Members of Napo (formerly the National Association of Probation Officers), the trade union that represents probation officers, have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a probation officer strike over government proposals for an early release scheme across UK prisons.
The indicative ballot saw 90% of voters say they would be in favour of strike action, if the scheme was introduced in October, as currently planned.
Napo haven’t revealed the number of members who took part in the vote, but say that a “significant majority” of those eligible to vote had done so. This suggests strike action could be declared if a statutory ballot was held.
“The ballot wasn’t about membership being too busy” said Napo’s National Chair Ben Cockburn. “It was professionals warning they cannot protect the public properly when there are not enough people to do the work.”
The Delays to Early Release
This ballot is the latest in a series of obstacles which threaten to prevent the introduction of the early release scheme across British prisons.
These measures would see roughly 5,000 offenders released from British prisons in October, as a means of reducing overcrowding in prisons.
Probation officers would then need to supervise the newly released prisoners for the remainder of their sentence, including helping them find housing and employment.
HM Chief Inspector of Probation Martin Jones is head of the statutory board tasked by the Ministry of Justice with independently inspecting probation and youth justice services.
Jones has said that he’s “not fully confident that the probation system will be able to cope with this massive work”. He worries that the early release scheme could lead to “a serious sexual or violent offence or even murder” being committed.
The inspectorate estimates that probation officers are already managing 258,000 newly released prisoners nationally, which is 8% more than two years ago.
The government has also faced criticism from the police force itself.
On Tuesday, 50 serving police chiefs signed a letter calling on Prime Minister Andy Burnham to re-consider certain details of the early release scheme. This included giving greater consideration to how the early release of some prisoners would affect the survivors of their crimes.
“Families across the country are now facing the distress of learning that offenders may be released earlier than they understood when the sentence was passed.” The letter said.
Probation Officer Strike? How Did We Get Here?
The early release scheme was a key part of the Sentencing Act, which was passed by former Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government in January this year.
The Act reduced the minimum duration most prisoners must spend in prison from half of their sentence to one third. The minimum prison time for those who committed sexual or violent offences was also reduced from two thirds of their sentence to half.
This was due to come into force in September, but was delayed until October by Burnham to allow for further reviews of the scheme to be held.
This includes taking measures to prevent the release of two people who were jailed in 2020 for their role in the death of PC Andrew Harper in August 2019.
Burnham said on Tuesday that he was “increasingly confident” there was a legal mechanism to prevent the release of Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers from prison.
The logic behind the early release scheme was that it would reduce overcrowding in UK prisons.
A parliamentary report from March this year suggests that 87,342 people were being held in prisons in England and Wales in 2024.
This would be the largest prison population in the country’s history, and roughly 2,000 people lower than the government’s own estimates for England and Wales’ maximum prison capacity.
The parliamentary report forecasted future growth in the prison population, meaning that maximum capacity may have already been reached in some parts of the country.
The Situation Facing Probation Officers
The Ministry of Justice Said that it was “disappointed” by the result of Napo’s indicative ballot.
It acknowledges however that the probation system currently operates with a shortage of staff.
There were 5,554 Full Time Equivalent probation officers working in the UK in March, over 1,500 fewer than the Ministry of Justice’s target of 7,110.
Ben Cockburn has warned of “devastating” consequences “if excessive workload prevent decisions being made properly” by Probation officers.
He also said that a statutory ballot would be Napo’s next step if ministers fail to take “meaningful action on excessive workloads.”
The ministry has however announced that it exceeded its recruitment target for last year, with 1,389 trainee probation officers starting in new roles.
A spokesperson said the ministry is committed to “making sure the Probation Service has the resource it needs to keep dangerous offenders under closer surveillance than ever before.”
Final Thought
The overcrowding of British prisons is a problem that long proceeds either the current or previous Prime Ministers’ times in office.
The early release scheme will likely be an effective short-term solution to that immediate problem, but undeniably risks higher rates of re-offending.
It is therefore imperative that the Ministry of Justice finds a means of preventing a Napo strike as soon as possible.
While individual cases, such as that of those involved in the death of PC Andrew Harper, are deeply emotive and expose issues with the early release scheme, they should not dominate the debate on wider issues.
Early release is not a long-term solution, but may be a necessary short-term step, which can only be achieved with the co-operation of probation officers.
As summer comes to and end and intractable problems start to pile up, we may be seeing the end of Burnham’s honeymoon period as he starts to make the tough decisions.
You can still get a copy of our new edition of ChamberUK. Our parliamentary journal.