Archive – Role alignment for corporate and support services staff

In bringing such a large number of people together into our new organisation, there will be a certain amount of restructuring needed in order for our organisation to be able to function effectively and deliver our important services. Whilst the role alignment process will give you clarity on where your role aligns within the new organisation, structural alignment is the process that enables us to place those roles into our new organisation’s structures. There will be a national approach for structural alignment but much of the activity will happen on a regional basis.

Structural alignment will cover any roles where we have too many people to fit our target structures or where we haven’t been able to transfer people as is. In these situations, there are a variety of approaches that may be taken. For example, if an area had a small over-supply of people then we may not take any action and allow the staffing levels to adjust over time due to natural turnover. Another approach may be to take all staff (both NPS and transferring staff) within those roles through a selection process. If someone does not secure a role during this selection process, this does not mean that they would be made redundant. We would work with that person on an individual basis to explore the options for redeployment to other roles within the NPS or wider organisation.

This structural alignment process is a completely normal part of a staff transfer. Please remember that our approach is for staff to transfer on an ‘as-is’ basis wherever possible. This means that most of you will do the same role in the same location after transfer.

We understand that there is additional uncertainty for staff who are likely to be aligned to roles in the MOJ or HMMPS (in comparison to those aligned to roles within the NPS). This is because these groups will transfer into and be employed by the NPS but they will be working to a team within the MOJ or HMPPS on a day to day basis.

We are currently liaising with those teams who will be receiving incoming staff and helping them to think through what support they will be providing to new joiners within their teams. Whilst time is tight, this is a priority for us. Any specific team level induction or support is likely to come after transfer when you join your new team. In the meantime, you can look at the new Induction page on the Welcome Hub. These pages explain the different levels of induction that will be available to you and provide links to some of the MOJ corporate induction materials for you to browse through.

As staff are transferring under the Offender Management Act, eligible staff initially must transfer to the NPS. In the Civil Service, when staff transfer from one part of the organisation to another, this is still seen as a formal staff transfer as the employer is changing. This will be the case for any staff who are ultimately aligned to the HMPPS or MOJ.

Before any additional transfer can happen (e.g. to HMPPS or MOJ), we will need to engage and consult with Trade Unions. This process is likely to take time and so any secondary transfers on from the NPS will not happen immediately after transfer. If this is likely to apply to you then you’ll be kept up to date on any developments. Whilst you will be transferring in to the NPS, you may be working to and line managed by the relevant functional team within the MOJ or HMPPS.

The role alignment process is not a selection process. That means that it is only looking at role information, not information about you as an individual. Some professional roles will need people to have qualifications, but during the role alignment process the assumption will be that if you’re doing the role now, you have the appropriate qualification.

In a small number of cases people will receive a role alignment outcome which states that their role hasn’t been aligned to a role within the NPS or wider organisation. In these cases we will work with that person individually, through current employers, to find a suitable solution for them. This would involve looking at their skills, past experiences and career goals to find a suitable alternative role for them.

Some additional changes to roles and structures will happen after day 1 (referred to as structural alignment), to bring us closer to our unified target operating model. This will look different for regions and functions.

Our approach and principle is that we should be able to find a place for everyone who is in-scope to transfer. There is currently no plan for any compulsory redundancies and the National Agreement, that applies to directly employed CRC staff, states that there won’t be any compulsory redundancies for 2 years. If there are people that we haven’t found role alignment matches for, then we will work with them to find them another role within the wider organisation.

Your contractual location after transfer is based on your current contractual location. If you are aligned to a regional role, the region you are aligned to will be based on what your current contract says.

Location is not considered as part of the Role Alignment process, it only considers how the role aligns to the future organisation. If you want to change location then you will be able to talk to your manager about this after transfer. The Probation Service is a growing and expanding organisation that supports flexible working (where it is possible) – this means that there are likely to be many opportunities for you to explore other roles or talk about your location or working pattern after you have joined.

Everyone who is in-scope to transfer will be transferring to the NPS. This remains the case even if your role aligns to a team within the MOJ. This means that if the National Agreement applies to you, your pay will be assimilated to the NPS pay scales, not to the MOJ pay scales. You can read more about what this means here.

Whilst you will be employed by the Probation Service, you will be working to and managed by the relevant team within the MOJ. It may be decided at a future date to transfer you in to the MOJ. However this would only happen after a period of consultation with Trade Unions.

We recognise and value the skills and experience of all of our people and we want to use ensure that your transition to the NPS is a positive career opportunity for you. To ensure that this is the case, we are working to align people to a role that is right for them – whether that be within the NPS or within the HMPPS or MOJ. Not only will this give you a more fulfilling career, suited to your skills and experience but it will also ensure that your skills are used in the most effective way by the NPS, HMPPS or MOJ.

NPS regional roles fit directly in to one of our 12 regions, under the management of a Regional Probation Director. NPS National roles are central roles that often work across a number of regions and provide a level of national consistency to Regions.

You can learn more about the role alignment process here.  Some roles will align easily to existing roles with the NPS regions or NPS national and these roles will be agreed by the programme with input from current employers and Regional Probation Directors. Other roles won’t align so easily and these will need to be reviewed by a central panel. Job descriptions provided by current employers will be used to inform decisions.

Everyone who is in-scope will transfer to the NPS on the 26th June. If your role aligns to the HMPPS or MOJ, you will still transfer to the NPS in June but be line managed by the relevant team in HMPPS/MOJ. We are still working through the process that may occur post transfer to the NPS  and each case will be handled on an individual basis.

Your current employer will communicate the role assignment outcome to you. This is likely to happen at different times for different roles and organisations because of the nature of the review process. We hope that the majority of staff will know their outcome by late April or early May.

We recognise that transferring staff will provide valuable experience and skills. However, they may require training on NPS/HMPPS/MOJ systems, processes and ways of doing things. We are currently working with the Learning and Development team to identify all training and briefing requirements. This training will be conducted post transfer (unless agreed with current employers to conduct training pre-day 1).

We have worked to identify the learning needs of staff across all roles, both pre transition and in the immediate period post transition. The learning prior to transfer is that which is business critical to ensure continued services and will include administration staff where there are changes to how they perform their role that they need to be aware of.

We are currently confirming the learning that is required immediately post-transfer and will provide details of that learning in April. This includes learning for staff in administration and non-operational roles (such as corporate services and support roles). The new L&D model will use a blended approach to delivery. This will include a variety of methods such as: formal learning, digital eLearning, briefings, guidance and peer to peer training.