Ben Priestley, UNISON national officer for probation (third from left), assistant national officer Graeme Hoskin (far right) and Elisa Vasquez Walters, vice-chair of UNISON’s probation committee (front), with Napo colleagues at the Ministry of Justice.
UNISON, the GMB and Napo have written to the deputy prime minister and justice secretary, David Lammy, calling on him to accelerate the pay offer to probation service members that has been promised since April.
Members of UNISON and Napo delivered the letter in person to the Ministry of Justice on Friday (pictured above.)
UNISON’s national officer for probation, Ben Priestley, said today: “UNISON members in the Probation Service deserve their 2025 pay rise after a year of unprecedented demands and unachievable workloads.
“The delay to this year’s pay offer is completely unacceptable. We have made the case to David Lammy that he should use his influence to end this delay, and allow our members to be consulted on the final pay offer without waiting any longer.”
The unions submitted their pay claim in January this year, and the award was due on 1 April.
In July, the previous justice secretary, Shabina Mahmood, told them that she was seeking a ‘flex case’ to make a pay offer above the 3.75% allowed in this year’s civil service pay remit guidance.
“We simply do not understand why is has taken nearly five months, to date, to expedite this case with treasury and cabinet office,” the letter says. “2025 will go down on record as one of the worst pay offer delays ever under HMPPS [probation and prison service] control.
“We express our grave concern at the damage this unacceptable delay… is having on staff morale and on the ability of HMPPS to recruit and retain skilled and motivated probation staff.”
The letter also refers to the last meeting between the unions and Mr Lammy, on 17 November.
It says: “We appreciate your support for the work that is going on behind the scenes to enable HMPPS to be able to make a formal pay offer. However, the on-going delay and absence of any clarity on when the offer will eventually be made leave our members financially in a very difficult and worsening position.
“We ask you again to please use your good offices to expedite a pay offer which we can recommend to our members.
“As discussed when we met, we understand that HMPPS has an underspend this year of over £100 million. Rather than lose this money back to the Treasury, we make the simple request that you redirect this cash to supplementing this year’s pay offer for probation staff.
“This would be money well spent and would go some way to restoring our members’ belief that HMPPS is an employer with their best interests at heart.”
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