Adam Harmsworth, Napo Vice Chair Family Courts, personal capacity
The planned early release of thousands of prisoners to relieve pressure on the overstretched prison service is set to overstretch the probation service, and has alarmed many probation workers.
This is a crisis years in the making. Alongside over a decade of real-terms pay cuts, probation also went through disastrous part-privatisation before being stitched back together under state control.
The result is a horrifying shortage of staff, and an abysmal work situation for probation workers. The latest figures show a vacancy rate of just under 30%. Up to 2,000 prisoners are being released at once in September, then up to 1,700 in October. This is a dangerous situation to begin an early release scheme.
Many ex-prisoners are already not supported properly by probation, creating more risk of harm to the public. This has even been said by the Criminal Justices Inspectorate, the National Audit Office, and Public Accounts Committee.
A Napo official told The Guardian: “The government must take urgent action to invest in the whole system”. Labour has re-opened pay talks following demands from the probation unions, but there is no mention of investment yet or any substantial change. The unions’ joint workloads campaign Operation Protect hasn’t been seriously acknowledged.
In the short term, probation can only begin to operate safely again with significant investment. Unions must press for significant above-inflation pay rises like that awarded to junior doctors, and challenge Labour’s “black hole” narrative. Operation Protect must be built as a serious campaign engaging with all branches of the probation unions, to set the groundwork for industrial action if Labour doesn’t deliver. Only serious investment will immediately help to heal the wound of over 2,000 vacant probation officer roles.
