§ Mrs. BrookeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures his Department is taking to(a) increase employment to the Probation Service and (b) ensure that officers have the necessary qualifications, training and experience to manage their caseloads; and if he will make a statement. [98194]
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§ Hilary BennTrainee Probation Officers are recruited across England and Wales. This is achieved by an annual recruitment drive and the number of trainee probation officers recruited by this method has increased from 254 in 1998 to 787 in 2002.
The 2003 recruitment drive will commence on 17 March and will be advertised in the national press. The target number is 1,100, distributed in proportion across the nine regions of England and Wales.
Trainee probation officers complete the Diploma in Probation Studies over a period of two years. This professional qualification combines work and university based learning.
Candidates must attain a Community Justice NVQ Level 4 and an undergraduate degree in order to become fully accredited probation officers. The programme is provided in partnership with universities, who work with Regional Training Consortia and the National Probation Directorate.
The programmes are provided in accordance with the Core Curriculum and Regulatory Framework, administered on behalf of the Home Secretary by the Community Justice National Training Organisation (CJNTO). These documents are reviewed at intervals to ensure that the curriculum is updated to address current best practice. The programmes are subject to regular inspections conducted jointly by the CJNTO and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP).
In addition, the Probation Service has increased the number of Probation Service Officers and other staff to 8,282 in 2002 from 6,612 in 1998.
Staff involved in the delivery of Accredited programmes are provided with appropriate training that is subject to rigorous quality assurance as determined by the Joint Accreditation Panel at the point of programme approval.
Probation areas provide this and other related training via local and regional training units.