Covid-19 and the Probation Service - “an incredibly different situation out there”

• The Justice Select Committee has released a report today on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Her Majestys Probation Service and at the same time launch an inquiry into ongoing reforms in the service.
• The report, Coronavirus (Covid-19): The impact on the probation system in England and Wales sets out how the pandemic has profoundly affected the way probation services are delivered.
• Many former prisoners and those serving community sentences are now supervised remotelyby Probation Officers through phone calls or Skype.

Helen Berresford's comments

• An official from the prisoner and ex-prisoner charity Nacro, Helen Berresford, painted a picture of the situation for the Committee: Its an incredibly different situation out there.
• Almost all support is being provided remotely at the minute, so we need to make sure everybody leaving prison has access to a mobile phone.
• They will also need to have enough money to get them started.
• They may be released having to take public transport which may or may not be running.

Minister of State's comments

The Minister of State at the Justice Ministry, Lucy Frazer, told the Committee that the Ministry was working very closely with the charitable sector: “We are working very closely with them to see how we can feed in offers of support outside the core services we have to set up. We have had a number of very interesting offers.” 
The Committee report welcomed the Ministry’s commitment to work with the charitable sector but said it was unclear what specific additional support had been put in place for those released from custody during this time.  The Committee recommended that the Ministry of Justice and Her Majesty’ Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) set out what additional measures they have put in place to support prison leavers. 

'Exceptional model of delivery'

• The delivery of probation supervisory services in the wake of Covid-19 is officially known as an exceptional model of delivery.
• High risk offenders are supervised by the National Probation Service (NPS) through a combination of remote methods and doorstep visits.
• Medium and low-risk offenders are currently supervised by private sector organisations called Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs).
• The National Association of Probation Officers told the Committee that there was some inconsistency in the way the model was delivered across the NPS and CRC systems.

Backlogs and staffing issues

• Finally, the report also looked at staffing issues in the NPS.
• The Committee recommended that government and HMPPS set out what existing and additional measures are in place during this time to support staff well-being.
• The coronavirus pandemic has severely affected the probation service at a time when it was already in the throes of its second major restructuring programme in the past five years.
• In addition to its report on the effect of the pandemic, the Committee is today launching an inquiry into the latest proposed reforms, which are due to be in place by 2021.

A new model

• In 2014-15 the Ministry of Justice implemented a programme of privatising parts of the Probation Service.
• This led to the CRCs contracting to deliver some strands of work, including supervisory services for medium and low-risk offenders.HM Inspector of Probation released a series of reports on this new model which variously described it as having deep-rooted problems to being irredeemably flawed.
• For this reason, he said, he was to streamline the reforms by unifying the management of offenders under a single operation.
• This new model means the effective renationalisation of the Probation Service by 2021.

New inquiry on proposed reforms

The Justice Committee inquiry being launched today will ask for written submissions and take oral evidence from stakeholders on the new model for the delivery of probation services.  The deadline for written submissions, which should be sent to the Committee website here will be September 7. It is anticipated that a report will be published in February 2021.   

Chair's comments 

• The Chair of the Justice Committee, Sir Bob Neill, said: Well want to know if this new model will work and whether it will be capable of clearing the backlog of probation work caused by the pandemic.
• Well want to know if this new model will work and whether it will be capable of clearing the backlog of probation work caused by the pandemic.
• Well be asking whether private sector providers were consulted about these proposals, whether there were counter-proposals, and how the new model will supply the necessary services.
• But above all we will want to see improvements in the rehabilitation of offenders, improvements in probation service staff morale and robust protections for the public.