Probation officers are launching a ballot for industrial action at their conference in Newcastle. The move comes as officers report overwhelming caseloads, exacerbated by the early release of thousands of prisoners, including 2,000 this month.
Napo, the probation officers' union, attributes current problems to contracts being awarded to the lowest bidders, which they say prevents the job from being done properly. The union also states that vacancies leave probation services 25%-30% below target staffing levels.
The government is training an additional 1,300 probation officers, but Napo believes this is insufficient due to a high dropout rate among recruits. The union also rejected a 5% pay offer, arguing it falls short of offers made to equivalent workers in local government, police, and social work.
Ben Cockburn, Napo chair, stated that planned industrial action would involve probation officers working to contract and refusing unpaid overtime, which he believes would cause the service to collapse. He called for reduced workloads, focusing on the riskiest cases, and for courts to stop adding more cases until staffing levels improve.