Napo calls for urgent investment in Probation

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The recall figures released today highlight just how broken the justice system currently is. A 44% increase in recalls between April – June 2024 compared with the same period in 2023 is a significant increase and indicative of a criminal justice system that is currently not functioning. The prison crisis that has led to the early release of prisoners has had a massive impact on Probation staff, those people being released and the wider community.

Napo was consistent in warning of the huge dangers of the End of Custody Supervised Licence (ESCL) early release scheme, introduced in October 2023 and extended several times under the previous Government. We were clear that one of these was an expected increase in the numbers of recalls as too little time was available to prepare for prisoner’s releases, existing workloads were too high and across England and Wales basic needs such as accommodation were not able to be met. In addition to ECSL, already struggling Probation staff responsible for people leaving custody have also had to deal with increased work resulting from the expansion of the Home Detention Curfew (HDC) scheme and the expansion of the use of Fixed Term Recalls this year.

Napo General Secretary Ian Lawrence said: “Early release schemes in their various forms were always going to be a sticking plaster approach to the gaping holes in our justice system. Our members were already overworked and under immense pressure due to staff shortages and increased workloads.”

Napo has been clear from the outset that releasing people without the necessary support in place is setting people up to fail. Being released homeless makes it incredibly difficult to engage with Probation and other agencies. Add to this the 14-day fixed term recall and you quickly see a revolving door of prisoners coming in and out of prison during their sentence.

Ian Lawrence said: “When Probation is under extreme pressure like we have seen in recent years, the service becomes risk averse. Overworked staff are unable to spend the time needed to engage and support those people we work with and that is when we usually see an increase in recalls. However, this year has seen more and more pressure being placed on a service that was already struggling to cope as Ministers have had to take measures to reduce the prison population.”

The situation is further exacerbated by a lack of support resources in communities such as housing, drug agencies and mental health support after years of under investment. These are vital for the rehabilitation of prisoners and for probation to utilise to provide a full package of support and risk management. Without them, Probation is left to pick up the pieces with no additional resource and invariably this provision is left wanting through no fault of the staff trying to do their job to the best of their ability.

Napo repeats our calls for HMPPS to publish a breakdown of the recall figures so that the impact of each of the early release schemes can be properly assessed. 2024 has seen several extensions of ECSL, changes to HDC that enable people serving longer sentences to be released, changes to fixed term recalls which mean many people serving short prison sentences are only recalled to custody for 14 days, and the more recent SDS40 releases.

Napo will also be making representations to the Minister to provide a rescue package for the Probation Service. This needs to be an urgent injection of cash targeted at those who deliver Probation work to ensure our members are recognised financially for their ongoing hard work, but also to invest in the work of rehabilitation being done in the public sector.