An Opportunity

For those either living and/or working in London, here's an opportunity to have your say on what you think of the 'new look' probation service:- 

Probation in London

The London Assembly Police and Crime Committee has launched an investigation into the London Probation Service.

We will consider how the London Probation Service is working in partnership with statutory agencies and voluntary sector organisations since reunification, to support people under probation supervision and reduce their risk of reoffending.

Background

In June 2021, the London Probation Service was established, signalling a major change in how probation services are delivered across London. The creation of the London Probation Service was part of wider reforms to the delivery of probation services across England and Wales.

These reforms brought to an end the previous Transforming Rehabilitation model, which split the delivery of probation between privately-operated Community Rehabilitation Companies and the state-run National Probation Service. In its place, the Probation Service was established, with London as one of its 12 regional units across England and Wales.

The reunified service is responsible for the delivery of all sentence management, Unpaid Work, structured interventions and the commissioning of rehabilitative and resettlement services from third-party providers.

One-year on from these reforms, the Police and Crime Committee will consider how well the reunified model is operating and whether it is working as effectively as it can with partner agencies such as the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC), the Metropolitan Police, London Boroughs, voluntary organisations and community sector organisations, to reduce reoffending.

Key questions

1. What, if any, improvements have there been in the delivery of probation services in London one-year on from reunification? Please refer to any aspect of probation delivery you have knowledge of, i.e. 

• advice provided to court
• pre-release planning
• resettlement support
• access to accommodation
• sentence management
• delivery of Unpaid Work, accredited programmes and structured interventions.

2. How have changes to probation services affected partnership working between the London Probation Service, MOPAC and the Met?

3. Has the experience of those bidding for contracts or applying for grants to deliver services under the new model improved, either through the London Probation Service or MOPAC?

4. What further action could MOPAC and the London Probation Service take to access voluntary sector expertise in the design and delivery of services aimed at reducing reoffending?

5. Are the specific needs of women being met under the reunified probation service?

6. Are there particular challenges facing Black, Asian and/or minority ethnic people under probation supervision in London?

7. Are the specific needs of other groups of Londoners being met under the reunified probation service? For example, disabled people, people who are LGBTIQA+, older people etc.

8. Do you have any other thoughts in relation to probation services in London not covered by the questions above?

How to get involved

Submissions should aim to address any of the questions outlined above, and other issues that are relevant to the investigation.

We are keen to hear from probation practitioners, campaigners, voluntary sector organisations, London boroughs and anyone else with an interest in this topic. We also particularly welcome evidence from service users and those with lived experience of probation services in London and are open to receiving evidence in different formats, such as videos or voice recordings if that makes it easier for someone to respond.

To contribute, please send submissions to the committee by the deadline of Monday 18 July 2022 by emailing scrutiny@london.gov.uk using 'PCC - probation investigation’ as the subject title.