The Government has launched a new unified probation service in a bid to better protect the public and reduce the number of criminals reoffending.
Since 2019 more than £300 million worth of funding has been pumped into the probation service.
As part of the relaunch, the number of probation officers has almost doubled from the usual 600 to more than 1,000 trainee officers last year with further plans to recruit a record 1,500 this year.
The extra officers will allow the service to keep a closer eye on the most dangerous offenders and ensure many more offenders take up the opportunity to reform their criminal ways.
The updated service will work in 12 regions across England and Wales and a new, specialist National Security Division will be specifically tasked with the enhanced monitoring of terrorists, serious organised criminals, and very high-risk offenders.
The national standards for probation will be refreshed to ensure staff meet face-to-face with all the offenders they supervise at least once a month, with more frequent meetings for higher-risk offenders.
They will also set an expectation that probation staff will visit offenders’ homes to protect children, partners and other family members from domestic and sexual abuse.
Combined with its increasing use of electronic monitoring, including GPS and sobriety tags, the probation service will be even more focused on keeping people safe.
It will also give the Government a greater sphere regarding community sentences, including the delivery of unpaid work. Ministers want to make it visible to the public and used more frequently to clean up the country’s streets, parks, and waterways.
Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Robert Buckland said: “The work probation does to protect the public from harm and rehabilitate offenders is too often overlooked but it is vitally important given 80% of crime is reoffending.
“The government is backing the new Probation Service with more money and more staff so that the public is better protected, crime is cut and fewer people become victims.”
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