Monday 1st
December, 3.30pm, Grimond Room, Portcullis House
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will hold a scrutiny session
on the efficiency and resilience of the Probation Service at
3.30pm on Monday 1st December 2025.
The Probation Service is suffering from poor performance and
persistent staffing shortages, particularly of qualified
probation officers. The National Audit Office in its recent report found a
service under significant strain following reforms in 2021,
meeting only 26% (seven out of 27) of its performance targets in
2024-25.
While HM Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS) has made efforts
at recruitment and retention, in 2024 it found it had been
underestimating the number of sentence management staff by around
40% (around 6,900 full-time equivalent staff.) This meant it had
been operating with only about half the staff needed to manage
offenders' sentences.
In an evidence session with senior officials from the Ministry of
Justice (MoJ) and HMPPS, the PAC will seek answers as to why
probation performance has gotten worse, not better, despite past
reforms. Other likely topics for questioning include the
management of the Our Future Probation Service programme, and how
this will achieve its planned aims to reduce workloads by 25%.
Witnesses from 3.30pm:
- Dr Jo Farrar CB OBE, Permanent
Secretary, Ministry of Justice (MoJ)
- Adam Bailey, Director, Probation
and Reoffending Policy, MoJ
- Kim Thornden-Edwards, Chief
Probation Officer at HM Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS)
- James McEwen, Director General CEO
at HMPPS
- Jim Barton, Executive Director,
Capacity Implementation at HMPPS
