Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of when the Probation Service will meet its required staffing level.

This is an ever-evolving picture and is based on a variety of factors, including forecast caseload, case mix, recruitment plans, attrition and the Target Staffing level. Staffing level data is regularly monitored, ensuring plans, such as recruitment, are in place where appropriate, as well providing an assessment of affordability against the latest and forecast financial position.

In addition, we have unified the Probation Service and injected extra funding of more than £155 million a year to deliver more robust supervision, reduce caseloads and recruit thousands more staff to keep the public safer. We have recruited a record-breaking 2,500 trainee probation officers over the last two years, and we plan to recruit a further 1,500 by March 2023.