Operation Protect

Work with Ministers, HMPPS, HMIP, Probation Institute, Sentencers & Statutory Partners to agree a strategic probation workload reduction programme by:

1. Reviewing existing legislative demands which do not add value to core probation work.
2. Identifying other upstream demand reduction.
3. Eliminating or reducing bureaucratic demands which do not add value to core probation work (data management etc).
4. Identifying and addressing barriers to productivity (IT systems etc).
5. Surveying the workforce for their ideas on workload reduction.
6. Agreeing a Probation Workloads Reduction Toolkit.
7. Agreeing a Probation Service equivalent of the Prison Service ‘Operation Safeguard’ to allow the Service to declare to external stakeholders that it is full, and that normal service cannot be provided pending more resources.

Agree a safe workloads and case allocation system which will:

1. Be jointly agreed between the probation unions and the employer.
2. Ensure that each employee’s workload is regularly assessed.
3. Provide staff and managers with the tools to prioritise certain work and to agree which work should be suspended (temporarily or permanently).
4. Respect probation practitioners’ professional judgement about workload capacity which if they were covered by an independent professional registration body might require them to declare any excessive workload which might affect their fitness to practice.
5. Take contingency action when workloads exceed staffing capacity.

Ensure that all staff have high quality supervision, when and how they need it, to manage workload effectively by:

1. Agreeing appropriate supervisor to staff ratios.
2. Employing more supervisors as necessary.
3. Providing training, support and mentoring to supervisors.
4. Ensuring that supervisors have authority to reduce workloads via decisions on case allocation.

Give probation staff the confidence, tools and support to challenge excessive workloads by: 

1. An employer pledge to prevent workloads above capacity – to be shared with external stakeholders.
2. The right for staff to work contracted hours only – no quibble guarantee.
3. Voluntary overtime to be offered to staff who wish to offer more time to the employer.
4. The overtime seniority bar to be removed.

Reach an Employee Care Agreement with the Probation Service to protect the health, safety and wellbeing of probation staff by:

1. Undertaking the necessary risk assessments.
2. Taking measures to remove stress.
3. Taking measures to support staff to remain in work.