Government must end private contracts before it ’s too late, say probation unions

Monday 25 February 2019 For immediate release Government must end private contracts before it’s too late, say probation unions Unions have urged the Justice Secretary to end the failed system of privatised probation contracts and bring them back into public ownership before there is ‘drastic and irreversible damage’ to the service. In a joint letter to David Gauke, the three unions representing staff in the probation service – UNISON, Napo and GMB – said the community rehabilitation company (CRC) contracts must be abandoned when they end next year. Earlier this month three of these contracts collapsed when the company operating them – Working Links – went into administration. The contracts and staff have been transferred to another operator Seetec. In their letter the unions say that the government ‘lost control’ of the services in Wales, Avon and Somerset, and Devon and Cornwall. They highlight that the government failed to keep promises and assurances made prior to privatisation that if problems occurred with contracts they would be brought back under public control. Ministers should have stepped in when it was clear the company was in trouble, say the three unions. The letter says during the tendering process “probation unions were reassured that the Ministry of Justice had appropriate contingency plans in place to step in if private contractors failed to provide services or hit key targets”. The letter then asks why “the remedial action plans, des...
Source: UNISON Health care news - Category: UK Health Authors: Tags: Article Press release ben priestley GMB napo probation Source Type: news