25.06.13
Probation privatisation risk leading to ‘delivery failures’ – MoJ
The privatisation of probation services could put the public at risk, officials at the Ministry of Justice have warned justice secretary Chris Grayling.
Grayling plans to put 70% of probation services for medium and low-risk prisoners out to tender under a payment by results system. He has proposed abolishing the 35 existing public probation trusts and replacing them with 21 government companies to tender this supervision.
The official internal risk register, which Grayling has refrained from publishing, warns that there is an over 80% risk that the proposals will lead to “an unacceptable drop in operational performance” triggering “delivery failures and reputational damage”.
There are also concerns around whether enough private organisations and charities will bid for the work, or that they will be able to meet the required quality of service.
Peers will vote today on the Offender’s Rehabilitation Bill, which lays the legal framework for greater privatisation of probation services.
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