Union warns against early release of prisoners due to shortage of parole officers | Prisons and parole

A union warned that ministers will struggle to prepare for the early release of thousands of prisoners next month after the latest figures showed a fall in the number of people on parole.

Justice Department data showed there were 178 fewer parole officers in the last quarter as the agency prepares to monitor another 5,500 released inmates next year amid growing concerns about increased workloads on staff.

In the second week of September, up to 2,000 inmates are expected to be released under an early release program called SDS40, which allows many inmates to leave prison after serving 40 percent of their sentence.

A second group of up to 1,700 prisoners, all sentenced to more than five years, are expected to be released at the end of October after Lord Chancellor Shabana Mahmood changed the law to ease pressure on overcrowded prisons.

A senior official of the probation officers' union, Napo, said its members were trying to prepare for the early release program, but the government was unable to maintain the required staffing levels, let alone recruit more.

“At a time when the probation service is under even greater pressure as it prepares for the SDS40 early release programme, we are now seeing a decline in staff numbers. HMPPS [HM Prison and Probation Service] “We need to understand why people are leaving and that includes salaries. The crisis in our justice system is the result of years of cuts and the government must take urgent action to invest in the whole system,” said Tania Bassett, a national Napo official.

Bassett said SDS40 requires probation officers to undertake extensive work prior to release, including reviewing risk assessments, arranging accommodation, including probation hostels, conducting home visits, coordinating with victim liaison officers and domestic violence support workers, and developing robust, multi-agency protection plans.

“Doing this work at a time when many staff are on annual leave has put enormous pressure on probation staff. HM Prison and Probation Service has been telling unions since 2014 that the probation department will be fully staffed,” she said.

Ministry of Justice figures show that there were 5,160 full-time Level 4 probation officers in service in June 2024, a decrease of 178 from March 2024.

Martin Jones, England and Wales' chief probation officer, told the Guardian in July that the current probation model was “not sustainable” and suggested ministers should free up capacity by no longer tasking probation officers with monitoring 40,000 people released from prison after short sentences for crimes such as shoplifting.

As part of a review of the probation system, which looks after more than 240,000 offenders each year, Jones said each of the service's 12 regions in England and Wales was already struggling with caseloads. More than 95 per cent of probation units examined by the watchdog were falling short of standards of good practice, he said.

The way offenders are monitored in society has come under scrutiny since the 2022 murder of law graduate Zara Aleena in east London. Her killer, Jordan McSweeney, who had a long history of misogynistic and racist incidents, should have been classified as a high-risk offender by probation officers and sent back to prison after missing appointments. Instead, he was wrongly classified as medium risk and was able to continue attacking Aleena unhindered.

This case followed the revelation of probation service failings before Damien Bendall murdered three children and his pregnant partner in Derbyshire in 2021.

On Monday, the government announced it would launch Operation Early Dawn, a long-standing plan that would allow defendants awaiting court dates to be held in police cells for longer until prison space becomes available.

The emergency program was announced after hundreds of rioters were arrested following unrest this summer.

The Attorney General said “significant investment” was needed in the criminal justice system as imprisoned rioters continued to put pressure on overcrowded prisons.

Writing for The Times, Stephen Parkinson defended the “speedy” approach to prosecuting public order crimes, saying that cases such as rape and domestic violence take longer to build a trial and are “more complex”.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “We took over a prison system that was in crisis and took difficult but necessary measures to ensure we could continue to lock up dangerous criminals and protect the public. The Probation Service has been planning these releases ever since.”

“Anyone released will be closely monitored, face strict conditions such as electronic ankle bracelets and curfews, and can be sent back to prison if they violate the conditions.”