§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what proposals he has to alter the funding arrangements and selection procedures for probation officers; and what consultations he has had with the National Association of Probation Officers, Central Council for the Training of Social Workers and the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals regarding such changes and their timing;
(2) what representations he has received concerning the training of probation officers.
§ Mr. JackThe funding arrangements for students starting courses which would qualify them for entry to the probation service were revised in the summer. This followed a decision by the special commissioners of taxes that Home Office payments to probation students were not 59W taxable, with the consequence that national insurance deductions, too, would not be appropriate. Following this decision we reviewed the grant arrangements and concluded that probation students should now receive their grants in the same way as the majority of social work students, but at a higher rate in view of the additional training involved. The selection procedures have not been altered. Discussions about the new arrangements have taken place with the Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work and the National Association of Probation Officers. We have received a number of representations from the association and from individual students.