§ 22. Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to review the work and case load of probation service staff. [85586]
§ Mr. George HowarthThe work of the probation service was reviewed last year as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review, which resulted in an extra £127 million current grant being made available to the service over the three years 1999–2000 to 2001–02. It is a matter for probation services and the probation committees that employ them to decide how to make the best use of the resources available, including distribution of work and how staff should tackle that work.