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| Surplus Staff |
Transfer of Surplus Staff
When redeploying surplus staff the following criteria, prioritised to reflect financial constraints and other circumstances, may be applied with agreement from the Director or Area Manager:
- surplus transfers to staff new prisoner accommodation
- compassionate surplus transfers
- surplus transfers to meet operational priorities
- filling vacancies at establishments and units where there are acute staff shortages for either generalists or specialists (filling existing vacancies normally takes precedence over filling projected ones).
The deployment of staff surpluses may apply to those who can be:
- transferred to facilitate the opening of new accommodation
- voluntarily or compulsorily transferred to vacancies in the daily travel area
- voluntarily or compulsorily transferred to any vacancy in the Prison Service
- transferred (potentially) to another government department or agency
- voluntarily transferred from unaffected establishments to create vacancies for surpluses
Mobility
The Prison Service has staff who as a condition of service, are mobile or non-mobile. Mobile grades (shown below) are broadly those equivalent to Executive Officer/First Line Manager and above plus prison officers. Part time staff, job sharers and casual employees are classified as non-mobile even if in a mobile grade.
Mobile staff are liable to be transferred to any Civil Service post, whether in the UK or abroad. However, application of this obligation, if necessary, is likely to be within the individual's existing department.
Mobile staff are liable to lose entitlement to redundancy if an appropriate and reasonable posting is offered and refused. Mobile staff regraded to a non-mobile grade are not subject to the mobility obligation.
Non-mobile grades are liable only to a posting within reasonable daily travel of their home but can, in principle, be required to comply with a reasonable request to perform detached duty
In determining whether a daily travel posting for a non-mobile is reasonable the following may be taken into account:
- Extent to which the distance exceeds that to the existing location
- Whether the individual's home may be considered as being in the dormitory area the new posting (see below)
- The means by which the individual has travelled to work at the existing location
- Whether reasonable transport facilities are available to the new location
- Any insurmountable domestic difficulties impacting on a move to the new location
Reasonable daily travel for surplus staff is defined as a home to office journey of up to 60 minutes duration (75 minutes in the London area), usually, by the individual's normal means of travel (unless there is evidence that difficult domestic circumstances arising from the new journey)
Mobile grades in the Prison Service
- Senior Civil Service
- Assistant Director
- Prison Service Senior Manager
- Prison Service Manager
- Principal Officer
- Senior Officer
- Prison Officer
- Executive Officer
- Support Manager 1 and 2
- Typing Manager
- Senior Personal Secretary
- Professional and Technology Officer
- Instructional Officer
- Senior Medical Officer
- Medical Officer
- Chaplain grades
- Psychologist
- Assistant Information Officer
- Senior Librarian
- Librarian
- Assistant Librarian
- Stores Officer C and D
- Farm Manager
- Catering Manager
Selecting staff for transfer
Where numerous staff are made surplus receiving Governing Governors or Heads of Groups should apply an appropriate selection criteria in line with related priorities and constraints when selecting staff for transfer. Line management may wish to consider whether:
- staff live within daily travel
- staff are in the daily travel area with lower (or nil) rate of excess fares allowance (EFA)
- staff require a move of home (surplus transfers involving daily travel take precedence over those that result in a move of home).
- staff require a move of home for whom taxable housing cost allowance (THCA) is not applicable
- there are any domestic or personal difficulties
- experience and competence issues impact on scope for transfer
Voluntary transfer
If surpluses are still projected after taking due account of natural wastage and control of filling available vacancies the establishment or group/unit may seek volunteers for transfer from both mobile and non-mobile grades. Trade unions must be consulted before initiating the process.
All affected staff must be made aware of the opportunity for voluntary transfer and issued with a preference questionnaire.
A letter to staff seeking volunteers for transfer should cover the following:
- The number and grade of staff needing to be transferred
- Reference to PIT entitlement for both mobile and non-mobile grades (confirm which category the individual falls into)
- Priority for posting
- List of declared current and predicted vacancies in other establishments or units
- Invitation to provide personal preferences for transfer
- Reference to the position of operational grade specialists
- Method of selection
- Statement that a response is mandatory
- Confirmation that the survey is 'without prejudice' on either side
- Note advice and guidance can be sought from the line manager, personnel section, Staff Care and Welfare and trade unions.
Information about any known vacancies may also be given at this stage if appropriate. Area Managers or Heads of group may decide to impose a freeze or introduce controls on such vacancies to facilitate priority for surplus staff.
Once responses to the survey are collated and considered against agreed criteria the affected establishment or unit should liaise with other establishments or units to assess the extent to which preferences may be matched with vacancies. Precedence will normally be given to those seeking transfer within the daily travel area.
Staff choosing to volunteer for transfer may withdraw the request up to issue of a transfer notice and management may withdraw if the situation changes or sufficient volunteers have come forward.
Receiving Governing Governors and Heads of Group will wish to be satisfied that potential transferees are able to meet their needs but as a general rule surplus staff should be accepted as long as minimum competence criteria are met.
If there are insufficient volunteers for transfer following the survey other options for achieving reductions may be considered.
Compulsory transfer
Compulsory transfer for mobile staff should only be considered once it is established that necessary staff reductions will not be met through voluntary means (non-mobile grades may be surveyed but compulsion should be restricted to postings within daily travelling distance of their home).
Before a survey to ascertain preferences in the event of being compulsorily transferred is conducted authority from the relevant Director or Area manager is required.
A letter to staff concerning potential for compulsory transfer should cover the following:
- The number and grade of staff needing to be transferred
- Reference to agreed framework for selection
- Description of the action already taken, the stage reached and continuing financial considerations
- Reminder of the mobility obligation
- Possibility of posting non-mobile staff within the daily travel area
- Confirmation of entitlement to PIT
- List of declared and predicted vacancies in other establishments or units
- Invitation to make representations on the basis of personal or domestic circumstances
- Invitation to provide personal preferences for transfer
- Reference to the position of operational grade specialists (reversion to discipline duties)
- Reference to the position of non-operational grade specialists (transfer to generalist duties)
- Method of selection
- Statement that a response is mandatory
- Note advice and guidance can be sought from the line manager, personnel section, Staff Care and Welfare and trade unions.
In order to select staff for compulsory transfer a framework of principles and criteria for selection must be devised by the Governing Governor or Head of Group in consultation with trade unions.
Before the process begins Governing Governors and Heads of Group decide whether certain categories of staff should be exempt from the survey: These normally include staff:
- in a non-mobile grade (if there is no scope for transfer within daily travel)
- subject to poor performance, unsatisfactory attendance or sick leave procedures
- awaiting promotion posting from a promotion or selection board
- accredited by an assessment centre and seeking a posting in the higher grade
- subject to probation
- subject to disciplinary or criminal proceedings (including where suspended)
Staff may submit representations for exemption from the process due to personal circumstances, supported by relevant documentary evidence. Those refused exemption have the right of appeal to the Governing Governor, Head of Group or Area Manager as appropriate.
Once the survey has been conducted responses must be collated and considered by management in relation to the agreed criteria. Local management may take account of any key skills or experience that need to be retained for operational reasons as long as this can be fully justified.
Transfer Expenses
Staff in mobile or non-mobile grades who transfer either voluntarily or compulsorily resulting from the need to manage surplus staff will be entitled to Public Interest Transfer (PIT) terms
Priority is normally given to PIT transfers within daily travel. For staff in a mobile grade 'daily travel to work' is defined as a home to office journey of 75 minutes and 90 minutes in the London area. For non-mobile grade surplus staff 'Daily travel to work' is defined as 60 minutes duration or 75 minutes in the London area. Before a staff member's journey is classified as 'daily travel to work' the following should be taken into account:
- the personal circumstances of the individual
- whether the individual's home could be considered as being in the dormitory area of a new posting
- the individual's normal mode of transport to work at the current location
- the availability of public transport
- the extra cost and time between home and new location
Specific guidance on PIT entitlement can be found in The Permanent Transfer PSO 8700.
Where a move of home is required, priority may also be given to vacancies located in an area of similar or lower housing costs. However, the Additional Housing Cost Allowance (AHCA) cannot be withheld where an entitlement applies.
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