Napo takes the fight to the heart of the trade union movement
Napo took the fight for our members to the heart of the trade union movement last week and made sure the crisis tearing through probation and Cafcass could not be ignored.
General Secretary Ian Lawrence and National Chair Ben Cockburn joined thousands of trade unionists in Brighton for the 2026 TUC Congress, putting our members’ concerns centre stage.
Napo’s attendance at Congress was about more than just reporting back what is happening in workplaces. It was about building the power to change things with the backing of the wider trade union movement.
Two motions. One clear message.
Motion 57, Hands off collective bargaining, was in direct response to the Treasury and Cabinet office’s previous attempts to restrict how we could communicate with members during the 2025-2026 pay negotiations.
Congress backed the principle that unions must be able to speak freely and fight for their members.
When members are being asked to accept deals that affect their pay, their working lives and their families, we must be free to tell them exactly what is on the table and fight for something better.
Motion 58: Insufficient staffing threatens major reforms to probation and Cafcass services said quite bluntly that you cannot fix public services by piling more work onto exhausted staff.
Probation is being asked to do more while already struggling with chronic vacancies, excessive workloads and thousands of hours of unpaid work. Cafcass practitioners are routinely working beyond their contracted hours, with workloads that many say are unsafe.
And there is a very real consequence.
For Cafcass, children risk not getting the support, representation and protection they deserve. For probation, excessive workloads threaten the meaningful rehabilitation of people under supervision and the protection of victims and communities.
Congress carried Napo’s call for emergency investment in probation, a review of its governance and urgent resources for Cafcass.
Taking the fight beyond Congress
On Sunday Ian Lawrence also took the campaign to the NSSN rally in Brighton, speaking alongside trade union leaders and campaigners from across the movement.
The NSSN event brought together activists to discuss industrial disputes and campaigns and to build support for demands being taken to Congress. Ian used the platform to make sure probation was firmly part of that conversation.
Ian made clear that Napo wants a negotiated solution. But was even clearer that our members are prepared to fight for one.
“Our members have spoken,” he said. And by the end of Congress the trade union movement had too.
Unions fully backed our calls for investment, decent pay, manageable workloads and properly resourced public services.
That support will matter as we take the next steps in our campaigns.
