality, academic publi-cation.

Cafcass speakersThe meeting was then addressed by Anthony Douglas, CEO, and Bruce Clark, Director of Policy, Cafcass, who had agreed at very short notice to attend, and moved into a Q&A session which included ques-tions about: what proportionate working actually means; the need for Guardians to scrutinise LA care plans; the Government’s intention to insert an expectation of ‘shared parenting’ into the Children Act; the evalu-ation of the Early Intervention Teams; Cafcass’s approach to the recommenda-tions of the Munro Report, and the inability

of the Workload Weighting Scheme to reduce work-loads. Anthony Douglas reiterated the wish that he had expressed at our Professional Conference in May to work with Napo on professional issues. Unfortunately the most poignant question was asked after Antony Douglas had to leave to catch a train and concerned the fact that some recent contributors to the Family Court Journal have asked for their names to be withheld for fear of reprisals from Cafcass management. Bruce Clark

heard this and said he would take the issue back to the Corporate Management Team.

Conference successAs you can see elsewhere in this issue of Napo News, Napo’s Centenary AGM Conference was varied, action-packed, militant, stimulating, up-lifting and very enjoyable. The Section as usual punched way above its weight in the proceedings, just like Napo does in the wider trade union movement. Many of Napo’s National Officers and Officials attended our SAGM this year and were very impressed. My

deepest gratitude goes to those rank and file members who gave up their precious time to come down to Torquay and whose attendance made both the SAGM and con-ference such a fantastic success. Our chal-lenge now is to convert policy into action.Tony MercerNational Vice Chair

Family Court FoCuS

In the end there were quite a few entries to the caption competition, but the win-ner has to be that from Haleem Jawaid , a FCA in Leeds: Tony Mercer – ‘Your proportionate working speech could have been shorter Rob’. Anthony Douglas – ‘Actually it’s Anthony’. TM – ‘It’s Rob under “proportionate naming!” ’

Caption competition winner

Family Court Conference 201323 MayBest Western Monkbar Hotel, York

Save this date!

Anthony Douglas.

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In contrast to our long, collective history, the Condem Government has reached the ripe old age of nearly two and a half looking dis-tinctly past its sell-by date. As it creaks along there is no disguising the fault lines running through the very heart of the administration. However it is still capable of doing enormous harm.

During this past year trade unions have shown that they remain a force to be reck-oned with. I was very proud of Napo’s par-ticipation in the strike on the 30 November last year in defence of members’ pensions. That action, involving millions of public sector workers across the UK, was the big-gest coordinated trade union strike in over 80 years.

International issuesThe solidarity between trade unionists in the UK in this past year is, of course, part of a wider movement internationally. As you will know, I had the privilege this year of joining a delegation of senior trade unionists, MPs and lawyers on a trip to Colombia organised by the campaigning group to which we are affiliated, Justice for Colombia. Colombia is the most dangerous place in the world to be a trade unionist with hundreds of trade union activists hav-ing been murdered, tortured and impris-oned in the past few years alone. As I sat in a crowded and cramped flat in a poor suburb of Bogota listening to a suc-cession of mothers describing the disap-pearance and subsequent murder of their young sons, I went through what I can only describe as a life-changing experience, much as I had when I stood in the streets of Hebron in the West Bank during my visit to Palestine last year.

ProbationCloser to home, the recent Government reshuffle of the Ministry of Justice ministe-rial team saw a move to the right from ‘cud-dly’ Ken to Fifty Shades of Grayling (I know my popular culture). The early indicators from Chris Grayling have been less than encouraging with his pronouncements on reversing prison closures and reducing what he appears to characterise as prison-ers ‘perks’. That he chose to give his first interview as Secretary of State to the ‘Sun’ reinforces the underlying message of more punishment and less rehabilitation. Which brings us to the issue of Jeremy Wright becoming the Prisons and Rehabilitation Minister, discarding Probation from his title. It appears that the political intention behind this was to rein-force the Government’s commitment to its ‘Rehabilitation Revolution’ (presumably

calling Mr Wright the Minister for Prisons and Revolution would have caused confu-sion). It is an insult to the Probation Service, it is an insult to its staff and it is an insult to the long history of care and protection given by the Service to our communities. I call on the MoJ to reinstate ‘Probation’ to the Minister’s title and ensure parity between prisons and probation. The new ministerial team is appar-ently taking stock of Government plans for Criminal Justice and progress of the Crime and Courts Bill has been delayed. Sadly, but unsurprisingly, any re-thinking that is taking place appears to be focused on punishment and privatisation.

NOMSMinisters come and go, of course, but NOMS like a bad smell, lingers on. However the signs are that its impact and relevance is growing weaker by the day. NOMS is respon-sible, however, for one area of work which has major implications for Probation. The Probation Review, consisting of two con-sultation papers, supposedly reflecting the input of officials with a strong Probation background. Reading the papers you would have struggled to believe that possible. At the heart of the Review, of course, is this Government’s driving desire to pri-vatise as many public services as possi-ble. How ironic then that a Service which has been successfully changing criminal behaviour for so many years should find itself under threat from privateers such as A4e and G4S whose long record of failure, we have discovered, is no hindrance to fur-ther opportunities to take over parts of the public sector. Notwithstanding these inadequacies, a number of Trusts have chosen to hook up with various privateers – presumably in the belief that such relationships are the way of the future… How ironic then that the introduction of what is perceived as ‘healthy competition’ has caused nothing but division, distrust and demoralisation.

Cafcass Turning to our work in the Family Courts, Napo’s Centenary year also marks the 75th anniversary of the Summary Procedure (Domestic Proceedings) Act of 1937 which formally involved Napo members in matri-monial conciliation for the first time. This was the beginning of private law family court work. It is perhaps tempting for mem-bers in Probation to think of the Family Court Section in the context of Cafcass which has a relatively short, if somewhat tortured, 11-year history. However, Family Court work has been at the heart of Napo members’ professional practice for the best

part of Napo’s existence. Last AGM we were discussing the Family Justice Review and its potential impact on Cafcass and the work of members in the Family Court Section. The Review duly reported and set out a vision of a new Family Court Service as part of the Ministry of Justice into which Cafcass would be absorbed. The Government appeared to accept much of what the Review had put forward but it now seems that the potential cost of such a… restruc-turing has pushed these proposals into the long grass. And so Cafcass lumbers on. Workloads remain a significant problem and the Section is engaged in addressing the issue and challenging the organisation. Our concerns regarding the culture within Cafcass, particularly in relation to perfor-mance management, continue to dominate the agenda.

Let’s work togetherAs you may be aware, I am close to com-pleting my first term of office as General Secretary. Looking back over the past four and a half years I have been filled with pride reflecting on what Napo and mem-bers have achieved. I can’t predict what the future holds for Napo, Probation and the Family Courts, but I can tell you this; Napo is an integral part of who I am, heart and soul, and I intend to continue to give everything I have to serving the interests of Napo and our members. If you will have me, I am pleased to announce today that I will be seeking re-election as your General Secretary. Conference, Napo is well. Napo is strong. And Napo is ready. Ready to face any chal-lenge that is thrown at us and ready to respond with determination in support of the work of probation and family court staff and in defiance of those who threaten our principles and values. The first 100 years of Napo is done. It’s time to start working towards our next Centenary. As the song says, ‘Let’s work together’.The full speech can be found at www.napo.org.uk.

Jonathan Ledger’s AGM Address

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This was the last AGM to be attended by Richard Martin as Secretary of the Fund. When Anne King – Chair of Trustees, present-ed the Edridge Report to AGM she put the usual speech to one side, and concentrated on telling AGM how important Richard has been to the Fund for such a long time. Anne said that nobody has ever contributed more, (nor is likely to in the future) to the work of the Fund than Richard.

Then with Jonathan Ledger at her side, she gave Richard an engraved tankard to commemorate the event, complete with the Edridge and Napo logos, on behalf of

Edridge and Napo. Richard gave a short speech in thanks, in which he told us that during his over thirty years with Edridge he had written cheques to help colleagues to a total of about £1.3 million – which is a sobering thought. It goes without saying that Richard left the podium to a standing ovation. The final stage was Friday even-ing when Richard met the Edridge Area Representatives, accompanied with some fizz, canapés and a lovely Edridge decorated cake. A wonderful farewell.

The face of EdridgeRichard Martin was the public face of Edridge, the person people spoke to when they were distressed and needed advice on how to apply for help. We are in the process of re-assigning some of the work Richard undertook and recruiting a new Secretary to the Fund. The details of the new arrange-ments will be communicated next month. Be assured that we remain committed to providing a prompt and sympathetic response to all those who apply to us.Trustees of the Edridge Fund

Richard Martin’s last AGM as Edridge Secretary

The Centenary AGM this year was Tim Wilson’s last as National Chair. His final Chair’s Address left members with a clear message about the importance of Napo’s campaigning heritage.

‘While we watch with dismay as the new Secretary of State turns his back on commu-nity sentencing, opting instead for the luna-cy of shoring up imprisonment as a solution, there is now clear space somewhere to the left of Tory policy, for a more liberal crimi-nal justice policy agenda which, if boldly and confidently adopted by the Opposition, can be used to emphasise the benefit to our communities of genuine rehabilitation for those who fall foul of the law. Our challenge to Labour is therefore this: if you are truly interest-ed in achieving and sus-taining a fair and bal-anced criminal justice system, then believe, not in the supremacy of the market, but in the electorate’s abil-ity to make mature judgement; then seize the innovating, liberal ground and build a CJS which turns away from an incarcerative solu-tion to the problems of

poverty, welfare and education. What we need is a reasoned, proportionate, layered system of social justice which instead of finding more ways of and I quote ‘making bad people worse’, filters out thousands who can be dealt with by non-penal means.

Family CourtsTurning to Family Court: as with Probation, there are now threats to Cafcass – includ-ing uncertainty over the future position of the service, post Family Justice Review, the family support worker redundancies and relentless budget cuts. But there is a pre-sent threat which is totally avoidable and which comes from within. I was particu-larly struck by this fact when I attended the Napo centenary Family Court Conference

in May. During the conference the chal-lenge to senior management in Cafcass was clearly set out, and sadly not taken up. It concerns organisational culture: namely that management should believe in, sup-port and fight for their staff in their work to sustain high quality professional standards – not lose the plot in a thicket of manage-rialist edicts… But above all, Cafcass senior management themselves need to have the assurance and self-confidence to be able to trust their staff and champion their integ-rity in the face of excessive outside inter-vention.

Challenging timesIt has been an absolute privilege to have been your Chair through a challenging time, working with many of you in our local, regional and national endeavours. The roller-coaster ride seems set to con-tinue, conference, but in closing I’d like to steal a quote from one of the original guardians of Napo – its first Chair, Sydney Edridge, on his retirement back in 1928. He said, looking back over his 16 years of involvement with Napo – ‘I have been utter-ly dominated by one thought: the Cause’. That has been very much the nature of my four years’ activism as national Napo Chair; now please remain true to the Cause – that of humanity, reason, solidarity and the vital community which is Napo.’

Tim Wilson leaves AGM with a clear message

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We were thrilled to take up our posts as Co-Chairs of Napo in its centenary year. The AGM at Torquay was an unforgettable expe-rience. The air of celebration which was shamelessly present throughout confer-ence contrasted sharply with the important issues that we debated, and which our guest speakers reported as threats to our exist-ence. Perhaps the most acute of these was presented by Shadow Justice Secretary, Sadiq Khan, when he spoke in the Probation ses-sion. He refused to reassure us that privatisa-tion would not be a feature of a future Labour government.

While we were not able to hear from a rep-resentative from the Ministry of Justice this year, we did get news that the Payment by Results (PbR) pilots in Staffordshire and West Midlands and Wales have been put on hold. Although the initial response from many of us was relief, we were warned not to hold our breath, as friends of Napo cautioned that the threat of the process

being speeded up rather than having been banished is very real. Indeed the new Justice Secretary, Chris Grayling, has said he wants to race ahead with PbR and doesn’t see the point in testing it first.

ResistanceAs we continue to resist the advances of the Coalition, Napo launched a campaign against the cuts which involved a com-prehensive pack of briefing papers for MP’s, and for branch officials to use in their work with members, the press and our allies. One such ally, John McDonnell MP, spoke to conference about the dangers of Clause 23; and while the Bill has slowed its progress through parlia-ment he said we have a window of around 12-18 months to deal it a fatal blow. He told trade unionists to get ‘in the faces’ of par-liamentarians. Attendees at AGM marked

the first step in the campaign against privatisation with a mass letter cam-paign with mem-bers at AGM writ-ing to their MP. Look out for their responses and, if you can, make an appointment to see your MP – it makes a real difference.

Outgoing Chair Tim Wilson com-

mented on our collective achievements of the last year, including our two professional conferences, the Family Court Conference and the Professional Practice Conference. He said that Napo is known for being ‘fear-less, tireless, always avoiding the cop-out’. Next, Jonathan Ledger, General Secretary looked forward to the following Napo year. He asked us to consider the new strategy in the Criminal Justice System in Texas (of all places!), where community interven-tion and treatment have become the focus, compared to the ‘chaotic mix’ and punitive populist criminal justice policy we have in England and Wales.

Family Court SectionNapo’s national officers attended the Family Court Section AGM in force, some-thing that has not been routine but, in our view, should be. The Family Court Section has been an integral part of Napo for most of its existence and the officers will sup-port our members in the Section as they continue to withstand the draconian poli-cies of their management. Members have seen their teams fragmenting and fraying at the seams as Cafcass take away office desks and telephones. Staff are expected to work remotely via Blackberry despite this being inaccessible to some members. With no consultation on this radical change of working, members are back in conflict with the employers. All of this on top of exhaus-tive workloads and the heavy handed use of sickness absence procedures. We were deeply appreciative of confer-ence’s embrace of the reception on Thursday evening and stamina in being punctual on Saturday morning following the official birthday party. We pay tribute to all of you who helped make the conference happen; staff at Chivalry Road, stewards, speakers, guests and members alike. We salute the early bird swimmers (pictured) and others who raised over £500 for the Edridge Fund and we look forward to seeing you all at Llandudno in 2013 for our 101st!Lisa Robinson & Tom RendonNational Co-Chairs

From the Chair

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The recent AGM at Torquay saw the for-mal launch of Napo’s Guide to Membership Services (enclosed with this issue of Napo News) where most of the partner provid-ers were on show for the duration of the Centenary AGM. Also enclosed is the first edi-tion of the Napo Members Handbook, which sets out the structures of the union, the type of assistance that Napo offers and how this can be accessed by members.

Assistant General Secretary, Ian Lawrence, told Napo News: ‘I am delighted that this dual project has been completed in time for the Centenary AGM. I am especially grateful for the support shown by National Treasurer, Keith Stokeld, and the efforts of all those involved from the Napo team at Chivalry Road whose work, ideas and input helped to deliver two highly professional

publications that I hope will be popular with members.’ This initiative is designed to make the Union more accessible to existing as well as new members, and offer a wider range of services for members (and in some cases their families). Napo branches are also to be encouraged to consider invitating Napo’s partner providers to attend at members’ meetings, and create opportunities for those attending to discover more about what is on offer.Further copies of both publications can be ordered from [email protected]. Any enquiries about the Napo Handbook can be directed to Ranjit Singh [email protected] (or your link Official) and those relating to the Membership Services Guide to Ian Lawrence [email protected]

Two new handbooks from Napo

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Napo launched its fight back against priva-tisation at this year’s AGM with the publica-tion of a pack of briefings highlighting the Probation Service’s effective performance and the inadequacies of private sector com-petitors. The following is an extract from Probation Under Threat Briefing 1 – ‘Targets and Achievements’

The Coalition government has announced that it intends to put out to tender up to 60% of the Probation Service’s current work. This will include supervision of offenders who pose low to medium risk to the pub-lic; programmes, which are highly effec-tive; probation hostels; and unpaid work, or community service as it used to be known. The government has already changed the title of the relevant minister from responsi-bility for ‘Prisons and Probation’ to ‘Prisons and Rehabilitation’, a clear signal that the role of probation is set to diminish. The gov-ernment is pursuing this strategy despite the fact that there is no evidence that it will increase quality or reduce crime; the government’s policies are purely based on reducing cost.

Targets metPrivatisation is being carried out in the face of overwhelming evidence that the Probation Service is performing to a very high standard. Figures produced by the National Offender Management Service in July 2012 show that no Probation Trusts are in Band 1, which is ‘serious concern about performance’; none are Band 2, ‘requiring development’; 31 are in Band 3, ‘showing good performance’; and four in Band 4 are awarded ‘exceptional performance’. MoJ figures for all 35 Probation Trusts

show that victim feedback in 2011-12 was positive in 98% of cases; that 49% of offenders were in employment at the termination of their orders; that 89% had accom-modation and that 82% of orders or licences were suc-cessfully completed during the period. Completion targets were also met or exceeded on the vast majority of probation programmes. From a survey of 21,130 offenders in 2001, 76% gave posi-tive feedback. In terms of reoffending, the actual rate was better than the predicted rate nationally and in all but five probation areas three-quarters of orders or licences were successfully completed. The service was set a target of 90% in terms of court reports timeliness and was successful in 99% of cases. The service also achieved a successful completion rate of 81% of participants on the sex offender treatment programmes, exceeded targeted completions on domestic violence inter-ventions and hit targets on other offender behaviour programmes.

Excellence AwardAlthough the Coalition government is intent on breaking up the Probation Service and privatising core work, probation still won a prestigious award in October 2011. The Service won the British Quality

Foundation Gold Medal for Excellence. This award is given to an organisation in recognition of its outstanding, continued, commitment to sustained excellence over a number of years. In presenting the award the BQF said: ‘The Probation Service comprises 35 inde-pendent probation trusts annually super-vising a caseload of some 247,000 offend-ers. The successful pursuit of continuous improvement has confirmed that they are on the right path to achieving and sustain-ing excellence and essentially to being the best providers of these essential services’. In the face of the evidence, Napo can only conclude that the drive to privatise core work is ideological, is purely based on reducing costs and has little to do with sus-taining quality.A full set of the 11 Probation Under Threat Briefings can be downloaded at www.napo.org.uk or email Kath Falcon [email protected].

The Probation Service – excellence under threat

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‘Stop It You’re Killing Us’ – Hazards Conference 2012

I attended this year’s Hazards Conference, which was held at Keele University from 31 August to 2 September, along with David Raho from Health and Safety Committee. We were not aware of any Branch Safety Reps in attendance, which is somewhat disappoint-ing as this event is a good training opportu-nity and a lively forum for campaigning and mutual support.

As well as plenary sessions, there are a number of workshops on Health and Safety topics and meetings on campaigning issues. Full transcripts of all the presenta-tions can be downloaded from the Hazards Campaign website. Some were also videoed and published on You Tube.

Bhopal DisasterOn Friday evening the conference began with a talk on the Bhopal Disaster, which is still the worst industrial accident ever recorded. Two speakers from India were due to give a presentation: Safreen Khan from Children Against Dow Carbide and

Balkrishna Namdev from the Gas Affected Destitute Pension-Entitled People’s Front. Regrettably, they were unable to attend, because they had yet to be granted visas. They were replaced by Eurig Scandrett from Scottish Friends of Bhopal. He described the second, much more insidious disas-ter which came after the initial gas plant explosion. This is the long term contamina-tion of the soil and the water supply, which has been claiming victims ever since, and will continue to do so indefinitely. Dow Chemical, which took over Union Carbide in 2001 is denying all responsibility for this. One can therefore understand India’s objec-tions to Dow being included on the list of sponsors of the London Olympics. The theme of industrial diseases and pol-lution continued over to Saturday morning’s plenary session on occupational cancers. This was addressed by Helen Lynn from the Alliance For Cancer Prevention and Hope Daley of Unison. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), and the Government, took a lot of flak from the speakers. The HSE gives

priority to a small list of carcinogenic mate-rials e.g. Asbestos, tobacco smoke, Radon, and estimates about 10,000 are exposed to these at any one time; but this is believed to be far from a true figure.

Fighting back for H&SThe overriding theme of Hazards 2012 was organising resistance to the Coalition gov-ernment’s attack on workers’ rights to a safe and healthy workplace. It now seems clear the HSE is likely to be reduced to a major hazards monitoring body, which will serve to cover the Government’s back in case of a major disaster such as the Buntsfield fire. This was the conclusion of Dave Whyte from the Liverpool University Institute Of Employment Rights, who along with Hugh Robertson from the TUC, spoke at a meeting on the Lofstedt Report. The report is a bland document proposing things the HSE is already doing or planning to do, nevertheless it concludes that the cur-rent legislative regime is fit for purpose and there is no excessive regulation or compen-sation culture. However, the Government has used the report to hype its own deregu-lation agenda which is founded on myths about ‘gold plated’ legislation and ‘over compliance’. The battle is now on to defend enforcement of Health and Safety laws, which has been in decline for the past dec-ade. Conference concluded with an agree-ment that campaigning on health and safe-ty should be embedded in mainstream of protest against the Government’s destruc-tion of jobs and workers’ rights. Rod MitchellHealth & Safety Committee

A special UnionLearn award ceremony took place at the Thursday evening reception at this year’s AGM when Dorothy Nicholls and Stuart Arrowsmith were named as ULR of the Year 2012 for England and Wales respective-ly. Guest of Honour, TUC General Secretary, Brendan Barber presented the Award.

Dorothy qualified as a ULR in December 2010 following a weeks residential course organised by Napo at Wortley Hall in Yorkshire. Since then, she has been extremely active in her area, re-invigor-ating the ULR service in West Mercia. She was instrumental in achieving a signed learning agreement with the employers in August 2012, including an agreement to provide ULRs with facility time to carry out their role. Conference attendees were told: ‘Dorothy has shown a consistent and pro-active approach to the role and her com-mitment and dedication towards opening up learn-ing opportunities for mem-bers in her area.’

Stuart attained his ULR Stage 1 qualification in 2009 on a course organised by the Department of Union Studies at Bridgend College. In his role as Chair of the then Dyfed-Powys branch, Stuart secured a learning agreement and facility time

for 3 ULRs working in that Probation Trust. As Chair of Napo Cymru, Stuart was instru-mental in getting the new Wales Probation Trust to recognise the contribution ULRs make in supporting staff with learning and

development issues. Due to his hard work, perseverance and very effective negotia-tion skills, the Trust signed the new learning agree-ment. Stuart also played a crucial role in the alignment of ULRs to the LDU structure and securing facility time for all active ULRs. For further information,please contact [email protected]

ULR of the Year Award

H&S Training Day – 4 December 2012 Cartwright Gardens, London WC1

• Making the case for effective local health & safety in an environment where central enforcement is now more myth than reality.

• Making best use of health and safety committees & protecting and promot-ing the positive role of local reps

A day of practical tips, discussion & prob-lem-solving on how to keep workplaces safe places to work.To register email Margaret Pearce:[email protected] deadline 21 November

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Dear Napo NewsIn response to From the Chair (Napo News 242, September 2012), there are several points to clarify. LAURUS is not the ‘independent replace-ment’ for the regional consortium, but a joint venture between the five North West Trusts. Current staff include Napo members. You state, inaccurately, that proposals for the Higher Education Certificate were ‘set out in isolation from the NOMS regulatory framework’. In 2012, the North West Trusts, not requiring additional qualified probation officers, nonetheless offered PSOs the

opportunity to undertake Part 1 of the PQF. Employers, unions and staff recognised this provided a potential competitive advantage to staff. Appropriate care has been taken to ensure proper support for individuals. The Probation Qualifications Assurance Board (PQAB) will oversee the implementation of PQF regulatory requirements. Your comments might undermine the dedication of those staff who value this opportunity as part of their continuing pro-fessional development – which is crucial in uncertain times. You infer that ‘LAURUS exists only for their own benefit… feeding greedily off the public purse’. This is incredibly disappoint-ing. LAURUS is dedicated to Probation staff learning and development – not to personal financial gain or status. Our background, experience and future lies within core Probation values. The sig-natories to this letter have 148 years of Probation service. Were we not undertak-ing this work, others – who do fulfil your description above – could take our place. We invite any Napo representative to visit LAURUS, and to work together to sup-port our Probation colleagues operating under great stress and uncertainty. Learning and Assessment Officers LAURUS

Sarah Friday, National Official (Training), respondsI am sorry if you were upset by Tim Wilson’s From the Chair piece in the September issue of Napo News. Tim did not intend to doubt the commitment of LAURUS staff to proba-tion values. Rather he was pointing out that because the consortium is now an inde-pendent service there is potential for com-mercial considerations to interplay with decisions that are taken about training and if this happens it will have a detrimental effect. The content of the Cert HE is identical to Part 1 of the Probation Qualifications Framework (PQF) but the Cert HE is differ-ent from the Framework in the following respects:• successful completion does not guaran-

tee progression to Part 2• apart from mandatory tutorials – when

learners will have protected learning times – there is not any protected learn-ing time. This deviates significantly from the regulatory framework and could disadvantage those with care responsi-bilities

• an equality impact assessment has not been completed

• The Cert HE was not considered and approved by the Probation Qualification Advisory Board (PQAB) prior to imple-mentation.

• There had been no VQ assessmentIn raising this issue with regard to the NW Cert HE we have no intention of depriving learners of learning opportunities, or from taking much needed work away from the university, rather we are keen to see that

learners receive all the support they are enti-tled to, such as protected learning time. Indeed Napo’s preferred option was that NOMS sup-port the programme in principle, but did not fund as part of the PQF (the Cert HE is being provided under the auspices of Sheffield Hallam University with the cost of fees being met by NOMS under the PQF contract). Or if it was agreed to fund then the Cert HE should have stuck more closely to PQF requirements.

I hope that this addresses your concerns, and I will be in touch to accept your offer of a visit to LAURUS.

Letter: Colleagues in LAURUS deserve support not criticism

The first PSO Forum of 2013 will be held on Thursday 17 January at The Priory Rooms, 40 Bull Street, Birmingham from 11.00 am – 4.00 pm.

National Napo will fund one PSO member from each Branch to attend. Branches are welcome to send additional PSO mem-bers, but their expenses will need to be met by the Branch. If you would like to attend the January meeting, please contact your Branch Chair/Secretary in the first instance, or Cynthia Griffith at Chivalry Road for fur-ther details (Tel: 020 7223 4887, email: [email protected]). Registration forms will be sent to all Branches and elected PSO Reps.

PSO Forum 2013

The winner for September was number 134 and the winner was from York.

Edridge 50/50 club

Napo would like to pay special thanks to all the members of South Western Branch who volunteered to be stewards at this year’s Centenary AGM and for doing a terrific job, under the superb organisation of Jackie Dixon and Kath Alsop (Chief and Deputy Chief Stewards).

Stewards at AGM 2012

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Published by Napo, 4 Chivalry Road, London SW11 1HT

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Edridge had a wonder-ful AGM! Our Christmas cards sold well, and lots of people signed up for our 50/50 Club, and the one off donations we received were tre-mendous, including a bucket collection which was a third higher than last year. In all we took over £2,900 in cash and cheques, again nearly a third more than last

year. J u s t as well, as the demand for help looks like making it another record year for our grant spending. Go to our website for more informa-tion.

We had a rota for staff and Trustees to look after the stall, but within an hour or so the whole team was working most of the time during the breaks, so the rota had to go out of the window. We were delighted to be kept so busy.

Splendid AGM for Edridge

22-24 February 2013Mercure Milton Keynes Parkside House

‘Working in the Image of God’

Ellis PotterOriginally from California, worked with Francis Schaeffer at the l’Abri Fellowship

Following the great success of the last CIP conference, we are excited to announce our

2013 conference. We have already secured excellent speakers and a fantastic venue with prices held! Booking is now open to secure a place. We are pleased to invite Christians for a weekend of reflection, time in prayer and praise, and relaxation with Christian col-leagues. Planning is well underway and we hope to include seminars on:• Film and media influences on society’s

view of offending• Why does God allow people to do evil• How sex offenders impact on the Church

For information about the conference or CIP please contact:www.christiansinprobation.orgSimon.May@hampshire.probation.gsi.gov.uk or tel 07710 592 461 (CIP Chair)

Christians in Probation is the operating name of The Probation Service Christian Fellowship. Registered Charity No: 1059037

Christians in Probation Conference

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Napo News Issue 244 11/2012

Documents

Transcript of Napo News Issue 244 11/2012