As Good As The Work Programme?

Wednesday 9 January 2013

Private firms to take over bulk of the probation service

"Justice secretary says radical measures are necessary to tackle high rate of short-sentenced prisoners reoffending within a year

Inmates at a young offenders unit: more than 240,000 offenders are currently supervised by the probation service each year.

The justice secretary, Chris Grayling, is to outline plans for the wholesale outsourcing of the probation service with private companies and voluntary sector organisations to take over the rehabilitation of the majority of offenders by 2015.

The public probation service is to be scaled back and "refocused" to specialise in dealing only with the most dangerous and high-risk offenders and public protection cases. The majority of services will be contracted out on a payment-by -result basis."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/jan/09/probation-service-private-firms-grayling?CMP=twt_gu

The dangers of payment-by-results in probation

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/01/dangers-graylings-payment-results-scheme

Probation service 'revolution' means wholesale privatisation

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/jan/09/probation-service-private-firms-grayling?CMP=twt_gu

Grayling admits probation privatisation will not cut reoffending dramatically

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/jan/09/chris-grayling-probation-privatisation-reoffending?CMP=twt_gu

9 January, 2013 - 17:40

Is the probation service keeping criminals in check?

"Liz Calderbank, the Chief Inspector of Probation for England and Wales, alluded to this trend when she said on the BBC’s Today programme that the work of the Probation Service has made a difference in the rate of reoffending.

“The Probation Service is current, and generally speaking, a well-performing service,” she said. “It’s gone through a number of financial cuts in the past few years, yet it’s continued to meet its targets.” Furthermore, the Probation Service won an excellence award in 2011."

http://fullfact.org/factchecks/probation_service_reoffending_rates_chris_grayling-28700