Everything you want to know about probation
The most up-to-date data
This is the latest in my new series of compendiums of the latest data and trends in the criminal justice system. Following compendiums on prisons, sentencing, and offender equalities, this edition focuses on probation.
For the best experience, click through the visualisation at the bottom of this page, this allows you to hover over data points and see the exact data. If you can’t see the visualisation below on your device, you can find it here.
Topics covered include:
- The type of offences people are on probation for
- The decline of community sentences over the last decade
- Caseload figures (including changes in different forms of supervision)
- The offence profile of people on community supervision
- A breakdown of the popularity of different requirements on community orders and suspended sentence orders
- Successful completion rates (and reasons for termination) for community supervision
- The spectacular drop in the number of full Pre-Sentence reports
I hope you find them of use and interest.
Compendium last updated 3 December 2020
Criminal Justice Trends
Click below for up-to-date interactive charts using the latest official data.
Offender equalities
A wide range of prison statistics broken down by gender, ethnicity and age.
Probation
The latest caseload figures and trends, offender profiles and court reports.
Prison
Details of individual establishments, costs, population trends and safety in custody stats.
Sentencing
Compare sentencing outcomes, lengths and reoffending rates and index offences.
Recent Probation Posts
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Kevin Wong and Rachel Horan examine the risk of the mentor relationship creating dependency rather than agency.
Peers who volunteer: a guide on how to support people with lived experience
New co-produced best practice guide and website to support people with lived experience who volunteer (or work) in the social justice sector.
MAPPA population hits new record
MAPPA population grows by another 2%, reaches 87,657 at the end of March 2021.
The latest prison and probation trends (Autumn 2021)
Autumn 2021 stats show a fall in the number of prison recalls and the probation caseload getting back to normal again after COVID.
More and more people dying on probation
Official data sadly tells us that 1,343 people on probation died in 2020/21, a jump of 34% on the previous year.
What does lived experience work in criminal justice feel like?
Lived experience work in criminal justice can be safe, sustaining and inclusive AND exclusionary, shame-provoking and precarious.
Black and mixed heritage boys get poor support from youth offending services
Probation inspectors find “significant deficits” in the quality of work conducted by youth offending services and partner agencies with black and mixed heritage boys.
Effective probation practice with drug users
HMI Probation effective practice guide to working with drug users on probation
Children in care in the youth justice system
Dr Anne-Marie Day on the experiences and pathways of children in care in the youth justice system.
What’s it like being inspected by probation?
Jake Phillips’ research on how probation inspections impact on practitioners, practice and providers.
The Year in Youth Justice (2020/21)
Youth Justice Board Annual Report for 2020/21 shows main trends.
Youth Justice Out of Court Disposals vary in quality
No standard approach to Out of Court youth justice disposals results in big variations in quality of delivery.
