Probation staff shortages threaten to derail plans to safely release prisoners early, ministers warned
Severe staff shortages mean the beleaguered probation service cannot safely monitor prisoners in the community under new plans to free up prison spaces, senior figures have warned. In a review ordered by justice secretary Shabana Mahmood as the prison crisis boiled over during her first days in office, her Tory predecessor, David Gauke, recommended freeing many prisoners a third of the way into their sentence and telling judges to avoid jailing people for less than a year in favour of community sentences.While the plans have been widely welcomed, concerns have been raised over how the under-pressure probation service will cope with an influx of new offenders to manage. Ms Mahmood is expected to accept most of the proposals, but former justice secretary Sir Robert Buckland expressed concern that the plans could merely “transfer a prison-based problem into the community”.And probation union Napo warned that there was now a “vital window” to invest in staff and their wellbeing before the changes place “massive, massive pressure” on a service already in “chaos”.Hailing the report as “the most important review of sentencing policy in at least a generation”, Napo chief Ian Lawrence added: “But the problem the government has right now is, if prisons are full, so is the probation service.“And our capacity to process even more people released into the community is going to be put under massive, massive pressure … without something being done to maintain the confidence of staff. That means paying people so they don’t just leave, because people [have had] enough of the current workload situation.”The most recent official figures suggest a shortfall of nearly 1,500 probation officers below the recommended staffing level of 7,115. Mr Lawrence warned that this target may underestimate the true need. Ministers have vowed to recruit a further 1,300 officers by March 2026 and while the probation service grew by 610 staff in the year to March, more than 2,000 staff – nearly 10 per cent – left over the same period. Forty per cent of probation officers who quit left with at least 10 years of experience, analysis by The Independent found.Asked whether he believes the probation service has enough staff to safely enact the reforms, Mr Lawrence said: “Certainly not now.”Justice secretary Shabana Mahmood ordered the sentencing review during her first days in office More