§ Mr. Bodyasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether it is in accordance with the policy of his Department for probation officers to be recruited without training or previous experience from employment exchanges.
§ Mr. R. A. ButlerIt is the policy of my Department that vacancies in the probation service should, so far as possible, be filled by persons with previous experience or trained for the work under arrangements approved by the Probation Advisory and Training Board. Where a vacancy cannot immediately be so filled,120W it may be desirable to appoint temporarily some other person of suitable calibre, who may, on occasion, be introduced by an employment exchange.
§ Mr. Bodyasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many entrants to the Probation Service in England and Wales there have been for each year since 1952; and how many permanent officers have left the Probation Service in each of these years for reasons other than retirement on the grounds of age or health.
§ Mr. R. A. ButlerThe following table shows the number of entrants for each year from 1953 to 1957, and the number of resignations in each period. The information available to my Department does not enable me to say how many of the resignations were for reasons other than health.
Year New Appointments Appointments after a break in service Total: cols. 2 and 3 Resignations (not including retirements on grounds of age) 1 2 3 4 5 1953 85 8 93 29 1954 76 7 83 36 1955 60 8 68 42 1956 83 6 89 36 1957 91 9 100 53