Managing Offenders: A New Model of Probation
This House of Lords Library Briefing has been prepared in advance of the debate due to take place on 3 October 2019 on the motion moved by Lord Ramsbotham (Crossbench) “that this House takes note of the case for reforming the management and treatment of offenders in prison and the community”.
There are over 250,000 people under the supervision of probation services at any one time. Under current policy, professionals provide rehabilitative probation services to all prisoners; this starts twelve weeks before their release, with supervision in the community continuing for twelve months after release. While on probation, individuals may have to:
- do unpaid work;
- complete an education or training course;
- get treatment for addictions; and
- attend regular meetings with an ‘offender manager’.
Since 2014, two services have managed offenders on probation:
- the National Probation Service (NPS), a statutory criminal justice service, supervises high-risk offenders; and
- 21 community rehabilitation companies (CRCs) managing low and medium risk offenders.
However, the Government has recently announced plans to reform the probation system. The plans propose a new model of probation services in England and Wales, where the NPS would be responsible for managing all offenders on a community order or license, including those currently managed by CRCs.
This briefing considers on the Government’s recent announcement. It focuses on the probation system in England and Wales and outlines: plans for the proposed system; the history of the current system; and criticisms it received. It also includes statistics relating to probation and re-offending. Information on conditions in prisons is set out in further reading.