§ Mr. Alex CarlileTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of prisons plan to reduce probation posts during the current financial year; and if he will make a statement. [26664]
§ Miss WiddecombeResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Richard Tilt to Mr. Alex Carlile, dated 29 April 1996:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the percentage of prisons which plan to reduce probation posts during the current financial year.The number of prisons and young offender institutions in which there are plans for a decrease in probation staff during 1996–97 is 56. This represents 44 per cent.The Prison Service is committed to partnership with the Probation Service to deliver the custodial and non-custodial parts of a prisoner's sentence effectively. Governors have been discussing with chief probation officers the scope for improvement in efficiency and for more effective use of all available resources. This includes other ways of discharging continuing tasks which have been undertaken by probation staff but which do not require their specialist skills.