Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of (a) staffing and (b) caseloads in the probation service.

This Government inherited a justice system in crisis, but we are gripping the situation and have taken immediate action. Both staffing levels and caseload are regularly monitored and analysed, and we remain committed to providing manageable workloads for staff. Recruitment and retention, along with our long-term plans for a sustainable Probation Service through targeting the most vital work are a priority.

Following recent recruitment campaigns the Probation Service has seen an increase in staffing levels (from 20,412 FTE to 21,022 FTE between March 2024 and March 2025). We are committed to onboarding 1,300 trainee Probation Officers in 2025/26, in addition to the 1,057 onboarded in 2024/25, and have secured £8 million in the Spring Statement to invest in new technology for front line staff.