The public is “at direct risk” from unsupervised ex-offenders because probation officers in England and Wales are being asked to juggle workloads that would make a circus performer weep, a union has declared.
As ministers prepare to release and monitor tens of thousands more prisoners this autumn, Napo’s executive has for the first time declared it has no confidence in probation service managers. In a development that should worry the government, the union is threatening industrial action in three months unless members get more support and pay.
From September, ministers will embark on the biggest expansion of tagging in British history - up to 40,000 former offenders will be monitored by tags and overseen by probation officers, a 40% increase from the current 28,000. Last year, an official watchdog warned the probation service had too few staff with too little experience and training, leaving the public at risk. The public accounts committee found staff working at 126% of capacity in some areas, which is not a flex.
Tania Bassett, a Napo national official, said probation officers couldn't cope with the growing number of ex-offenders, and many more people were ending up on the street. “Excessive workloads and staff burnout poses a direct risk to the public with staff being unable to effectively manage the risk of their clients in the community,” she said, adding that a shortage of accommodation means more homeless people and more reoffending.
Managers are trying to ditch a tool that measures workloads, which Bassett said would hide the magnitude of tasks. “The loss of a workload measurement tool will leave staff, including managers, unable to see their workloads and therefore unable to evidence that they are overworked,” she noted - a convenient way to avoid paperwork about being underwater.
The Prison Service met only 26% of its targets for timeliness of appointments and delivery of services in 2024-25, down from 50% in 2022. The Ministry of Justice said between 2023 and 2025, 31% of target probation appointments did not take place. The MoJ said it would recruit 1,300 extra probation officers in the next year as part of a £700m investment by 2029, including £100m for tagging expansion and a £5m pilot for “proximity monitoring technology” for domestic abusers and stalkers.
James Timpson, the prisons minister, told MPs last week that the probation service was “running too hot” after disclosing staff each manage an average of 32 ex-offenders. “We inherited a system that was broken, and we’re putting it all back together again. It’s going to take time,” he said.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “We remain committed to working closely with trade unions to ensure our staff continue to get the support they need to cut crime and protect the public. We have full confidence in Probation Service leadership to deliver the necessary changes and improvements.”