Senior probation officers on Thursday attacked plans to outsource the supervision of ex-prisoners to charities and the private sector, saying the government was “taking risks with public safety”.
Under a “payment by results” scheme unveiled by Justice Secretary Chris Grayling, companies and charities would be paid according to how well they prevent former prisoners from reoffending during the first year after their release.
The radical shake-up means all offenders will be placed under supervision for a minimum of 12 months after leaving prison, even if they were only jailed for a few days.
During that time they will be given help to find housing, work or training, and to deal with any addictions, Grayling said.
But the Probation Chiefs Association (PCA) warned that “something will go wrong” if businesses and charities are allowed to bid for contracts to run the services.
Grayling defended the proposal as a means of slashing re-offending rates, which have barely changed in a decade. More than 58 percent of prisoners serving less than 12 months go on to commit another crime within the next year.
“Tackling our stubbornly high reoffending rates has dogged successive governments for decades,” Grayling said.
“It is simply not good enough that we spend £4 billion a year on prisons and probation, and yet make no real dent in the appetite of offenders to commit more crime.
“It is little wonder when many of our most prolific criminals leave prison totally unsupervised in the community.”
Probation officers said the move to outsource the supervision was an attack on their own ability to prevent reoffending.
The National Association of Probation Officers union said it refused to “accept the implied criticism of our members for the increase in reoffending rates for those serving short-term custodial sentences”.
The PCA meanwhile said the plans could threaten public safety.
“Government says they are not taking risks with public safety and yet, by fragmenting the current provision between higher and lower risk offenders, that is exactly what they are doing,” a PCA spokeswoman said.
“The more disjointed the system, the higher the risk that something will go wrong.”
The reforms, part of the biggest shake-up of the prison system in more than 20 years, are set to be rolled out across England and Wales by 2015.
The plans will see around 70 “resettlement prisons” created, allowing nearly all offenders to be released into the area for an initial period of supervision.
The only ex-prisoners exempt from the scheme would be those jailed for just a single day.
Labour also attacked the proposals, saying they were based on “untried and untested methods”.
“Unfortunately, it’s a programme based on fewer resources, untried and untested methods, and putting faith in exactly those private sector organisations that have failed to deliver other major public sector contracts,” said shadow justice minister Andy Slaughter.
Probation officers blast prisoner supervision plan
