The National Probation Service
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The 2010 -2011 budget allocation for the Probation Service is £870 million, £26 million more than the original indicative budget. This equates to a reduction of 2.68% year on year.
Justice Minister Maria Eagle said: “This is an excellent settlement for the Probation Service, a part of the Criminal Justice System which is highly valued. Probation Officers work with some of society’s most difficult individuals and do a superb job in often very demanding circumstances. The funding …. will provide an extra £26 million above original planning assumptions and equates to 625 Probation Officers. It is for the Directors of Offender Management to allocate funding appropriately.”
The
Probation Service has become more effective. View the national
performance figures.
CASELOADS
The total caseload of offenders being supervised by the Probation Service rose by 53% between 31 December 1997 and 31 December 2008 (from 159,200 to 243,400). This compares to an overall rise in the Probation Service budget of 70% in real terms between 1997 and 2007.
The total offender caseload has remained stable in recent years. At 31 December 2007 there were 242,700 offenders being supervised, compared to 243,400 at 31 December 2008 and 244,300 at 31 March 2009.
COMMUNITY PAYBACK
In 2008 over 100,000 offenders were sentenced to more than 11 million hours of Community Payback. In 2008-2009 62,485 offenders successfully completed Community Payback sentences in England and Wales. It is estimated that over 8.4 million hours of free labour were provided to the benefit of local communities by offenders sentenced to Unpaid Work. Approximately 70,000 offenders on Community Payback are currently being supervised by the Probation Service.
In 2007-2008 the Probation Service exceeded targets on offenders completing accredited programmes and Community Payback, and has its best performance year with more offenders starting and completing
ENFORCEMENT OF COMMUNITY SENTENCES
The majority of offenders comply with their order and complete them within the time required. If an offender breaches the terms of their order, they face being taken back to court - ‘breached’ to receive a further order or a prison sentence.
Since 2005-2006 the Probation Service has consistently met or exceeded its own enforcement target of initiating breach action within 10 working days in 90% of cases compared with 51% in 1998.
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National Probation Service 
