Probation services in the East of England ‘need to be improved’

According to a report, our region's probation service is not effectively protecting the population from criminals.

Probation services in the East of England region have been given an overall rating of ‘requires improvement’ by His Majesty’s Probation Inspectorate.

The report pointed to “chronic staffing problems” and expressed concern that these contribute to increased potential harm that men inflict on women and children.

Many of the risk assessments reviewed were carried out without taking into account information on child protection and domestic violence, nor were checks always carried out to ensure that curfews did not pose a risk to women or children living there.

The Probation Service is responsible for monitoring offenders in the community and providing reports to the courts to assist them in sentencing.

Officers regularly appear in courts such as Lynn District Court and help decide whether people should go to prison or be offered a chance at rehabilitation.

Martin Jones, Chief Inspector of Probation, said: “While the commitment and dedication of leaders and staff across the region is considered unwavering, this dedication and commitment is not enough to keep the public safe or to persuade people on probation to change.”

The report highlights that there are staffing issues across the region, despite continued efforts by the East of England to recruit staff.

A report in January this year said probation officers had “excessive workloads and enormous responsibilities that go beyond what can reasonably be expected of them”.

Inspectors were concerned that the East of England region had not responded effectively to or reduced the potential harm caused by men to women and children.

The information-sharing arrangements with the police and local authorities in this regard are “complex and inefficient”, which impacts on the quality of the risk assessments carried out. This is an area that requires “urgent attention”, the report says.

However, the quality of statutory victim support in the region was rated as “outstanding”. All victims in the cases examined were given the opportunity to express their views before the perpetrators were released from prison.

The leaders also oversaw work to integrate people on probation into the public service, with several people who had previously been on probation being promoted to permanent positions.

Mr Jones added: “Many of the concerns identified during our regional inspection in the East of England have already been raised in our previous inspections and thematic reports.

“We hope that HMPPS (HM Prison and Probation Service) will carefully consider our findings to support regions in providing acceptable levels of service to probationers and victims of crime.”

This report makes ten recommendations, such as appointing a regional safety officer to support PDU leaders and conducting an analysis of skills, knowledge and experience across the region to ensure that learning is put into practice.

In addition, four recommendations were made to the UK Prison and Probation Service, including giving greater powers over spending to regional probation directors.