The morale, recruitment and retention crisis facing police, prison and probation staff was hot topic in the House of Lords yesterday thanks to Lord Woodley.
The discussion, which featured strong contributions across parties, saw the government acknowledge the scale of the challenge — and seemingly commit to action. But how far will those words go?
“In a civilised society, our police, prisons and probation services must never be run on the cheap,” said Lord Woodley. “Crumbling prisons and shortages of staff are endemic.”
A new tone from government?
Prisons and probation minister, Lord Timpson, had no choice but to lay bare how grim the situation is at the moment.
“We inherited a mess… a prison system on the verge of collapse and decimated neighbourhood policing numbers.”
He pointed to a £200 million commitment to rebuild neighbourhood policing and new recruitment targets across the justice workforce — including 1,300 new probation officers this year. But he also said something that would have struck a chord with Napo activists: change must go deeper than headcounts.
“It’s not just about recruiting staff and training them. It’s about embracing technology… high rates of morale… and stamping out bullying, belittling and sexual harassment.”
Rademaker Review sparks hope but fuels scepticism
Referencing the recent Rademaker Review into toxic culture within HMPPS, Lord Timpson said the government would accept all 12 recommendations. He called the findings “a wake-up call” and promised “a seismic shift” in standards and behaviour.
This is welcome language — but for Napo, action is everything. As our recent statement made clear, the Rademaker Review must be a turning point, and not another document that fades into the background after the fanfare. Implementation must be transparent, independently monitored, and include meaningful engagement with unions representing staff.
There are people under pressure behind the numbers
The debate also highlighted the human cost of inaction. Lord Marks drew attention to sobering statistics: more than 10% of probation officers are leaving annually, and the rate is even higher for trainees and assistants. For prison officers, the figure is nearly 8%.
“They have too much to do, often with little experience,” Lord Marks said. “Low morale is a major contributor — but so are pay and conditions.”
Napo couldn’t agree more. Recruitment is only half the battle; retention depends on sustainable workloads, fair pay, and a workplace culture that values professionalism.
Creative solutions need proper support
Several peers praised the work of specialist courts and community-led alternatives to custody — including Birmingham’s intensive supervision court, which Lord Timpson described as “incredibly uplifting.” But these innovations can only succeed with properly funded, professionally supported probation services.
“It was clear the work is high and intense,” said the Bishop of Gloucester, after visiting the court. “Probation staff play a pivotal role.”
A Royal Commission or real change?
Baroness Blower ended the debate with a reminder that system-wide reform cannot be achieved piecemeal. “What is really needed is a Royal Commission on the criminal justice system,” she said — a promise made by the previous government but never delivered.
Lord Timpson didn’t commit to that, but pledged to move quickly on the outcomes of the Independent Sentencing Review and the ongoing Leveson Review. Whether this represents genuine reform or more fragmented fixes remains to be seen.
Napo’s View
The tone from this government is shifting — and that’s a good start. But members know that morale isn’t improved by promises alone. Pay, workloads, culture and accountability must all be tackled together.
This Lords debate shows Parliament is finally listening.
Want to know how Napo influences the debates at Westminster? Read our exclusive interview with Charley from Justice Unions.
One Response
Good to hear they may finally be listening but like Napo say words are cheap let’s hope lord Timpson can see this through or will it be more bull and suffering and guff as no wonder staff are leaving because the bullying is ridiculous at every level and no accountability to this and the cronyism should leave the powers to be embarrassed and just pick the right people to do the job because that might just be a good idea who knows but let’s how it goes yet again