 Growing number of offenders categorised as medium to high risk |
The Probation Service faces a crisis of shrinking budgets and a shortage of frontline staff, a new report says. The study, commissioned by probation union Napo, finds that staff in England and Wales are struggling to cope with complex and soaring caseloads. It warns there is a risk that court sentences may not be carried out. The Ministry of Justice say the government committed �40m to the Service in March, and an extra �17m will given later this year. The Centre for Crime and Justice Studies research was based on interviews with probation staff and an analysis of financial and workforce statistics.  | RESEARCH FINDINGS Caseloads up 23% between 2002 and 2006, and by 47% since 1997 Probation budget increased by 21% since 2001 Frontline staff numbers rose by 21% between 2002 and 2006 Staff growth mainly in managerial roles Number of fully trained probation officers fell by 9% between 2002 and 2006 |
Whilst acknowledging that the probation budget has increased by 21% in real terms since 2001, the study found it had declined by 9% and 2% in the last two years respectively, and that the government is planning reduction of 3% year-on-year for the next three years. Dr Roger Grimshaw, research director at the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies at King's College London said the statistics show there is "no room for complacency" about the service's capacity to meet expectations of the courts and public. "The budget has already fallen over the last two years and probation areas are having to consider reducing key staff in the face of rising needs," he said. 'Assessment obsession' According to the study, the number of probation staff grew by 21% between 2002 and 2006 but that growth was concentrated among management grades and less qualified Probation Service officers. The number of fully qualified and trainee probation officers fell by 9%. And the ratio of offenders to qualified probation officers increased by 28% during this period. Harry Fletcher, assistant general secretary of Napo says having more offenders to look after is not the only problem facing officers. Each case is more time consuming than it used to be, he said. "Since the millennium, more offenders go on programmes. As well as being seen one to one, they take part in groups each week." "Staff have to do more liaison with mental health teams, police, prisons. There's an obsession with assessments, more and more time is spent in front of a computer. "More and more cases are categorised as medium or high risk - convictions for violent of sex offenders - they take more time to deal with." High risk offenders Justice Minister Maria Eagle said the Probation Service does a valuable job to cut re-offending and reduce the number of victims. She pointed out the research had found there had been a 77% rise in the number of probation services officers between 2002 and 2006 and an increase in programmes delivered to offenders of 158% since 2002-3. She said: "That's work done by the Probation Service to reduce re-offending. "The Probation service is currently achieving 96% of its target for accredited behaviour programmes and 117% for unpaid work.� Napo estimate the number of people on probation has gone up from about 170,000 10 years ago to about 240,000 now. Mr Fletcher says "courts are making more orders - over the last decade, more people have been jailed, more community service, less are fined. That's the trend. "And because more people are sent to prison, more of them come out on parole."
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We committed �40m to the Service in March this year on top of an additional �17m. 
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