National Negotiating Council - January 29

The National Negotiating Council is scheduled to meet on January 29 when the 'National Agreement' will be tabled for agreement - if that isn't too tautologous. It is to be hoped also that the 2013/14 pay settlement will be ratified on that date if not before. In this event it may be possible to enable payment in February pay packets, though that might be tight.

Returning to the National Agreement on Staff Transfer & Protections - this has previously been reported on, but arising from it there are some further issues of note.
1. The Agreement contains a commitment (on the part of MoJ/NOMS) to establishing a Staff Commission "to consider issues arising as a direct consequence of the transfer of staff from Probation Trusts to either a CRC or to the NPS" The intention is to have this designed and in place by April 1. A first draft of what this Commission might look like and what it will do is expected from NOMS within a week.

2. There is a commitment in the Agreement to the continuation of National Collective Bargaining. This requires some re-arrangement, given that the current employers are scheduled to disappear on 31st March to be replaced by effectively two different employers - NPS and CRCs. Again, a draft framework arrangement for what this might look like is expected from NOMS within the week. This will need to be negotiated with the unions and then there will also need to be local structures developed and put in place within the CRCs for negotiations/consultations at that level.

3. There is a commitment to maintaining existing levels of funding for facility time - national and local, but how this will work in practice has yet to be agreed. The unions will need to undertake some re-alignment to take account of new employers and their boundaries.It is expected that discussion will be required regarding some transitional cross representation at least whilst all staff remain in the public sector.

4. There is a commitment on the part of MoJ/NOMS to the establishment of an interchange agreement between the CRCs and the NPS. This is to be in place by March 31. Again an initial draft from NOMS is expected within the week. This will be important for both training and career development opportunities - particularly so since, as many will have noted, there is no protection for continuity of service for those changing employment from CRCs to the NPS. This is regrettable but due to the seeming impossibility of importing external service into the Civil Service for new starters.

There is then a whole raft of issues, particularly in respect of those moving into the NPS, that have to be either consulted upon and/or negotiated. These will include:
Absence Management/Management of Attendance, Adoption leave, Allowances,Conduct & Discipline, Grievance policies, Hours of Work, Managing Poor Performance, Maternity leave, Parental leave, Paternity/Maternity Support leave, Payment of Expenses on Permanent Transfer, Payment to Staff in event of Death/Permanent Disablement, Performance Development & review, Redundancy, Special leave ,Travel & Subsistence arrangements.
A lot to do, and very little time in which to do it, especially since negotiations can't begin until negotiating strutures are in place. In reality, much of this work will be done post-April.

Also of note:
Train the trainers events are due to start any day now - this is training for a selection of staff (volunteers?) to train the rest of the workforce about how to operate in the new post-April Probation world. The training packs are supposed to be made available to the unions today.

Probation in prisons - slightly more optimisitc news emerging here. Probably arising from the recent very critical report by the Inspectotrate into Offender Management in prisons, it is understood that there will be more Probation Officer posts required in prisons (not less) and existing PSO posts are thought to be more secure for now - even with some possibility of career development. More news on this whan it becomes available.

MoJ/NOMS gave a commitment to give Trusts a minimum of 10 weeks notice on the cancellation of their contracts to provide Probation services. So, if this is to be effective as of April 1, then notice must be served by 20th January at the latest. That's one week away. Will it happen?