Free up probation officers ahead of wave of prisoner releases, say experts

Ministers urged to overhaul ‘failing’ system and bring all probation staff back into the community to supervise offenders freed early under emergency overcrowding scheme

The government has been urged to consider sending prison-based probation staff into the community to ease the staffing crisis afflicting the service and endangering public safety.

With thousands of prisoners set to be released 40 per cent of the way into their sentence from September to ease dire prison overcrowding – on top of 10,000 already freed up to 70 days early by the last government – there are concerns over how the probation service will cope with the resulting influx of new cases.

Thousands of probation staff – many with years of experience – have left the beleaguered service over the past two years, with the latest figures showing there were 25 per cent fewer officers in post than the required staffing level of 6,794.

While justice secretary Shabana Mahmood has pledged to hire 1,000 new trainee probation officers by spring 2025 in a bid to help the service cope with the new emergency release scheme, experts have warned they will take time to “bed down” and gain vital experience in supervising potentially dangerous offenders.

Meanwhile, four separate watchdog reports published last week each laid bare the impact understaffing is having across the service, with inspectors warning that vacancy rates as high as 55 per cent and sickness absences – many stress-related – were jeopardising public safety.

As experts urge bold thinking to ease the pressure, the Howard League for Penal Reform has now suggested overhauling the system which sees hundreds of probation officers stationed within prisons.

Under a system brought in in 2018, known as Offender Management in Custody (OMiC), probation staff were given prison-based roles to help inmates prepare for life outside prison, with some 135 senior officers and 626 officers holding such posts at the most recent count.

But inspectors warned in 2022 that the system was “simply not working”, with dire understaffing meaning only a third of inmates were found to be receiving the level of support deemed necessary to reduce re-offending.

Two thirds of probation officers said they were struggling under unmanageable workloads, inspectors have found (iStock/Getty)

These prison-based roles created “very little added value”, according to inspectors who said the officers had “little direct contact with prisoners and were not clear about their roles and responsibilities”, with poor information sharing and relationship building between prison staff, probation workers and prisoners.

“The model must be reviewed, and overhauled, at the earliest opportunity,” inspectors concluded.

Andrew Neilson of the Howard League said: “When something is simply not working, it is time to try something else. Work to prepare people for release from prison can be done just as effectively, if not more so, beyond the prison gates.”

Mr Neilson warned that potential resistance from officers working in prisons and senior management should not stop ministers from “grasping the nettle”, adding: “To deploy so many probation officers in prison when community workloads are so high is just irresponsible.”

Tania Bassett of Napo said the probation union “fully supported” the call to overhaul the system, but told The Independent: “This must, however, be done in conjunction with a commitment to fully train prison staff and provide them with the skills to ensure this work is carried out safely and effectively.”

Thousands of probation staff have left the service in recent years (iStock)

Tom Wheatley, chief of the Prison Governors Association said that prison officers were already filling “gaps that should be filled by probation officers due to recruitment and retention issues”.

But he warned: “If probation officers are redeployed into community roles, then this work would either have to stop or additional prison officers would be needed to do it. The whole system is under pressure and has not been effectively resourced.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “The prison system is in crisis which is putting significant pressure on the whole justice system.

“We are gripping the situation and supporting our hardworking staff by improving training and recruiting 1,000 more probation officers nationally to deliver robust supervision and protect the public.”