As Britain’s crisis-hit prisons overflow, ministers are pushing ahead with plans to electronically tag and sentence thousands of criminals in the community.
But with the probation service in a perpetual state of crisis – with too few staff handling too many cases and units missing 74 per cent of targets – fears are growing that it is being “set up to fail”.
Martin Jones, chief inspector of probation, said the reforms – currently progressing through parliament under the Sentencing Bill – were “an opportunity to transform our justice system”.
But he warned that there was a risk of “collapsing public confidence in probation” if they were implemented incorrectly, adding that tagging would not prevent offenders from re-offending unless they had enough trained staff to help them turn their lives around.
“I think there is a danger that the government will not think very carefully about how they use testing resources … we will set up a testing service to fail and that is clearly unacceptable,” he said. independent
Unions representing embattled probation officers fear a £700m cash injection promised to meet increased demand will be swallowed up by expensive contracts with private tagging firms, rather than used to bolster frontline staff.
It comes after the National Audit Office (NAO), which monitors government spending, found the service is short by 3,150 full-time staff next year despite meeting ambitious recruitment targets.
Meanwhile police chiefs are bracing for a 6 per cent rise in reported crime in the first year of the reform, as they demand £400m in extra funding to cope.
‘Insufficient’ funding to return services in crisis
Mr Jones said all 30 probation delivery units he had inspected since being appointed as probation watchdog in January last year had been rated as “inadequate” or “requires improvement”.
Furthermore, according to an NAO report published last month, performance has deteriorated since the probation service was brought back into public control in 2021.
The service is currently only meeting 26 per cent of the target set by the Husband’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) and overworked staff are still going through repetitive early release schemes, putting them under huge stress.
Martin Jones, Chief Inspector of Probation, said the Government risked collapsing public confidence in probation (PA).
Tania Bassett, national officer at NAPO, which represents thousands of probation officers, warned members they had “no confidence” £700m of extra funding promised by 2028 would reach frontline services.
“We fear that it will go — mostly all of it — to private tagging companies and private IT firms for this push into AI,” she said. independent
Nothing has been promised in terms of investment in frontline staff or premises – many of which are barely fit for purpose.
“I don’t think any of that money is going where it’s critically needed. I think it’s just tying a bow around something that’s already broken.”
Peers on the House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee have branded the Government’s funding plans “inadequate” as they raise questions about how staff will monitor the 22,000 extra offenders expected to be tagged into the community.
Tagging is not a ‘panacea’
In a letter to prisons minister Lord Timpson last month, peers said they had “major concerns” over the ability of both probation and private contractors to handle the increase – the biggest in a generation.
In 2023, Serco was awarded a £200m contract for tagging in England and Wales, having previously been fined £19.2m for billing the government for tags for criminals who have died, been jailed or left the country.
A Channel 4 investigation earlier this year found some criminals went untagged for weeks. Serco said it was improving its performance “at speed”.
Friends warned that a “near doubling” of those tags represents a “huge challenge” considering the pressures that exist on the system.
“The share of the much-trailed £700m over the next four years that will go into staff recruitment, development and retention is certain to be insufficient,” they wrote.
“We believe without major changes, the system is at risk and the probation service is being set up for failure.”
Electronic tag should not be viewed as ‘Ramana’, a Probation Union warning (PA)
Ms Bassett agreed that tagging could be a useful tool but said it should “never be seen as a panacea”.
“It can help if used correctly, but it does not address any rehabilitation or causes of crime by itself,” he added. “It should be used in conjunction with other types of supervision.”
Mr Jones agreed that tagging “just gives you information” – but doesn’t stop someone from committing a crime.
He called for investment to support frontline staff, boost drug treatment services and ensure people leaving prison have somewhere to live.
“We know if someone leaves prison and they don’t have a place to live, their chances of re-offending immediately double,” he added.
“If given a choice here, I want more probation officers to be trained and able to do the very difficult job that we’re asking them to do, working with people, understanding the risks they pose, and giving them the help they need to turn their lives around.
“And tags play a role in that, but they’re just a tool, and ultimately, what you need is more probation staff to do a much more difficult job.”
Recruiting probation officers is like ‘trying to fill a dirty bucket’
Mr Jones said overstretched staff had “shown heroism” in responding to recent early release schemes which saw prisoners freed on just 40 per cent of their sentences to ease prison overcrowding.
“You probably had people working late into the night, on weekends, to make sure that whatever was possible under the circumstances was managed,” he added.
“And I think we owe them a huge debt of gratitude as part of that. But if you look beyond that success story, you’re putting more pressure on people who are already employed.”
More than 38,000 prisoners have been released early under emergency measures to ease overcrowding (Getty Images)
He said trying to fill vacancies in the probation service was like “trying to fill an overflowing bucket” as staff continued to leave in their droves amid increasing workloads. It has also left the service with an inexperienced workforce, with some offices having newly qualified probation officers as the most senior staff on the team.
The government has pledged to recruit 1,300 more probation officers by April next year, but it is still 3,150 short, according to the NAO report.
And while it takes at least 19 months to train a probation officer, it will take longer for new recruits to be ready to take on a full caseload.
The inspector, who spent nine years at the helm of the Parole Board, believes the government needs to reduce the scope of some probation supervision to help them cope. This includes efforts to focus on the first six months after release, on high-risk offenders and those caught in a destructive cycle of re-offending.
He urged ministers: “Just ask them [probation staff] To work harder and harder and work longer and longer, because that’s one of the reasons I think the probation service is in perpetual crisis, because you’re always asking them to go the extra mile and sometimes you get run off the road if you do that.”
Ms Bassett said HMPPS had miscalculated how many staff it would need to monitor offenders by 2024 by more than 5,000 roles. As a result, many probation officers faced performance reviews when they were expected to fulfill an unrealistic workload.
Meanwhile, the unions are still waiting for a response to their 12 percent wage claim for next year. They say workers earning £30,000 face a real terms pay cut of £21,060 as wages fail to keep pace with inflation.
Ms Bassett added: “If they don’t prioritize the workforce there won’t be a workforce. Employees are undervalued and underrecognised.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “This Government inherited a probation service under enormous pressure and this has placed an enormous burden on our hard-working staff.
“We are getting it right, 1,000 trainee probation officers were recruited last year and there are plans to recruit at least 1,300 more by April.
“We are also increasing the probation budget by £700m over the next three years and investing in new technology to reduce redundancies so staff can focus on reducing re-offending, helping to protect the public as part of our transformation plan.”
