Public at risk because criminals are not being properly supervised, warns inspector

‘Some offenders were not being seen often enough. As a result, the public were more at risk than necessary’

THE public is in danger because of poor supervision of criminals, a report by HM Inspectorate of Probation has warned.

Inspectors found staff assigned to manage low and medium-risk individuals in Gloucestershire were making “heroic efforts” but faced “plainly unreasonable” caseloads. The probation watchdog described the quality of public protection work by the community rehabilitation company (CRC) in the county as “poor”.

Dame Glenys Stacey, HM Chief Inspector of Probation, said: “Some offenders were not being seen often enough. As a result, the public were more at risk than necessary, and offenders who could turn their lives around were being denied the chance to do so.”

The findings are the latest in a line of critical assessments of a shake-up of the system for the management of offenders in the community in England and Wales. Known as Transforming Rehabilitation, the partial privatisation launched in 2014 saw the creation of the National Probation Service to deal with high-risk individuals, with remaining work assigned to 21 CRCS.

Dame Glenys said: “The National Probation Service was performing reasonably well, and the public can be reassured that those people who pose a higher risk are generally being supervised to an acceptable standard in Gloucestershire, although more could be done to reduce the risk that individuals reoffend.

“The picture was much more troubling at the community rehabilitation company, where there have been drastic staff cuts to try and balance the books. This CRC’S work is so far below par that its owner and government need to work together urgently to improve matters.”

A spokesman for the CRC said: “We recognise there are areas of our work which we need to improve on if we are to be successful in achieving our goals.”