Probation Service staff and family courts have voted to strike over pay and workloads

Published: 12:44 EST, 13 November 2026 | Updated: 13:04 EST, 13 November 2026 Probation Service staff and family courts have voted to strike over pay and workloads, their union has confirmed. Members from Napo have backed industrial action - including walkouts - and said plans are now underway to launch strike action at a later date. The trade union cited an 'inadequate' five per cent pay offer as the basis of its ballot, as well as the failure of the employer to agree solutions that will start to address workloads.It said probation wages have 'stagnated' since 2010, with reception staff on a salary just above the minimum wage - the lowest paid in the civil service. Members voted by 85 per cent in favour of action short of strike action and 74 per cent in favour of strike action, while in a ballot on workloads, the vote was 87 per cent in favour of action short of strike action, and 75 per cent in favour of strikes. Ian Lawrence, who is the union's general secretary, said its members are 'undertaking thousands of hours of unpaid overtime' to meet the demands of workloads in a 'chronic' state.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 (Prison and Probation Service).'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. Napo has confirmed Probation Service staff and family courts have voted to strike over pay and workloads'Our members have tried desperately to do what the previous government, as well as this one, have demanded but have done so against a background of inadequate staffing and a lack of resources within our communities to provide rehabilitation as an alternative to re-offending.'Workloads are in a chronic state, with Napo members undertaking thousands of hours of unpaid overtime just to stay on top of the demands placed upon them.'