NPS Flexible Workforce Requirements

1. NPS Flexible Workforce Requirements Hazel Elliott 27 June 2016

2. Background Under TR each Probation Trust had to determine the appropriate treatment of everyone they had working for them; Trusts determined who went on the Staff Transfer Scheme and therefore transferred to either the CRC or the NPS and who they treated as sessional engagements which they ended ahead of the transfer; Trusts asked those they deemed to be sessionals whether they wished to continue to do sessional work in NOMS in the future and they compiled a list of those who said yes; Trusts provided the list to NOMS and NOMS offered a new sessional engagement on sessional terms commensurate with sessional use in NOMS – did continue with existing rates of pay; NOMS made no determination about who was or was not a sessional and accepted those Trusts reported as sessionals who wanted to continue sessional work in NOMS in good faith; NOMS has not historically paid holiday pay for sessional engagements due to them being viewed as a contract for service, not a contract for employment.

3. Definition of contract for service Contract is to provide a service Should be ad hoc Sessional can send a substitute Cannot be required to undertake training No set hours, should be ad hoc No obligation to offer or accept work Not subject to NOMS HR policies Paid set rate, claim retrospectively Deemed competent to carry out the work they do without intervention Do not have a contract of employment Not line managed

4. Current use of NPS sessionals • NPS sessionals fall into two categories: • Employees who work extra hours for which they are remunerated as sessionals. • Those people who only work as sessionals. • NPS sessionals have been used to cover staffing shortfalls in the following areas: • Approved Premises (AP) • Court and reports • Programme facilitators • Senior Probation Officer (SPO); Probation Officers (PO) and Probation Service Officers (PSO) grades.

5. Sessionals - Why change? • Variation in pay rates (continued from former trust pay rates). • Non-compliance with employment law, e.g. paying “rolled up” holiday pay. • The way the NPS uses sessionals does not fit the organisational view of sessionals as a contract for service.

6. Sessionals - Why change? continued. • Due to the variation in use we would have to review each single engagement - fact sensitive. • Individual review not practical. • Pragmatic response: • Pay holiday pay to those who haven’t had it (backdated) – no admission of liability. • Solution to move away from sessionals to minimum hours contracts & payment of additional hours for existing employees who work additional hours.

7. Summary of Proposed Solutions

8. Solution: Agency Framework (in place) • Provides a flexible resourcing solution for SPO, PO, PSO and report writing. • Where there is requirement for short term cover for roles covered in the Agency Framework sessional staff should not be used but resource should be secured via Agency Framework.

9. Summary of resource to cover staff shortfalls

10. Set rates per role • Rate should be a fair reflection of working being undertaken (based on the role ). • The rates will be reviewed as NPS pay changes. • Agency Framework pay rates will be used for those engaged via that route (for both Agency Framework and Brook Street). • Rates for roles not covered by the agency framework will be agreed by the business with support from the Reward team. This work is ongoing.

11. Next Steps • NOMS would like automated solution to support above proposals, however this is not possible at present due to SSCL moving to a Single Operating Platform (SOP). As a delay to long term automated solutions interim workaround solutions will be provided, which will include: • Holiday pay calculator. • Revised claim forms that will have set rates for roles embedded. • Guidance for staff as well as responsible managers and line managers

12. Next Steps continued • Work with NPS to identify resourcing requirements and implement new flexible resourcing solutions. • The proposals above will be formally submitted to People Sub Committee for approval.