Efficiency and resilience of the Probation Service

Reforms of probation services were carried out in 2014, which divided the service into two – a National Probation Service, dealing with the most serious offenders, and twenty-one private sector-led Community Rehabilitation Companies, dealing with lower-risk offenders. These reforms were heavily criticised , and the service was reunified in 2021 with the aim of delivering … Show more

Reforms of probation services were carried out in 2014, which divided the service into two – a National Probation Service, dealing with the most serious offenders, and twenty-one private sector-led Community Rehabilitation Companies, dealing with lower-risk offenders. These reforms were heavily criticised , and the service was reunified in 2021 with the aim of delivering a more sustainable system. Probation supervision levels of lower risk cases was then reduced in April 2024 due to high staff workloads and increases in demand from the prison capacity crisis, and a transformation programme is now under way to explore more innovative approaches to reducing workload pressures and improving outcomes. The PAC has reported multiple times on probation reforms. Its 2014 landscape review warned that the reforms dividing the service carried significant risks. Its next report in 2016 found that the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) had yet to bring about the rehabilitation revolution that it had promised, highlighting IT problems and serious uncertainty caused by the impact on providers of lower than expected business volumes. Its progress review in 2019 found that prisoner rehabilitation reforms had been rushed, highlighting higher costs and poorer outcomes. Most recently, its 2023 report on improving resettlement support for prison leavers found a sharp decline in the quality of support in recent years. In 2025, the National Audit Office (NAO) reports on the efficiency and resilience of the Probation Service . Following this report, the PAC will take evidence from senior MoJ and HM Prison and Probation Service officials, with likely topics for scrutiny including: quality of service and workforce challenges; staff workload; and impact of the prison capacity crisis, as reported on by the PAC in March 2025 . If you have evidence on these issues, please submit here by 23:59 on Monday 17 November 2025. Please look at the requirements for written evidence submissions and note that the Committee cannot accept material as evidence that is published elsewhere. You can request anonymity or confidentiality when you send evidence, but it is the Committee which decides what information to publish and how. It may treat submissions confidentially, even where you have not requested this. Please note that the Committee’s inquiry cannot assist with individual cases. If you need help with an individual problem you are having, you may wish to read the information on Parliament’s website about who you can contact with different issues . Show less