Probation officers in England and Wales vote for strike action over pay and workloads
Probation officers across England and Wales have voted to strike over inadequate pay offers and excessive workloads, dealing a blow to the government's early prisoner release plans.
The government's plans to release thousands of prisoners early were dealt a blow on Friday after probation officers across England and Wales voted to strike over pay and excessive workloads. Members of the union, Napo, backed overtime restrictions and other forms of action short of a strike, which is likely to start on 23 November.
Pay dispute
The union, whose members work across probation offices and in family courts, said it launched its ballot because of an "inadequate" 5% pay offer from ministers and a failure to cut workloads. Probation officers have come under increasing pressure since the launch of the latest early release scheme in October, which is meant to ease overcrowding in prisons.
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.
Workload crisis
By the end of the year, about 2,500 offenders, some of whom are sex offenders, domestic abusers and stalkers, will be released under the scheme. Probation officers are responsible for monitoring offenders' behaviour, overseeing their rehabilitation, monitoring their electronic tags and recalling them to prison for any offences or licence breaches.
Napo said probation wages have "stagnated" since 2010, with reception staff on a salary just above the minimum wage – the lowest in the civil service. On pay, Napo members voted by 85% in favour of action short of strike action and 74% in favour of strike action.
Government response
The Ministry of Justice is recruiting an additional 1,300 trainee probation officers for the 2026-27 financial year as part of a £700m investment package extending through 2028-29. However, the Institute for Government said slow progress on recruitment means probation practitioners were still overstretched and ill-equipped to absorb additional demand.
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.
It said there had been a serious staff shortage in probation for several years, with the number of probation officers consistently 25-30% below target staffing. As of March 2026, nine probation delivery units (8% of the total) had a vacancy rate of 40% or more.
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