Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the suitability of the grading for the Victim Liaison Officer role in the Probation Service being at National Probation Service pay band 3.

Each role within the Probation Service is evaluated via a Job Evaluation Scheme (JES), jointly owned with Probation Trade Unions, to compare and measure the relative demands of jobs across the Service. This provides a rational basis for the design and maintenance of an equitable grading structure. The VLO role was assessed in 2016, via that scheme, to be at pay band 3.

However, as identified by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation, recent enhancements to the Victims Code has changed some of the work of VLOs. This, along with last year’s unification of the Probation Service, means we are currently looking at whether the VLO is banded appropriately through a process agreed with trade unions involving staff engagement and trade union consultation, followed by consideration of a draft job description by a joint employer and trade union panel.