Probation Service

(asked on 24th January 2023) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent cross-departmental discussions he has had on reducing pressures on the Probation Service.


Answered by
Damian Hinds Portrait
Damian Hinds
Minister of State (Education)
This question was answered on 1st February 2023

To support manageable workloads, the Probation Service is increasing recruitment to fill Probation Officer vacancies, particularly in areas with significant local employment market challenges. The Probation Service has exceeded recruitment targets for 2020/21 and 2021/22, recruiting 1,007 and 1,518 trainees in respective years. The target for 2022/2023 is a further 1,500 trainees.

In collaboration with local regions, the Department for Work and Pensions and Career Transition Partnerships, local outreach has increased to improve awareness of Probation and the roles available, as well as refreshing marketing to attract applications. The Probation Service is committed to widening routes to achieve probation qualifications by developing pathways for existing staff, as well as creating routes for those without a graduate degree.

The recruitment to key operational roles has been centralised to expedite recruitment in 6 priority regions, including London. Marketing campaigns have been rolled out to attract undergraduate/students to work in part time roles. There are schemes available to provide financial support to encourage new and existing staff to move permanently to areas with the most significant staffing challenges.

To increase the retention of staff, exit interviews are being used to understand the reasons behind staff leaving Probation, so that we can take targeted action across departments to address them.

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