London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Jul 24, 2025

UK rolls back ‘fundamentally flawed’ £3.7 billion partial privatisation of probation service, but critics warn challenges remain

UK rolls back ‘fundamentally flawed’ £3.7 billion partial privatisation of probation service, but critics warn challenges remain

After “disastrous” privatisation reforms left it “irredeemably flawed,” a renationalised probation service has been launched by the UK government to better supervise offenders. But a watchdog warns there is no “magic-bullet” fix.

In a widely criticised move, former justice secretary Chris Grayling had in 2014 replaced the 35 probation trusts in England and Wales with a new two-tier system. The National Probation Service (NPS), a public sector body, oversaw high-risk criminals, while million-pound contracts to supervise 150,000 low- to medium-risk offenders were auctioned off to some 21 private companies.

The semi-privatised model created by Grayling’s £3.7 billion ($5.1bn) ‘Transforming Rehabilitation’ agenda led to reports of poor-quality supervision of offenders, a rise in prison recall rates, “rock-bottom morale” and low staff-retention rates. The government also bailed out the contractors, known as community rehabilitation companies (CRCs), to the tune of over £500 million ($695mn).

In addition, the number of offenders who end up charged with serious crimes like murder and violent sex crimes while out of prison on probation had gone up significantly in the four-year span from 2015 to 2019.

Citing justice-ministry data, the Daily Mirror revealed last month that the number of prisoners who were charged with murder went up from 70 in 2015 to 137 in 2019. Over that period, the number of charges of attempted murder also rose, from 45 to 68.


On top of this, early-release prisoners were charged with some 999 serious sex crimes, including rape, during the same period. Over the past year, critics have held up notorious serial rapist Joseph McCann, who was able to carry out a sex attack spree after being released early in error, as an example of supervisor inexperience, low standards of quality and other general failings in the system.

Noting that the government had pumped in more than £300 million-worth of additional funding into the service since July 2019, justice secretary Robert Buckland said in a statement that the reunification of the services would ensure “the public is better protected, crime is cut and fewer people become victims.”

The statement notes that this move as well as extra investment in tackling the root “drivers of crime” would help stave off some of the £18 billion annual cost of repeat offending – which, according to Buckland, accounts for about 80% of all recorded crime.

With the reunification, the new Probation Service will supervise some 220,000 offenders on probation and drive the delivery of unpaid volunteer work and rehabilitation programmes. The move brings together 7,000 staff from CRCs and 3,500 public sector probation officers under the same banner.

However, the Inspectorate of Probation, a watchdog body, has warned that while the move to renationalise was welcome, there is much more to be done to address “challenges that should not be underestimated” facing the service.


“There are no magic bullets here: structural change needs to be backed by sustained investment for there to be true improvement. Real transformation is a long-term commitment, and unification is just the beginning of that journey,” chief inspector Justin Russell told The Guardian.

Noting that Grayling’s reforms had been “fundamentally flawed”, Russell stated such concerns as “squeezed budgets,” “relentless pressure” and “unacceptably high caseloads” as factors that have led to probation officer shortages.

“This has inevitably resulted in poorer quality supervision, with over half of the cases we inspected in the private sector probation companies being unsatisfactory on some key aspect of quality,” Russell explained.

The National Association of Probation Officers (NAPO) union echoed these concerns and called for further investment.

“Having realised the mistakes of the past, it’s now time for Government to invest properly in the Probation Service. This means addressing staff shortages, excessive workloads and paying its staff the proper rate for the important work that they undertake in trying to keep the public safe,” NAPO national chair Katie Lomas said in a press release.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
×