Archive – FAQs

We realise that this may be frustrating, but we are unable to award any additional pay for time spent outside of the Civil Service or for length of service. All transferring CRC staff are subject to the National Agreement which was collectively bargained with our recognised trade unions and received a positive ballot outcome from members.

The National Agreement means we assimilate pay onto the NPS pay scales by using your former CRC salary, at the 37-hour equivalent, and moving staff to the equivalent or next highest pay point in the band they were matched to. If staff exceed the band maximum the difference will be pay protected for 3 years following transfer date. Read more about pay assimilation.

We know that the probation system has been through a cycle of change in recent years, which many of you have experienced, including Transforming Rehabilitation. We want the Probation Service to be a rich, fulfilling and rewarding place to work, and to provide a fair and enduring reward package for all. We will continue working with staff and trade unions to progress our collaborative work on pay modernisation, and to develop proposals focused on improving the overall reward offer available to staff.

The Probation Service engages agency staff though specific agencies (details below). Agency staff who would be interested in potentially working with the Probation service on or after 26 June 2021 would need to register with the agencies mentioned below to be considered for assignments as and when business requirements arise.

For our probation service to operate successfully, we need to ensure we have the right people in the right roles for day 1. We are filling roles in a variety of ways:

• Many roles will be filled by those of you who are transferring in to the new Probation Service from a CRC, Supply Chain or Parent Organisation. The role alignment process is what will enable you to know what role you’ll be doing after transfer. The majority of people will be doing the same role, in the same location and with the same manager on day 1.
• Some of our business critical roles will need to be filled through a fair and open recruitment process. Recruitment is likely to commence for areas where the data is telling us that we will have an undersupply of roles, even after the staff transfer. Due to the length of time that it takes to recruit – this activity is likely to start ahead of transfer in some areas.

To date we have been very cautious about recruitment to ensure that transferring staff have access to the available roles within the NPS. Through our data analysis, we are starting to get a clearer idea of where we have areas of over and undersupply of staff for roles within the NPS.

Where we are confident that we will have areas of undersupply after transition and where these roles are deemed business critical, we will be starting the recruitment process. We need to start this process early to ensure we have enough people in the right roles to operate successfully as a unified probation service after June.

The role alignment process will continue as planned and it won’t be impacted by recruitment activity (you can read more about role alignment here). Recruitment is only happening in areas where we predict there won’t be enough staff to fill the roles, even when transferring staff are have joined the new Probation Service.

• Your current employer will communicate to you about whether you have been assigned to transfer to NPS or to the DF. However, they will not be able to provide details of which role you will be undertaking after your transfer.
• If you are transferring in to the NPS, we will confirm details of the job role you will do upon transfer ahead of the transfer date. This is likely to happen between April and June.
• Many people will continue to do the same/similar job role, in the same location, with the same line manager upon day 1 of transfer to the new employer.
• There will be groups that will not be able to move on an ‘as-is’ basis and we would like to engage with those groups to agree solutions ahead of day-1.  We will need to work with current employers to achieve this.
• As soon as we can share more detail about this we will do so.

• We are applying the principle of moving people on an ‘as-is’ basis unless that is not possible – this means that most people will do the same/similar role in the same location, with the same line manager after transition. Consequently, on Day-1 we will not have fully realised the final end stats model and it will take time and more change to get there – the timing will vary by region and function.
• There will be a small number of people who will experience a change in their job role after transfer. We are currently identifying these groups and we will work with them to agree solutions before transfer.
• Retaining skilled staff is a key priority.  If people cannot continue to do their existing role after transfer to HMPPS (NPS), we will seek to redeploy them to alternative roles or other areas of the organisation where possible to do so.

In the small number of cases where people cannot work in the same office location as they are today, they will be informed of this ahead of transfer. We envisage being able to tell you about location changes between April and June 2021.

• The vast majority of people will do the same/similar job, in the same location.
• You will be notified of your role, location and Line Manager (or point of contact) ahead of transfer.
• You can continue to ask questions of your current line manager or HR team within your current employer. We will ensure that there is always a route for you to ask questions, both pre- and post-transfer.

• The National Agreement is a negotiated agreement between the NPS and the Probation Trade Unions.  It sets out that CRC staff that transfer to HMPPS (NPS) will be aligned to NPS terms and conditions in full upon transfer and will no longer be entitled to their ex-CRC pay and conditions; and it also sets out the elements that will apply to CRC staff that transfer to DF providers.
• The National Agreement does not extend to other employers and their staff, such as CRC parent organisations or CRC sub-contractor or supply chain employers. These groups will be subject to separate discussions and potential agreements and as such will retain their current contractual terms and conditions (including pay) upon transfer (if assigned) to HMPPS (NPS).
• Implementing the National Agreement (including aligning your pay to the NPS pay scales) is a complex piece of work that is likely to happen between April and June.
• You can expect to hear more communications about the National Agreement and what it will mean for you in the coming months.

• Staff on Fixed Term Contracts could be assigned to transfer if they meet the transfer principles.
• Your current employer will advise you whether or not you are assigned to transfer and if so, whether that is to HMPPS (NPS), or to a Dynamic Framework provider regardless of whether you are on a Fixed Term or Permanent contract.

• There is a provision within the National Agreement (which covers transferring CRC staff) that there will be no compulsory redundancies for a period of two years following the transfer.  The National Agreement also has provision for an enhanced voluntary redundancy scheme which will be in place for two years following the transfer and will support the transition to the unified model.
• Whilst the National Agreement applies to CRC staff specifically, the NPS wants to retain staff and values the knowledge, skills and experience that transferring staff bring with them.
• We are working to identify people who are in roles that cannot continue on an ‘as-is’ basis upon transfer.  We will be working to identify solutions ahead of transfer so people have clarity ahead of the transfer about what they will be doing.
• Our approach is to seek to avoid the need to make redundancies and instead to fully utilise redeployment opportunities in the organisation and wider Civil Service as appropriate.

• If you are directly employed by a CRC, then you are covered by the National Agreement. Under the National Agreement terms, CRC staff who transfer via a Staff Transfer Scheme into HMPPS (NPS) will be harmonised onto NPS terms and conditions from the date of transfer and will no longer be entitled to their ex-CRC pay and conditions.
• This means that before transfer, between April and June, you will be aligned to the NPS pay scales. Your basic annual salary will be aligned to the equivalent or next highest pay point on the NPS pay band that you are matched to. If your current pay is higher than the top of your assigned NPS pay band, your current pay will be protected for three years after transfer (or until the band maximum reaches your pay).
• You will find out more detail about pay alignment and how your pay will map to the NPS pay scales ahead of transfer, likely between April and June. However, your pay won’t change until after transfer in June.
• If you are not covered by the National Agreement (for example if you are employed directly by a parent organisation) then your current pay will be protected, and you will be paid as per your current employers pay scales.

The NPS (HMPPS) pays staff on the last working day of each month and all transferring staff will be required to align to this pay date (as outlined in the measures document). We appreciate this will be a change for some of you and we plan to offer mid-month advances for a few months following transfer for staff who will have a change of pay date; to make the transition as smooth as possible for those of you who are impacted. This is being discussed and more detail will be provided at a later date.

• Staff are expected to, and encouraged to, use their annual leave allowance within the annual leave period for their rest and recuperation. However we acknowledge that this may not always be possible, particularly due to the challenges that COVID-19 has presented to our organisation and to us all personally.  
• There are also statutory changes allowing staff to carry forward leave, in certain circumstances arising from the pandemic, across the next two years.
• We anticipate, therefore, that provision will be made for staff to carry over leave in certain circumstances and we will confirm the details as soon as possible.

• Staff who are covered under the National Agreement, will align to the NPS annual leave year upon transfer i.e. 1 March to end February. Guidance will be provided to assist in calculating annual leave allowance for transition to the new leave year. There will be no detriment to employees moving to the standardised leave year.
• Staff who are not covered by the National Agreement, will transfer on their existing annual leave year and leave entitlements. We will look to align this post transfer as part of the unification model.

What happens to your pension after transfer will depend on whether you are a current eligible member of the Local Government Pension Scheme or not:

• If you are a current eligible LGPS member (you transferred employment from a Probation Trust to a CRC in February 2015) then you will remain as a member of the pension scheme under the Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF). From the date of transfer to NPS a new pension pot will be started by GMPF (which is required under the Regulations when moving employers) and individuals will be provided with the option to aggregate their previous pension pot with the new one, or preserve (freeze) the pension pot already built up and start a second pension pot.  Individuals will be contacted by GMPF with details of how the options will apply and the financial implications and members will have a 12 month window to make their decision.
• If you were recruited by the current provider (after 1 February 2015 and a member of their pension scheme on joining the NPS you will be auto-enrolled into the LGPS via the Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF).  The pension you will be enrolled in is a “Defined Benefit” career average scheme and further details can be found on the GMPF website on the following link https://www.gmpf.org.uk/members/Joining/calculating-benefits

Find out more about pensions here. 

• Your current employer will inform you of whether you are in scope to transfer to the NPS (HMPPS) or a Dynamic Framework provider.
• If you have been told that you are transferring to a Dynamic Framework provider then you can expect to go through a similar process to the one described in the transfer timeline but the timescales and steps may differ for you.
• You will receive communications from your current and future employer, and you should direct your questions to your line manager or HR team.
• All staff, whether they are employed by the NPS (HMPPS) or a Dynamic Framework provider are critical to creating an even stronger and more effective probation service and achieving our vision of protecting the public and helping people to lead positive and law-abiding lives.

• Eligibility to transfer is based on the work that people do, not their qualifications.
• Not having a qualification would not prevent someone transferring.
• The Programme will be asking transferring staff via their current employer to provide evidence of their operational probation qualifications for roles where there is a statutory requirement to have one.  Individual can use the mailbox to raise any queries or to discuss the evidence – NPS-qualifications@justice.gov.uk