The Probation Service is "In Meltdown" Say Staff

Every probation service in the UK is failing to meet minimum standards as the service buckles under the weight of record staff shortages and huge caseloads, an investigation by The House magazine has revealed.

Staff describe dealing with unsafe numbers of cases and a “s**t show” system “in meltdown” even before this month’s early release of thousands of prisoners to alleviate a jails crisis.

Some probation services are operating with less than half the number of required staff prompting grave internal doubts about their ability to cope with the increased demand.

And with the consequences for those subject to domestic abuse a particular concern prompted by the early release programme, The House  has found every probation service in the UK has been criticized for failures – either protecting others from released detainees or ensuring those released are not abused themselves.

The probation service manages the cases of a quarter of million people, largely those who have been released from prison into the community or have been sentenced to community service.

That’s three times the number of those actually in prison but is one of the lowest profile parts of the criminal justice system.

“It's a really difficult, complicated job,” says Martin Jones, the government’s chief inspector of probation. “I think it’s also under-appreciated because it’s such an invisible job.”

But while out of sight and out of mind, pressures have nevertheless been building relentlessly alongside those elsewhere.

An analysis of the last 33 reports into every probation service inspected by the government watchdog – HM Inspectorate of Probation – over the last two and a half years reveals the extent of the crisis.

It shows every service has received a failing