To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether probation staff have been consulted, and their agreement sought, regarding decisions to allocate them to the National Probation Service or a community rehabilitation company.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have consulted the relevant trade unions regarding the allocation of staff to either the National Probation Service or a community rehabilitation company.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether probation staff have rights of appeal against decisions made to allocate them to the National Probation Service or a community rehabilitation company.

The National Agreement on Staff Transfer and Protections, which we published on 13 November 2013, sets out the principles for transitioning probation staff into the new National Probation Service and Community Rehabilitation Companies. Probation staff were consulted on this document prior to its publication, and the document has been ratified by the National Negotiating Council and the Standing Committee for Chief Officer Grades and endorsed by the Ministry of Justice and National Offender Management Service. The National Agreement offers a very good deal to existing staff, demonstrating our commitment to fairness and providing certain guarantees to staff at the point of transfer. Staffs have been assigned to the new organisations by automatic assignment where a role remains substantially unchanged at the point of transfer. Where an existing role spreads across functions transferring to both of the new organisations, i.e. the National Probation Service (NPS) and a Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC), staff in those roles were invited to express an interest in working for either the NPS or CRC. All staff have now been assigned to posts in the new structure. They are able to appeal against the decision in line with the criteria set out in the National Agreement.