UK Inquiry Tracker

Efficiency and resilience of the Probation Service

Public Accounts Committee Open Inquiry

Opened: 10 Jul 2025 Parliament page

Reforms of probation services were carried out in 2014, which divided the service into two – a National Probation Service, dealing with the most serious offenders, and twenty-one private sector-led Community Rehabilitation Companies, dealing with lower-risk offenders. These reforms were heavily criticised , and the service was reunified in 2021 … Read more Reforms of probation services were carried out in 2014, which divided the service into two – a National Probation Service, dealing with the most serious offenders, and twenty-one private sector-led Community Rehabilitation Companies, dealing with lower-risk offenders. These reforms were heavily criticised , and the service was reunified in 2021 with the aim of delivering a more sustainable system. Probation supervision levels of lower risk cases was then reduced in April 2024 due to high staff workloads and increases in demand from the prison capacity crisis, and a transformation programme is now under way to explore more innovative approaches to reducing workload pressures and improving outcomes. The PAC has reported multiple times on probation reforms. Its 2014 landscape review warned that the reforms dividing the service carried significant risks. Its next report in 2016 found that the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) had yet to bring about the rehabilitation revolution that it had promised, highlighting IT problems and serious uncertainty caused by the impact on providers of lower than expected business volumes. Its progress review in 2019 found that prisoner rehabilitation reforms had been rushed, highlighting higher costs and poorer outcomes. Most recently, its 2023 report on improving resettlement support for prison leavers found a sharp decline in the quality of support in recent years. In 2025, the National Audit Office (NAO) reports on the efficiency and resilience of the Probation Service . Following this report, the PAC will take evidence from senior MoJ and HM Prison and Probation Service officials, with likely topics for scrutiny including: quality of service and workforce challenges; staff workload; and impact of the prison capacity crisis, as reported on by the PAC in March 2025 . If you have evidence on these issues, please submit here by 23:59 on Monday 17 November 2025. Please look at the requirements for written evidence submissions and note that the Committee cannot accept material as evidence that is published elsewhere. You can request anonymity or confidentiality when you send evidence, but it is the Committee which decides what information to publish and how. It may treat submissions confidentially, even where you have not requested this. Please note that the Committee’s inquiry cannot assist with individual cases. If you need help with an individual problem you are having, you may wish to read the information on Parliament’s website about who you can contact with different issues . Show less

15 Recommendations

12 Conclusions

1 Report

1 Oral session

2 Letters

1 Event

Activity timeline 6 events

21 May
2026

Correspondence

Letter to the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Justice relating to Efficiency and resilience of the probation service, 21 May 2026

7 Apr
2026

Report published

Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Sixty-fifth report from Session 2024-26

4 Feb
2026

Report published

65th Report - Efficiency and resilience of the Probation Service

8 Jan
2026

Correspondence

Letter from the Chief Executive Officer at HM Prison & Probation Service relating to his appearance before the Committee on its Efficiency …

1 Dec
2025

Oral evidence

Oral evidence session

1 Dec
2025

Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House

Committee event

Oral evidence sessions 1 session

1 Dec 2025

View on parliament.uk

Adam Bailey · Ministry of Justice Dr Jo Farrar CB OBE · Ministry of Justice James McEwen · Ministry of Justice Jim Barton · HM Prisons and Probation Service Kim Thornden-Edwards · HMPPS

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
65th Report - Efficiency and resilience of the Probation Service	HC 1235	4 Feb 2026	27	Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

9 results

7 Conclusion Acknowledged

65th Report - Efficiency and resil…

Probation Service performance has significantly worsened since 2021, failing most key targets.

HMPPS monitors performance against a range of targets to indicate whether the Probation Service is meeting its aims. Metrics for these targets measure activities at each stage of supervision against HMPPS’s target operating model, for example, the timeliness of appointments, … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees that the Probation Service should demonstrate improvements, focusing on implementing the Sentencing Act and independent sentencing review, establishing a sustainable delivery model, and introducing a revised performance framework by April 2026.

HM Treasury

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8 Conclusion Acknowledged

65th Report - Efficiency and resil…

Workforce shortages and high staff turnover remain key reasons for poor Probation Service performance.

We pressed MoJ on why performance had worsened over the last few years. MoJ explained that workforce shortages, which it inherited upon unification, exacerbated by high staff turnover, were the main reason for poor performance.10 Written evidence from the Rehabilitating … Read more

Government Response

HM Treasury

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9 Conclusion Acknowledged

65th Report - Efficiency and resil…

In written evidence The Prison Reform Trust told us that it welcomed the government’s commitment to increase probation funding by up to £700 million by 2028–29, but raised concerns that it is not clear how much will be allocated for … Read more

Government Response

MoJ and HMPPS will write to the Committee to provide an update on funding for third sector rehabilitative services.

HM Treasury

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Government Response AI assessment · 26 of 15 classified

Accepted 16

Acknowledged 9

Not Addressed 1

Total 15 recs + 12 conclusions

Correspondence 2 letters

21 May 2026 From committee Letter to the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Justice relating to Efficiency and resilience of the probation service, 21 May 2026

Parliament page

8 Jan 2026 To committee Letter from the Chief Executive Officer at HM Prison & Probation Service relating to his appearance before the Committee on its Efficiency and resilience of the Probation Service evidence session on 01 December 2025, 15 December 2025

Parliament page