Probation staff vote to strike in blow to Burnham plans on early release

Probation staff have voted overwhelmingly to go on strike, in a potentially serious complication to Andy Burnham’s plans to tweak an early release scheme for prisoners to try to exclude more serious offenders, among them the killers of PC Andrew Harper.While the vote by members of Napo was not directly connected to the early release plans, the probation officers’ union has previously criticised the proposals as rushed. The union said the 91% vote in favour of a strike would come as a blow to ministers as they put together the plan.News of the strike came hours after Burnham announced another change to the schedule of early releases, which are designed to free up urgently needed spaces in overcrowded prisons across England and Wales.After an uproar about the planned early release of Harper’s killers, Burnham said on Tuesday that he had instructed the justice secretary, Alex Norris, to find more prison spaces so they and other serious offenders would not be freed.Writing on Facebook, Burnham said prison places could be provided by removing foreign offenders more quickly, finding a way to release lower-risk prisoners stuck in jail on indeterminate sentences, and “making greater use of the entire prison estate including using the female estate for male offenders”.Downing Street had said on Monday that there was no feasible way of exempting just a handful of prisoners from the scheme to block the release of Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, who were sentenced to 13 years for Harper’s manslaughter.The pair were due to be freed in January under plans to release about 5,000 people early under an emergency plan to create more space in the prison estate.Exemptions were made for those convicted of rape, serious child sexual abuse and grooming offences but not manslaughter, prompting pressure to block the release of Harper’s killers, including from police and his family.In his Facebook post, and speaking to reporters on a later visit to Derbyshire, the prime minister said he was aware of the strength of public feeling about the early releases.“It’s my job to speak up for the public on this issue,” he said during the visit. “I take that duty very seriously indeed, and I’m confident that there’s more that can be done, and will be done to address public concern.”He said on Facebook he understood “the depth of public concern about the potential early release of those involved with the killing of PC Andrew Harper – and I share it”.PC Andrew Harper was killed in an incident in Berkshire in 2019. Photograph: Thames Valley police/PAHe wrote: “I am increasingly confident that a more focused approach along these lines will allow us to reduce the number of people released early and, in the case of the most serious offenders like those convicted of the killing of PC Harper, prevent their early release altogether.“In advance of the justice secretary’s proposals being presented to parliament, we will seek to engage other political parties in discussions with the aim of gaining the widest possible public and political consensus on the approach being taken.”Last week, Napo warned that ministers seemingly did not “have a clue about how ill-equipped the probation service is to take on this additional work” connected to early release, such as informing victims that a perpetrator is being released.Announcing the result of the strike ballot, Ben Cockburn, the Napo national chair, said the overwhelming vote was “professionals warning they cannot protect the public properly when there are not enough people to do the work”.A union statement said: “The result should come as a blow to government as it prepares to expand early release from prison and implement Sentencing Act changes, increasing the number of people managed in the community while probation is already struggling to cope.”A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “While this ballot is only indicative, we are disappointed with the outcome and will continue to engage with Napo and other recognised trade unions.”Harper, 28, was fatally injured when he got caught in a strap attached to the back of a car and was dragged down a country road as the killers fled the scene of a quad bike theft in Sulhamstead, Berkshire, in 2019.Cole and Bowers, two of three men sentenced over the police officer’s death, are due to be released halfway through their 13-year sentences, having been convicted of manslaughter in 2020. A petition demanding an intervention has nearly 900,000 signatures.The early release changes were part of the Sentencing Act passed earlier this year that cut the minimum amount of time many offenders would have to spend in prison.