Recommendation 62

A tangible outcome was the creation of “a national forum” chaired by the Chief Probation Officer and of local “liaison committees”. 100 Damian Hinds MP also told us about “online region-by-region summaries of the different interventions provided by probation and what they involve” which are “primarily aimed at members of the judiciary”. 101 Kim Thornden-Edwards, the current Chief Probation Officer, told us that she was “satisfied” that local probation teams “have some really connected, vibrant arrangements with their local sentencers, both in quarterly meetings where the higher level progress and performance is reported, and in newsletters and ad hoc events.” 102 Tom Franklin, on behalf of the Magistrates’ Association, echoed this position: he told us that “magistrates see the relationship between themselves and the Probation Officers as entirely symbiotic” and that there is a “high degree of confidence” among them. 103