The Probation Trade Unions have now formally submitted the detailed 2026–27 pay claim to senior HMPPS management, marking the next stage in our campaign to secure the pay, recognition and respect that probation staff deserve.
This follows the opening of ‘without prejudice’ discussions earlier this month. Further talks will take place throughout July and August and Napo remains absolutely clear: members must have a pay offer to consider before 1 September.
What are we demanding?
Our claim reflects the reality of working in probation today and years of real-terms pay erosion that simply cannot continue.
We are demanding:
- A 12% increase on all pay points
- A 12% increase on all cash allowances, including London Weighting and Prison Supplement payments
- A minimum wage of £15 per hour across the Probation Service
- Regional Reward and Recognition funds to be subject to collective bargaining
The case is clear
The evidence presented to the employer is stark.
It would take a 60% pay increase just to return staff to their 2010 real-terms value. This is what years of pay restraint, a rigid three-year settlement and the added cost-of-living crisis have done to leave members significantly worse off.
At the same time, workloads remain crippling, experienced staff continue to leave the profession, and the pressures created from easing prison capacity as well as the Sentencing Act are adding even more strain to an already overstretched service.
Probation pay has also fallen behind comparable employers across both the public, private sector. Meanwhile, serious assaults on staff have increased, highlighting the changing risks that practitioners face every day.
The message to HMPPS is straightforward: fair pay is essential if the service is to retain experienced staff, deliver public protection and recognise the increasingly demanding nature of probation work.
The Campaign Continues
Nobody should underestimate the challenge ahead.
The events of last year’s pay process demonstrated exactly why members need to stay organised, engaged and ready to act. Every meeting attended, every campaign action supported and every conversation with colleagues strengthens our collective position.
Over the coming weeks, Napo will be holding a series of meetings focused on pay, workloads and the wider campaign needed to maintain pressure on both HMPPS and government.
Alongside UNISON and GMB, we will continue pressing for an offer that can be put before members by 1 September.
Indicative Workloads Ballot Opens on 10 July
The fight for fair pay cannot be separated from the fight on workloads.
On 10 July, Napo will launch an indicative ballot in response to the worsening workload crisis and the additional pressures that will arise from the Sentencing Act. Members will be asked a single question: If acceptable progress is not made on workloads by 1st September, would you be prepared to vote yes in a formal industrial action ballot”.
Despite the recent vote of no confidence in HMPPS as an employer, union negotiators continue to press for meaningful action that delivers immediate relief to members. That includes securing a genuine alternative to the Workload Measurement Tool and establishing clear agreements on what constitutes a reasonable caseload.
More information on the ballot question and campaign activity visit the dedicated page on our website.
The months ahead will be critical. The employer needs to hear a clear, united message from probation staff: enough is enough. Fair pay, manageable workloads and safe working conditions are not optional extra. They are essential for a probation service that protects the public and values its workforce.
28 responses
The 60% pay rise is needed. The amount of risk to us both in AND outside of the workplace is frightening, the workloads are crippling and some supermarket staff are on more money than us! Fair pay for our work is only fair and not more. If we did 60% less work I am sure that wouldn’t be accepted after all…
60% needed to catch up yet you are asking for 12% – seriously????
Agreed. just stupid. We want to be caught up and respected. why not push for 65%? 60% to catch up, 5% as a thankyou and bonus for the hard work being done.
Hi there,
Part of being a credible trade union is being realistic with what we think we can achieve from negotiations and not seeing any one pay year as a ‘be all and end all’ given the situation we’re in regarding Probation pay.
That’s the way we framed last years and this year’s pay campaign – this is part of a process that is going to take time to get us back to where we need to be. It’s important to remember that as a democratic trade union the decision was taken on this by members on the Probation Negotiating Committee.
If we submitted a 60% pay claim for one year Napo would immediately lose all the hard-fought work we’ve achieved to this point on building our effectiveness in negotiating with the employer and the Government, while also simultaneously shredding our credibility with the vast majority of Napo members (in addition to the media and others who have supported us, such as the Justice Unions Parliamentary Group).
A 60% pay claim for one year is a grossly simplistic solution to the issue, and one that would severely harm Napo, immediately and in the long-term.
Hi There, Part of being a credible trade union is being realistic with what we think we can achieve from negotiations and not seeing any one pay year as a ‘be all and end all’ given the situation we’re in regarding Probation pay.
That’s the way we framed last year’s and this year’s pay campaign – this is part of a process that is going to take time to get us back to where we need to be. It’s important to remember that as a democratic trade union the decision was taken on this by members on the Probation Negotiating Committee.
If we submitted a 60% pay claim for one year Napo would immediately lose all the hard-fought work we’ve achieved to this point on building our effectiveness in negotiating with the employer and the Government, while also simultaneously shredding our credibility with the vast majority of Napo members (in addition to the media and others who have supported us, such as the Justice Unions Parliamentary Group).
A 60% pay claim for one year is a grossly simplistic solution to the issue, and one that would severely harm Napo, immediately and in the long-term.
You should never have accepted half what was asked last year. Unions should have fought for the 12% which we rightly deserved, followed by another 12% this April and absolutely no less. That would have shown a realistic process as well as credibility. How can you be credible when you say we deserve more and then accept half.
Hi There, just to clarify, the 6% offer was put to members in a ballot and that offer was accepted. It is also worth pointing out that the 6% was a direct result of members overwhelmingly voting to reject the 4% that was previously on offer.
As disappointing as this may seem to some members, Napo is a democratic union, and processes such as ballots on important issues like pay and workloads is what keeps the union credible by ensuring that the decisions are member-led.
If you are a voting member of Napo, we hope that you will exercise your right in helping to shape the outcome of the upcoming ballot on workloads and the inevitable one on pay.
I DONT GET IT… We are 60% below on our wages yet Unions have asked for 12% which going by last years offer we know we will not get… how is this helping us get paid what we deserve. Surely Unions should have been putting at least 25% on the table. I can work in Aldi for more money. This is ridiculous.
NAPO are not posting replies challenging why if they believe we deserve more they have only asked for 12%. Be transparent NAPO and let us use our voice. Please don’t delete comments.
Hi Just to clarify that comments are manually approved and so do not appear instantly once submitted by users. This manual approval is not to censor members, but to prevent us from being spammed by advertising bots which is something we experience a lot. We do not delete comments either unless they are offensive in nature
12% will never be accepted sadly. they will do what they did before, low ball, 4% and agree at 6-8%. All a joke.
CBF still hasn’t been implemented and looks like it will be attempted to include it as part of the negotiations which would be even more of a joke.
I look forward to another back pay in 13 months times i guess.
With CBF being halted, will there be a different pay progression approved soon? Qualified three years ago yet due to the banding being brought forward each year, officers who qualified last year and on a very similar wage to me now which feels like the whole process has been pointless
20 years I have worked for Probation and I am on approximately £7500 more than when I started (back when wages were pretty good) Guess I am the mug for putting up with it for that long. Wages will never catch up especially after asking for only 12% this time round.
Sadly, this increasingly feels like a lengthy and ultimately futile process that is unlikely to deliver any meaningful benefits for members. Put simply, we have heard all of this before.
The facts are already well known. Many of us have not only followed these discussions for years but have lived through them for decades. Some members have spent more than 20 years witnessing the same cycle repeat itself, regardless of which political party is in power. Despite repeated promises, consultations, reviews, and expressions of support, the tangible outcomes have remained minimal. At best, we are offered warm words and token gestures; at worst, our concerns are acknowledged and then quietly side-lined.
Many of us have remained loyal supporters of the Labour Party through difficult periods, believing that a change in government would lead to a fundamentally different approach. However, the reality feels disappointingly familiar. Successive governments have failed to properly value the contributions of public sector workers, and this administration risks following the same path. The message appears unchanged: when we ask for pay restoration, we are told it is unaffordable; when we present evidence of declining real-term wages, we are offered a fraction of what is required. Whether the request is 60%, 12%, or any other figure supported by evidence, the response seems predetermined.
The result is an exhausting and predictable negotiating cycle. Expectations are repeatedly lowered, aspirations are gradually diluted, and eventually members are presented with a modest increase that falls well short of what is needed. We are then expected to view this outcome as a significant achievement and to express gratitude for what is portrayed as an exceptional settlement. In reality, many members see it as yet another example of managed decline in pay and conditions.
Adding to this frustration is the prospect of waiting many more months for back pay, only to see a substantial proportion immediately lost through taxation and National Insurance deductions. While those deductions are a normal consequence of receiving earnings, they do little to ease the sense that members are being asked to celebrate money that simply fails to address years of erosion in real-term pay.
What is perhaps most disappointing is the feeling that members are being asked to accept narratives that bear little resemblance to their lived experience. Please do not treat us as though we are unable to recognise the reality of the situation. We know our value. We know the importance of the work we undertake. We know what fair recognition would look like.
The problem is not that members fail to understand the process. The problem is that, after years of seeing the same outcome, there is a growing belief that those with the power to make meaningful change either do not fully appreciate our worth or simply do not consider it a priority. That is the source of the frustration, the disappointment, and the loss of confidence that many members now feel.
Well said. Lets hope you are listened to and responded to by napo.
Fedup… yes, well said…and what we wait for another year to pass to be given 6% (if we are lucky) and we are supposed to feel grateful and honoured. I am 30 years in and now thankfully on the verge of retirement. We are abused, used and insulted – but you would have thought after 30 years I would be used to it eh ! NAPO has failed to support us, the service is deplorable and any pay rise is woefully inadequate after years of systematic erosion. But hey ho….only another 8 months to wait for a morsel of backpay
I thought it was written part of the previous deal that we would have this year’s 2026/2027 resolved by September? As the days creep closer to September, we appear to be no closer to this deal. The updates have stopped and there’s a familiar silence on the subject of pay yet again.
and we are not surprised though are we? subscription paid for what ?!
from napo magazine in April : negotiations are ongoing throughout the summer of 2026, with unions emphasizing that members should have a pay offer to consider before 1 September 2026. less than 2 weeks to go !!! there has been radio silence, I am sure NAPO states that this is being discussed/negotiated – but … can everyone please note we are already told that 3.5% is the maximum that can be negotiated – this is not open for further debate. Therefore…. call me a cynic… we are very unlikely to even get te 3.5% !
and here we are… as expected and predicted – 19th August and “under negotiation” which equates to very little… so hang on there guys… we will hit the twelve month mark again before any agreement is achieved and noted that we are already told that 3.5 is all we can “negotiate” up to. I am about to hit countdown to retirement and in my 30+ years this has Never been any different. And workload – lol, forgive me… but has that ever changed?!
so can i ask napo…. 25th august…. no update since the beginning of the summer… where are we at… there has been zero communication at a time when we are bombarded with updates, changes, training, new ways of working… come on… what is happening !?!??!
Hi There,
A mailing was sent to members on Friday the content can be found here https://napomagazine.org.uk/napo-meet-with-new-ministers-but-moves-to-industrial-action/
We are also holding an all members meeting on Thursday 17 September where we will be updating members on where we are at with negotiations. You can find the meeting details here https://www.napo.org.uk/confidence-broken
Today marks 1 week past the date that this very article states ‘members must have a pay offer to consider before 1 September’, and still, absolutely nothing. The communication on this matter is absolutely shocking!! I think, at the very least, members deserve an actual update on the current stance for this matter, some reassurance that it hasn’t been pushed to the side.
It is a complete repeat of last year, but at least then there was at least a few teams meetings where some form of slight update was being shared. This year, absolutely silent. It feels like a bigger kick to the kerb than last year.
Where is the update on pay? Has a response been received? Is this being pushed further? And more importantly, when are we going to have to start ballots to reject measly offers again, that ultimately allow for this whole process to be dragged out even longer?
When are we going to be paid our CBF? Is it being made clear that it is unacceptable for our increments for working as hard as we do, to be contained within a pay deal? Which should not be the case! This isn’t what was agreed when CBF was introduced.
This year has felt the most flat I have known since being in the service for a long time. Workloads are still increasing despite the ‘battle’ to decrease them, expectations are as high as ever, and just about everyone you speak to is burned out. There is no motivation to be in this line of work anymore because more people than ever are struggling in their own lives with mental health because of the pressures, cost of living and no incentive to put our lives at risk for completely inadequate pay.
This is completely unacceptable, and Napo need to provide some explanation. It is completely unfair to list a date and not to provide even a slight update when that isn’t being met.
Hi There,
A mailing was sent to members on Friday the content can be found here https://napomagazine.org.uk/napo-meet-with-new-ministers-but-moves-to-industrial-action/
We are also holding an all members meeting on Thursday 17 September where we will be updating members on where we are at with negotiations. You can find the meeting details here https://www.napo.org.uk/confidence-broken
Please can the union provide an update on where the pay offer is up to? I find it ludicrous that we are now edging closer to October without any formal offer. I feel there are consistent excuses and delay tactics with this to just deny the staff what they are rightfully entitled to. It was sold as a part of the previous agreement that the offer would be in by September 1st. That date has come and gone without any form of acknowledgement or apology. Ridiculous.
Hi There,
A mailing was sent to members on Friday the content can be found here https://napomagazine.org.uk/napo-meet-with-new-ministers-but-moves-to-industrial-action/
We are also holding an all members meeting on Thursday 17 September where we will be updating members on where we are at with negotiations. You can find the meeting details here https://www.napo.org.uk/confidence-broken
It is now Sep 21st and still no noise.. I personally feel 6-12 per cent rise would be positive but only if it happens in the immediate future. I fear we will get this pay rise in April 2027.
September 25th and still no news. What are members paying the Unions for?