Amy Sage, probation worker, Bristol North Socialist Party
In June 2020, the Socialist published an article in response to the Ministry of Justice’s decision to renationalise the National Probation Service (NPS). The article described this as a “step in the right direction” but called for all public services, including the probation service, to be fully funded and under the democratic control of its workers.
Since 2021, when the service was brought formally back under the publicly owned NPS, two reports by the HM Inspectorate of Probation into the probation unification programme have highlighted the need for sustained additional investment. They stated that the reunification of the service was not “a magic bullet” and did nothing to properly address crucial issues that have been emphasised in previous inspections, in particular, a critical lack of frontline staff and excessive workloads.
Several high-profile cases since the end of 2022 have highlighted the catastrophic consequences of failing to tackle these issues. Zara Aleena was murdered in June 2022 by Jordan McSweeney. McSweeney had been released from prison on licence just nine days before, having been imprisoned for robbery, and was therefore under the supervision of the Probation Service. He was incorrectly classified as ‘medium risk’, a decision that meant that when he failed to attend scheduled appointments with his Probation Officer, the speed of response was inappropriate. There were also delays in completing the paperwork to initiate a recall to custody. In classifying McSweeney as medium risk, his previous offending history and behaviour in prison, which indicated that he was a violent, woman-hating racist, were not taken into consideration.
Similar failings were found in the case of Damien Bendall, another violent offender who murdered his partner, her two children and another girl in September 2021. Bendall was also under the supervision of the Probation Service when he committed these murders, having been sentenced to a 24-month suspended sentence for arson. Again, Bendall had been incorrectly classified as medium risk, despite having allegations made against him for domestic abuse. Police had also contacted the Probation Service prior to the attack about the risk of “serious sexual harm” he could pose to girls.
HM Inspectorate of Probation reports into both cases found that, had the correct risk assessments been in place, McSweeney and Bendall would likely not have been free to commit these horrific murders. Rather than focusing on any failures of individual members of staff, the reports found that excessive workloads, exacerbated by staff shortages, impacted the ability of Probation Practitioners to carry out ‘high-quality work’.
Staff shortages and high caseloads within the probation service are nothing new. However, then Tory justice secretary Chris Grayling’s disastrous ‘Transforming Rehabilitation’ agenda, which brought 70% of the existing caseload under the management of 21 private Community Rehabilitation Companies, resulted in an exodus of highly qualified staff, leaving those remaining with unsustainably high caseloads managed largely by unqualified practitioners.
Even after re-nationalisation, staff vacancies and caseloads remain high – earlier this year, it was revealed that ten of twelve probation regions in England and Wales have staff workloads above the nationally recognised maximum.
This is due, in part, to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, more significant is the impact of persistent low pay and below-inflation pay rises that have meant that the service has struggled to fill these vacancies.
In September of last year, Probation Service workers across the three main unions (Unison, NAPO and GMB) were balloted over a three-year pay deal which, in real terms, amounted to a significant pay cut. This came on top of over a decade of below-inflation pay rises – since 2010, pay for probation staff has risen by just 1% whilst the cost of living has increased by over 40% across the same time period. Due to a lack of coordinated leadership by the unions, members voted to accept the pay deal, many of them stating that ‘at least it is something now’.
Whilst a decent pay rise would not have solved all the problems that currently plague the service, for probation workers who deal daily with high-risk, challenging people often with complex needs, such a pay offer would at least have reflected the level of respect we deserve. However, as one of my colleagues said: “We are struggling to attract new staff to the profession because we are not treated like professionals”.
As part of the Civil Service, probation service staff received a one-off ‘cost of living payment’ of £1,500 at the end of May this year. However, as a non-consolidated payment, not only is this nowhere near enough to cover the decades of pay erosion suffered by staff, it does nothing to address the staffing and workload crisis that poses a real danger to public safety. Unison, NAPO and GMB have launched the Joint Unions Workload campaign ‘Operation Protect’ which aims to work with minsters and the Probation Inspectorate to agree safe workload levels and a workload reduction programme but without any mention of pay.
Whilst this is another ‘step in the right direction’, it is clear that what the Probation Service needs is for the three unions to build a joint campaign over both pay and working conditions. Without a strong, fighting, coordinated leadership from the unions, more and more staff, demoralised, stressed and underpaid, will leave the service.
System failure
The vast majority of probation workers are motivated by a genuine desire to help rehabilitate offenders, reduce crime and protect the public. However, if not properly funded, democratically accountable and controlled by the people it is meant to help and protect, the National Probation System will become less and less capable of serving this function.
The Socialist Party demands the criminal justice system, including the courts, police and the Probation Service, be placed under democratic workers’ control and management. This would ensure that they are accountable to local communities and trade unions so that working-class people decide how they are run and what their priorities are. Judges and other officials in the system should be democratically elected, subject to the right of recall if they are judged to be no longer serving the interests of those they represent, and paid a worker’s wage, as opposed to the £100,000-plus a year that some judges are currently on.
A large proportion of crimes committed are, at root, the result of the poverty, alienation and deprivation created by the capitalist system. Socialist policies such as building high-quality council housing, providing comprehensive youth services and free education, and giving everyone decent pay, pensions and benefits for example, would undermine the causes of crime.
Ultimately, capitalism is based on the exploitation of the majority by a tiny minority of big-business bosses. The capitalist criminal justice system is necessary for the maintenance of that system. Therefore only the socialist transformation of society can ensure a justice system that serves the interests of working-class people.
Fighting for a probation service that is fully-funded, properly staffed and can genuinely rehabilitate offenders, reduce crime and protect the public is part of that fight.
The Socialist Party fights for:
- A coordinated, fighting leadership in the trade unions to ensure proper pay restoration for probation staff and for fully funded, inflation-proof pay rises
- A fully funded and well-resourced probation service
- The whole justice system be placed fully in the public sector, under democratic workers’ control and management
- An end to the inequality, prejudice, division, alienation and poverty capitalism brings – for the socialist transformation of society
