Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the cost of employing the additional 3,150 staff required by the Probation Service in 2026–27.

The Probation Service is addressing the additional staffing need of 3,150 full time equivalent (FTE) posts through workforce growth, and by rebalancing demand and capacity through process improvements, policy changes and better digital tools to reduce the administrative burden on probation practitioners. This will enable staff to focus more on public protection and rehabilitation. On average, the cost of employing an additional 1,000 FTE Band 4-qualified Probation Officers is £55 million.

The Government has published its assessment of the costs associated with the Sentencing Act 2026 reforms, including impacts on the Probation Service, in the Sentencing Act 2026 Impact Assessment. The latest published Probation Service workforce statistics are available in H M Prison & Probation Service’s workforce quarterly statistics: HMPPS workforce statistics.