East of England probation service ‘requires improvement’ - putting women and children at risk

Our area’s probation service is not effectively keeping members of the public safe from criminals, a report has found.

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

The report has highlighted “chronic staffing issues”, with concerns raised that these are contributing to increased potential harm perpetrated by men against women and children.

Many of the risk assessments inspected were being completed without referencing information about child safeguarding and domestic abuse, and checks to ensure home address curfews did not pose a risk to women or children living there were not always being done.

The probation service is responsible for the supervision of offenders in the community and the provision of reports to courts to assist them in their sentencing.

Officers are regular attenders at the likes of Lynn Magistrates’ Court, helping with decisions on whether people should be jailed or offered a chance at rehabilitation.

Martin Jones, chief inspector of probation, said: “While the commitment and dedication of leaders and staff across the region was found to be unwavering, this commitment and dedication is not amounting to sufficient measures in keeping the public safe or encouraging people on probation to change.”

The report highlights staffing issues across the region, despite a sustained effort by the East of England region to recruit.

A report in January this year said probation officers had “excessive workloads and vast responsibilities which were greater than what they could reasonably be expected to deliver”.

Inspectors were concerned the East of England region was not effectively responding to or reducing the potential harm perpetrated by men against women and children.

The information sharing arrangements with the police and local authorities in relation to this were “complex and inefficient”, which was impacting the quality of the risk assessments taking place. This is an area that requires “urgent attention”, according to the report.

However, the quality of statutory victim work was found to be ‘outstanding’ in the region, with all victims in inspected cases given an opportunity to express their views before perpetrators were released from prison.

Leaders were also overseeing work to integrate people on probation into service delivery, with several people who had formally been on probation recruited into permanent employment.

Mr Jones added: “Many of the concerns found in our regional inspection of the East of England are ones we have raised in our previous inspections and thematic reports.

“We hope HMPPS (HM Prison and Probation Service) reflect carefully on our findings to support regions in delivering an acceptable level of service for people on probation and victims of crime.”

This report has made ten recommendations, such as to appoint a designated regional safeguarding lead to support PDU heads, and to conduct an analysis of skills, knowledge, and experience across the region to ensure learning has been consolidated into practice.

Four recommendations have also been made to HM Prison and Probation Service, including to delegate greater authority to regional probation directors in relation to spending.