Unison Probation Staff

VOTE YES FOR 6%

UNISON is recommending members vote to accept the 6% pay offer for 2025.

The ballot closes at 12 noon on Thursday 16 April.

For more information on the offer and the consultation please click on this link: https://www.unison.org.uk/probation-service-pay-consultation-2025/

Vote to Accept 6% Pay Offer

UNISON’s ballot of Probation Service members over the improved 6% pay offer for 2025 opens today and closes at 12 noon on 16 April. UNISON is recommending that members vote to accept the offer. Probation members will receive an e-mail with a briefing on the offer and a personal voting link. If you have not received this by 30 March, please contact your branch.

https://www.unison.org.uk/news/article/2026/03/probation-members-vote-to-reject-pay-offer/

Probation members vote to reject pay offer - UNISON National If an improved pay offer is not forthcoming, UNISON will move to a formal industrial action ballot

Vote here: https://unison.tfaforms.net/319

https://www.unison.org.uk/news/article/2026/02/unison-calls-for-probation-service-to-be-removed-from-civil-service-control/

UNISON calls for probation service to be removed from civil service control - UNISON National 'Labour promised to review the governance of probation. UNISON calls on the government to make good on this promise without further delay'

The UNISON probation pay offer ballot opens today. All members should receive their papers in the next few days. If you haven't received them by the end of the week please contact your branch for assistance.

Still No Pay Offer

On Friday UNISON, with our fellow probation unions, went to the Ministry of Justice to hand deliver a letter to the Deputy Prime Minister, who is the cabinet minister responsible for probation, expressing the anger of UNISON probation members and demanding urgent action on a fair pay offer now.

Unions lobby Lammy to speed up probation pay rise - UNISON National Justice minister should ‘use his influence to end this delay’, says UNISON

The government’s announcement today, that Police and Crime Commissioners are to be abolished at the end of their current term in 2028, will mean a major change to policing governance. Police and Crime Commissioners have held chief constables to account since 2012 and UNISON has worked well with many PCCs over the intervening years. Our members who work in the offices of Police and Crime Commissioners will be particularly concerned at the implications of today’s announcement for their futures. UNISON will be seeking early engagement with the Home Office to understand how our members’ interests will be protected going forward. In relation to the proposed changes, UNISON will work with all police stakeholders to ensure that the democratic model of police accountability remains strong and effective.

10,000 staff shortfall in Probation Sentence Management

Our probation members have been telling us that they’re suffering from horrendous and unmanageable workloads due to woeful understaffing. Now there is a leaked HMPPS report showing a 10,000 staff shortfall in sentence management confirming the scale of the crisis: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy7yj0gkl3zo

UNISON has been urging HMPPS to publish this data for months, since it was shared on a confidential basis with unions in February this year.

The probation service has suffered from 14 years of mismanagement and underfunding under the last government. Probation staff have suffered the biggest cuts to real wages in the public sector. It’s vital the government restores probation pay levels to attract and retain the staff needed to rebuild the service.

Leaked report shows 10,000 gap in probation staff There is a shortage of probation staff to manage offenders serving sentences in the community, a report shows.

Manchester Probation Workloads Rally – 11 June

On a beautiful June lunchtime outside the Probation Offices at Sadler’s Yard in Manchester, probation members came out to join the unions’ rally in support of the Operation Protect Workloads Campaign and the 2025 Pay Campaign,

Ben Priestley, UNISON National Officer, said “It’s always great to join our members, but very troubling to hear first hand how the Probation workload crisis is affecting their working lives. The clear message from the day was that our campaigns to end intolerable workloads and inadequate pay can be won by strong probation unions, with determined and active memberships.”

There have already been Operation Protect rallies in London, Sheffield and Cardiff. Look out for news of further rallies to support this important campaign to end intolerable working pressures.

The recently published HMIP inspection report into HMPPS national leadership and services bears out UNISON’s ongoing concerns over the ability of HMPPS to run probation. Overall, the inspectors rated HMPPS HQ functions as ‘Requires Improvement’.

After 11 years of failing to get to grips with running probation effectively, UNISON calls on HMPPS to join us in asking the government to bring forward its review of probation governance.

Read the report here:

National Inspection – April 2025 – HM Inspectorate of Probation Inspecting probation and
 youth justice services.

UNISON welcomes the publication of Jennifer Rademaker’s report into professional standards and behaviour in HMPPS. We will work with HMPPS to try to tackle bullying, harassment and discrimination in the Probation Service. But all the evidence over the last 11 years tells us that Probation should be returned to its local roots, to be run again by independent chief probation officers and overseen by elected mayors or police and crime commissioners.

Before the general election, Labour too recognised that probation was not working as a centralised civil service function. In its 2024 manifesto it promised a review of probation governance. UNISON calls for this to happen sooner rather than later.

Read the report here:

HMPPS Professional Standards Review A review into policies, practice and procedures – bullying, harassment, discrimination and victimisation and HMPPS response.