21 October 2005
Controversial proposals to overhaul the probation service by opening it up to competition met with fierce criticism this week from employers and unions alike.
A leaked letter from Home Secretary Charles Clarke to Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott revealed Clarke's intention to transfer the statutory duty for delivering probation services from England and Wales' 42 probation boards to the home secretary.
'This will enable the [national and regional offender managers] acting on my behalf, to contract directly for both prison and probation services with a range of providers from the private, not-for-profit and public sectors,' Clarke said in the September 30 letter.
He went on to say: 'I propose to abolish existing probation boards and create new smaller, more business-focused bodies.'
The government hopes to introduce a Bill in early December.
The move would help to boost the powers of the National Offender Management Service, the merged prison and probation service that will provide 'end-to-end management' of offenders. As Public Finance went to press, the Home Office was due to release a consultation paper on the proposals.
But the Probation Boards Association said the proposal was misguided and would undermine efforts to make society safer.
PBA chief executive Martin Wargent said: 'There needs to be a full debate on how local people can be more, not less, involved. And there needs to be full discussion on the consequences of local governance disappearing.'
Harry Fletcher, assistant general secretary of the National Association of Probation Officers, forecast massive resistance and industrial action. 'We could have the absurd situation of Securicor or Group 4 writing court reports and recommending prison to boost numbers,' he said.
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