§ Mr. PondTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how he plans to meet urgent expenditure relating to the new National Probation Service for England and Wales prior to the enactment of the Criminal Justice and Court Service Bill. [132069]
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§ Mr. BoatengParliamentary approval for expenditure on the new National Probation Service for England and Wales will be sought in a Supplementary Estimate for the Home Office Vote (Class IV Vote 1). Pending that approval, urgent expenditure estimated at £670,000 will be met by repayable advances from the Contingencies Fund. This expenditure is required to ensure that the National Probation Service would be able to come into effect on 1 April 2001, subject to the successful passage of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Bill.
Reform of the Probation Service is key to the Government's crime reduction and effective punishment strategy. Current plans envisage a vesting date of 1 April 2001 for the new National Probation Service. This date is key for delivering operational effectiveness gains, which would otherwise be lost or significantly delayed. Two critical ingredients of reform are changes in governance and leadership of the new service and it is in these areas that urgent expenditure would be incurred. The critical path for achieving the target date is dependent upon starting the process of selection to the 42 new probation boards, and the recruitment of chief officers for the eight amalgamated services, by July.