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
Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Young Offenders
Qualitative studies reported participants feeling less stressed, better able to concentrate, manage
emotions and behaviour, improved social skills and that the interventions were acceptable to young offenders.
Forensic mental eHealth interventions can improve treatment outcomes
An internationsl systematic review concludes that eHealth can improve treatment outcomes because of its
potential to increase motivation and engagement and deliver an individually tailored approach.
Prison officer recruitment picks up pace
Latest HMPPS workforce stats show a net increase of 715 frontline prison officers over the last three month period. However, experienced staff are still leaving at a rate of almost one in ten every year.
Updating victim liaison work post-Worboys
HMI Probation finds high levels of commitment but a slightly creaky and out-of-date victim liaison system. Should police or probation be responsible for victim liaison?
Probation performance: fewer reoffenders committing more crimes
Jack Cattell of Get the Data does a deep dive into the latest private probation reconviction data and payment by results outcomes and finds some contradictory trends.
Inspectors criticise private probation on enforcement
CRCs don’t see offenders often enough to engage them, leading to poor enforcement decisions. However, recalls to prison normally handled appropriately by NPS & CRCs.
Can probation staff maintain a work-life balance?
Research from Sheffield Hallam on the work-family balance of being a modern probation officer.
New ministerial team at the MoJ
The MoJ has four new ministers out of five following Phillip Lee’s resignation. What do we know about them?
London National Probation Service “improved”
National Probation Service much improved in London although much better at protecting the public than reducing reoffending.
Introducing new Justice Secretary David Gauke
Profile of the fifth person to hold the posts of Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor in less than three years.
The future of prisons and probation
Her Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service publishes its first business plan setting out priorities and budgets.
Sunny’s story: Building on user experience
In the latest turnaround story, Sunny Dhadley tells how me changes from being a problem drug user to lead a service user involvement team – and much more.
