§ Mr. BeithTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many(a) probation officers and (b) probation service officers retired, per service, in each of the last three years for which figures are available. [81558]
§ Mr. George HowarthThe available information is as follows:
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Full-time established probation officers retiring each year by area Number of persons Probation area 1996 1997 1998 Avon 2 4 3 Bedfordshire 4 3 1 Berkshire 2 1 8 Cambridgeshire 2 1 5 Cheshire 5 6 — Cornwall 3 — —
Full-time established probation officers retiring each year by area Number of persons Probation area 1996 1997 1998 Cumbria 3 2 4 Derbyshire 7 4 2 Devon 6 8 3 Dorset 4 9 2 Durham 1 2 1 Essex 5 5 3 Gloucestershire 2 3 1 Hampshire 8 9 4 Hereford and Worcester — 4 1 Hertfordshire 5 3 1 Humberside 4 10 5 Kent 11 4 5 Lancashire 9 7 3 Leicestershire 1 2 1 Lincolnshire 1 1 1 Greater Manchester 6 10 4 Merseyside 14 11 8 Norfolk 3 4 3 Northamptonshire 2 4 2 Northumbria 6 8 1 Nottinghamshire 2 — — Oxford and Buckingham 5 8 5 Shropshire — 2 1 Somerset 2 3 — Staffordshire 5 11 5 Suffolk 2 2 5 Surrey 3 — 1 East Sussex 1 2 — West Sussex 1 3 1 Teesside 3 1 3 Warwickshire 4 1 — West Midlands 24 11 16 Wiltshire 2 6 1 North Yorkshire 2 8 — South Yorkshire 5 12 3 West Yorkshire 8 8 14 Inner London 16 30 17 North East London 2 — 4 South East London 1 — 2 South West London 1 2 1 Middlesex 11 5 3 Dyfed — 5 4 Gwent — 2 — North Wales 3 2; 1
Probation officers by age and grade1,2 England and Wales 1 November 1998 Number of persons Grade Under 47 47–48 49–50 51–55 56–58 Over 58 All ages CPO 10 6 5 21 8 1 51 DCPO 6 3 — 5 — — 14 ACPO 81 42 31 41 9 1 204 Area manager 19 3 11 6 1 — 40 SPO 447 137 106 193 43 36 961 PO 3,113 490 426 913 216 215 5,373 Temp PO 72 5 5 10 8 32 132 660W
Non-probation officer staff by age and grade1,2 England and Wales 1 November 1998 Number of persons Grade Under 47 47–48 49–50 51–55 56–58 Over 58 All ages Research officers 61 5 7 8 4 3 88 Probation services' officers 1,051 119 168 366 141 152 1,996 Clerical/secretarial 1,472 215 230 530 180 181 2,807 Administrative 724 82 94 205 69 37 1,211 Other 838 116 113 252 100 222 1,641 1Returns were not received from Durham, Hereford and Worcester and Staffordshire 2Whole-time equivalents. Figures may not add to the total because of the rounding of part-time hours
Full-time established probation officers retiring each year by area Number of persons Probation area 1996 1997 1998 Powys — — 3 South Glamorgan 1 1 7 Mid Glamorgan 1 4 — West Glamorgan — 2 1 England and Wales 221 256 170
§ Mr. BeithTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment takes place by probation officers in preparation for a home detention curfew; and if he will make a statement. [81561]
§ Mr. George HowarthThe Probation Service contributes to the risk assessment conducted by the prison to establish the suitability of an offender to participate in the Home Detention Curfew (HDC) scheme. Probation staff advise on the suitability of the prisoner and on the proposed curfew address. The Probation Service will consider whether the participation of the offender in the HDC scheme would be likely to present an unacceptable risk to the victim, others living at the proposed address or the public; whether there is a pattern of offending which indicates an unacceptable risk of re-offending during the HDC period; or whether there is a probability of failure to comply with the conditions of the curfew.
Guidance to the Probation Service on HDC is set out in Probation Circulars 44/1998 and 82/1998, copies of which are in the Library.
§ Mr. BeithTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the average age of(a) probation officers and (b) probation service officers in each of the last three years. [81560]
§ Mr. George HowarthThe Home Office does not collect information on the ages of probation staff on a routine basis. However, a survey was held on 1 November 1998 to collect some limited information on the age structure at that time. The results for the 51 areas that responded are shown in the tables.
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