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Napo members have voted to reject a 5% pay rise and take industrial action, citing pressure from the early release scheme and excessive workloads.
Probation officers in England and Wales have voted to reject a 5% pay rise and take industrial action, citing pressure from the government's early release scheme and excessive workloads.
Members of Napo, the probation service union, voted to refuse overtime from 23 November and could take strike action should the union "deem that option to be necessary".
Napo general secretary Ian Lawrence said the service was "already in crisis" before the early release scheme came into force, which relies on probation staff monitoring freed prisoners in the community.
The union said it launched its ballot because of an "inadequate" 5% pay offer from ministers and a failure to cut workloads. Napo had sought a 12% increase.
On pay, Napo members voted by 85% in favour of action short of strike action and 74% in favour of strike action. In a ballot on workloads, the vote was 87% in favour of action short of strike action and 75% in favour of strikes.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said the government had put forward a "strong offer" and was recruiting an extra "1,300 officers to significantly cut workloads".
They added that the government has "robust contingency plans in place" to ensure offenders "are still subject to the same rigorous supervision" in the event of industrial action.
The MoJ is recruiting an additional 1,300 trainee probation officers for the 2026-27 financial year as part of a £700m investment package extending through 2028-29.
Seven-hundred eligible offenders originally sentenced to up to 19 months were released on 1 October, with another two groups of 650 prisoners released on 13 October and 10 November. Another nine groups are expected to leave prison in the next seven months, with inmates who received longer sentences included in the later cohorts.
Some 250 prisoners serving more than 12 years are expected to be released on 9 June.
A September report by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP) found that almost half of electronic tags used to track offenders' movements were not fitted on time.
Sources
This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.
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