HC Deb 11 June 1996 vol 279 cc61-2W
Mr. Alex Carlile

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many probation officers were on secondment working in prisons on 1 April in each year since 1989; and if he will make a statement; [30348]

(2) how many probation officers he estimates will be working on secondment in prisons on 1 April in (a) 1997, (b) 1998, and (c) 1999. [30347]

Miss Widdecombe

Responsibility for these matters 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 11 June 1996:

The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Questions about the numbers of probation officers working in prisons on secondment.

The requested information is given in the following table. Figures for 1989–1995 are for 31 March. The figures (rounded to the nearest whole number) are for whole-time equivalent seconded probation staff.

Number
31 March 1989 530
31 March 1990 543
31 March 1991 550
31 March 1992 594
31 March 1993 625
31 March 1994 621
31 March 1995 646
1 April 1996 596
1 April 1997 (Estimated) 541
1 April 1998 (Estimated) 528
1 April 1999 (Estimated) 509

The Prison Service remains committed to its partnership with the Probation Service to deliver the custodial and non-custodial parts of a prisoner's sentence effectively. Governors are responsible for ensuring that prisons deliver the right services to the right levels; they are in the best position to judge whether staff in the prison are providing value for money.

Understandably, governors have difficulty forecasting their requirements for seconded probation staff for 1998 and beyond, because it is too early to tell what their budgets will be, and because staffing levels need to be flexible, to meet changing requirements. They have been asked to adhere to the principles of the National Throughcare Framework—signed by the Prison and Probation Services—in determining the number of seconded probation staff needed to deliver ex-offenders adequately prepared for post-release supervision.