Question
The Lord Chancellor recently addressed Napo’s conference—I was listening in, as I was speaking afterwards—and he told probation officers, “Without you, our criminal justice system does not work.” However, Napo is presently balloting its members on strike action following failed negotiations with the Government for a pay rise after decades of pay stagnation. Does the Minister agree that technology cannot replace dedicated probation officers and that they need the proper pay, proper conditions and proper workloads to be able to do their jobs properly?
Answer
The right hon. Lady is absolutely right. Justice Transcribe, which she refers to, has supported probation officers to reduce their workload when it comes to the transcribing of notes; obviously, they must keep careful records, and this system is inevitably helping to manage workloads. She is right that probation officers do a vital job, and I thank them for the work that they are doing today and every day to keep the public safe and manage offenders in the community. In April, we secured the biggest probation pay increase in over a decade, and the current offer increases that by a minimum of 5%. We want to increase our recruitment of probation officers, so hon. Members should encourage people to join the service. We also want to retain our brilliant probation officers, and we are continuing in discussions with them to that end.25% vibes
Verdict: AMBER (70/100)
The minister clearly and directly agreed that technology cannot replace dedicated probation officers, which fully answers the first part of the question. On the second part, the reply gives concrete pay information and describes how Justice Transcribe is intended to ease workloads. However, it does not address the question of proper conditions and does not explicitly confirm agreement with the overall point, so the questioner may need to ask again about conditions.
How we got there
| Question item | Coverage | Specificity | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Does the Minister agree that technology cannot replace dedicated probation officers? | Addressed | Direct | The minister states outright that the Member is 'absolutely right' that technology cannot replace dedicated probation officers, which is a clear, committed answer to the agreement being sought. |
| Does the Minister agree that probation officers need proper pay, proper conditions and proper workloads to be able to do their jobs properly? | Partially Addressed | Direct | The reply gives concrete pay information (biggest pay rise in a decade, offer of at least 5% more) and describes Justice Transcribe easing workloads, but it never addresses 'proper conditions' and does not explicitly confirm agreement with the overall proposition. |