There is a shortage of 10,000 probation staff to manage criminals serving their sentences in the community according to leaked documents.
Probation staff are responsible for keeping tabs on prisoners after they are released from prison and ensuring they are following the terms of their release.
Probation staff are responsible for keeping tabs on prisoners after they are released from prison and ensuring they are following the terms of their release
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GETTYIn a variety of documents leaked to the BBC, the scale of the crisis facing the probation service was revealed, with a significant shortfall of full-time staff responsible for sentence management.
17,170 full-time probation staff were required to address sentence management in the autumn of 2023.
This figure was calculated before the Government’s early release scheme which sought to address the issue of overcrowding in British prisons, which has since put the probation service under greater pressure.
According to a review conducted by His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), there are only 7,236 members of staff currently on the books for the position.
One probation officer told the BBC: “These jobs are the bread and butter of probation, and the situation in terms of staffing is considerably worse than is being thought, especially at a time when the pressure on us is immense.
“It’s infuriating when some of us are being told it’s our fault we’re not doing enough and that we need to up our game, but actually the workload is sky high.
Another said: “Someone is going to get seriously hurt because when you’re stressed and overworked you can’t get everything right – it’s just human nature – and that’s why they need thousands of more staff because it could be dangerous otherwise.
“They [ministers] are trying to give the impression it’s all OK and they’re pumping in staff, but they’re nowhere near close to filling the gaps. And it can take a year or more to train someone properly.”
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Earlier this year, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood promised to hire an additional 1,300 extra probation officers by April next year.
However, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) have warned that officers juggling high caseload means that current staff were left unable to focus on criminals that pose the greatest risk to the wider public.
The MoJ said that this led to offenders going on to commit serious crimes, such as murder, as “warning signs” were “missed”.
A number of recommendations made in the Independent Sentencing Review a few weeks ago are expected to be put before parliament next month.
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood promised to hire an additional 1,300 extra probation officers by April next year
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PAThese recommendations include more offenders being managed in the community as opposed to in person – which is expected to put probation staff under even more pressure.
An MoJ spokesman said that they had announced an addition £700m in funding by 2028 as well as a continued recruitment drive to hire more full-time probation staff.
The spokesman said: “We are also investing in new technology that reduces the administrative burden on staff time so they can focus on working with offenders and protecting the public.”