Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate has been made by (a) his Department and (b) Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service of the number of new employees the service will need to recruit to support the transfer of case management work in England from Community Rehabilitation Companies to the National Probation Service at the end of 2019.

We are reviewing workforce requirements as part of the delivery of the programme to implement new future probation arrangements. Statutory transfer arrangements will apply to those staff currently working in CRCs who are delivering offender management services which will in future be delivered by the National Probation Service.

We are also working closely with Trade Unions, current providers and staff to minimise disruption and support planning for the transition to the future model.