Probation officers across England and Wales voted on Friday for industrial action over pay and excessive workloads. Napo said action short of a strike is likely to begin on 23 November, with strike action planned later.
The ballot produced 85% support for action short of a strike on pay and 74% support for strikes on pay. On workloads, 87% backed action short of a strike and 75% backed strikes, giving the union a mandate to escalate pressure in stages.
Ian Lawrence on the ballot
Ian Lawrence, Napo general secretary, said the result backed the campaign for a pay rise and showed anger over work levels that were already at crisis point before the latest early release scheme. He said: "The high turnout by our members and the result vindicates the campaign to achieve a pay rise to make up lost ground in comparative pay with other staff employed within HMPPS [HM Prison and Probation Service]."
He also said: "The vote also reflects serious anger at the state of probation workloads, which were already in crisis before the latest version of the prisoner early release scheme." The ballot comes after the latest scheme launched in October and as about 2,500 offenders are due to be released under it by the end of the year.
Ministry of Justice response
An MoJ spokesperson said: "Probation staff do a vital job protecting the public, which is why we have put a strong offer on the table, giving every worker a further 5% pay rise, which follows the biggest probation pay increase in over a decade alongside record investment." The spokesperson added: "We’re also recruiting an additional 1,300 officers to significantly cut workloads."
The ministry said: "While we are disappointed that some have voted against this competitive deal, it will not change our first responsibility of protecting the public and we have robust contingency plans in place to ensure offenders are still subject to the same rigorous supervision."
Probation staffing pressure
The dispute lands while staffing remains stretched. The Ministry of Justice plans to recruit an additional 1,300 trainee probation officers in the 2026-27 financial year as part of a £700m investment package running through 2028-29, but the Institute for Government said probation practitioners were still overstretched and ill-equipped to absorb extra demand.
It said the number of probation officers had been consistently 25-30% below target staffing for several years. As of March 2026, nine probation delivery units had a vacancy rate of 40% or more, leaving the service with less room to absorb disruption if the planned action goes ahead.
