Members of the National Association of Probation Officers (NAPO) have backed strike action. In an indicative ballot, 91 per cent of those who took part supported the idea.
The union said the vote was not a response to the upcoming early release scheme. Instead, it said, members were protesting about their workloads and the pressure they face.
The result does not bind the union to act. It serves as a warning to the Government about the views of NAPO members.
The Ministry of Justice said it is recruiting more probation officers. It is also investing in new technology to ease their workload.
NAPO has also voiced concern over what it sees as too little focus on public protection in reviews of early release.
Ever since ministers first announced the Sentencing Act early release plans, the union has called for more exemptions. It argues these would help make public protection achievable.
On 3 August Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced new exemptions. These exclude people convicted of rape, child sexual offences and grooming offences. NAPO said it welcomed the change. However, it argued that the exemptions failed to tackle the real questions of public protection and safe release.
The union also accuses the Prime Minister and the Justice Secretary of failing to recognise the crisis in probation workloads. It says this has afflicted the service for more than two years. In its view, ministers have also ignored how poorly equipped the Probation Service is for the extra work that early releases will bring.
As an example, the union pointed to a large number of vacancies in victim liaison roles. It said this left doubt over who would carry out the extra work under the Victim Contact Scheme.
Ian Lawrence, General Secretary of NAPO, said the probation crisis was far worse than the one in prisons. He complained that attention had once again fallen on prisons while probation members went overlooked.
Lord Timpson resigned as prisons and probation minister in July. In his final months in office, he said the state of probation worried him more than the prison estate. He said the prison estate was improving.
A major recruitment drive for probation officers has been running for the past few months.
