A return of probation under the umbrella of the National Probation Service, including unpaid work programmes that were delivered by private companies and voluntary bodies, has been welcomed.
Lord Chancellor Robert Buckland said: “An effective probation service is essential to cutting crime, tackling reoffending, supporting victims and keeping the public safe. These plans support our move towards a justice system that is tough but smart. That means combining the right sentences with new technology, like sobriety tags, and world-leading rehabilitation which turns offenders’ lives around. This is how the Government will ensure fewer people become a victim of crime.
“The private sector will continue to play a key role in rehabilitating offenders, from specialist support services and operating prisons through to tagging and the job offers they give to those leaving jail.”
As background, during the Coalition in 2014 Conservative Justice Secretary Chris Grayling reformed probation so that so-called high level offenders were managed by the National Probation Service and low level offenders by private Community Rehabilitation Companies. As for the private sector in criminal justice more generally, the Ministry of Justice said the Government is committed to a mixed market, with the public and private sectors running prisons. A competition to operate the new prison being built at Wellingborough is running and due to be followed by a further competition to operate another new prison at Glen Parva near Leicester.
Comments
For Labour, north London MP and Shadow Justice Secretary David Lammy said: “This is a massive U-turn by the Government. For years, Labour has been calling for the renationalisation of the probation service. The rehabilitation of former offenders is a vital public good, which should never have been used as a vehicle for private profit.
“The Government should apologise for Chris Grayling’s disastrous reforms, which have caused massive lasting damage to probation, but it should not just try to put the clock back. Moving forwards, it should work with us, the unions and others to build a better probation service than we ever had before.”
And Labour South Yorkshire PCC (Police and Crime Commissioner) Dr Alan Billings said: “This completes a painfully long U-turn on the part of the government and an abandonment of one of the many ideologically driven failures of the former minister, Chris Grayling.
“The probation service should never have been broken in two with high level offenders being managed by the National Probation Service and low level offenders by private Community Rehabilitation Companies.
“The government was repeatedly warned by probation officers, trade unions and the inspectors that this would not work and was not working. During this time re-offending rates soared by 32pc.
“This is no criticism of those who worked in the private companies. They gave of their best and there is much experience and expertise that they have that will need to be taken into the new National Probation Service when it fully takes over next year.
“I also welcome the Secretary of State’s decision that there must be closer working between the National Probation Service and Police and Crime Commissioners, something that we already have in South Yorkshire.”
