The Board of the Leicestershire & Rutland Probation Area

A Probation Board is the governing body that oversees the strategic management of the Probation Area to ensure that the criminal justice agency is improving or maintaining its performance against national targets.

Probation Board members are expected to serve between two and five days a month with a maximum term of office of six years. New legislation in the Offender Management Bill will change the status of Probation Boards to become trusts. The trusts will be created as the public sector provider of the future.

LRPA has been selected as one of the six Probation Areas nationwide to be in the first wave of Probation Trusts that will come into force on 1st April 2008, followed by the second wave of trusts on 1st April 2009. The third wave will be completed by 1st April 2010.

Probation Trusts are being established as part of the Offender Management Act and will be the lead provider, contracting areas of work and delivering Probation Services in their area.  

Head of the Probation Change Programme Team, David Griffiths said: "The Government's public sector reform agenda is targeted at delivering customer focused, flexible and innovative solutions for all public services.

"Our programme of change will help inplement these reforms through the establishment of Probation Trusts. This programme will enable all sectors to work together to better protect the public and reduce re-offending."

The Probation Change Programme believes the new trusts will use their freedom to deliver innovative, locally based services that better service communities, the victims of crime and offenders.

During the next 18 months Probation Areas are required to increase by fourfold the proportion of services contracted out to other providers to around ten percent by 2008.