Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with the leadership of the Probation Service on recruitment and retention of staff.

The Probation Service plays a critical role in protecting the public and reducing reoffending. The 2021 Spending Review provided an additional £155m per year to support probation reform. Future decisions on funding will be taken in the course of normal government business, at fiscal events.

The recruitment and retention of staff are key priorities for the Probation Service leadership team and me, and these are subjects of frequent discussion, covering career marketing and attraction, remuneration and benefits, career development paths, and other factors. The recently agreed three-year pay deal is important to our offer.

The Probation Service recruited over 1,000 trainees in 2020/21 financial year and 1,518 trainees in 2021/22.