Why probation needs the third sector
As the justice system shifts increasing numbers of people into the community, HM Chief Inspector of Probation, Martin Jones, says probation cannot succeed without the support of the third sector.
The overlooked part of the justice system
“Too much time is spent focused on prisons” said Martin Jones, HM Chief Inspector of Probation, at StandOut’s “in conversation” event last week.
If you cast your mind back to early September 2024, when the number of people in custody hit a record high and the Government had to act quickly to bring numbers down from crisis levels, this might sound counterintuitive.
But Jones has a point.
It can be easy to forget the “system” in justice system. To see prisons, probation, the courts as separate – even competing – entities, rather than interdependent components of a whole, the success of each depending on that of the other.
If we want safer communities (and a sustainable prison population), we must remember the interconnectedness of criminal justice and focus on prisons, yes, but on everything that comes before and after too. That includes, crucially, support in the community.
Why this matters now
Policymakers can’t afford to overlook this any longer, because while prisons dominate the public conversation around criminal justice, the reality is that far more people are supervised outside prison than in it.
According to the most recent figures available, there were 87,000 people in prison but 250,000 on probation’s caseload – 70% of whom were in the community.
And with the implementation of the Sentencing Act 2026 – designed to ease the prison population crisis – pressure will continue to shift through the system, from custody to the community. Changes such as the presumption against short sentences, the ability to suspend sentences for longer, and earlier releases through the earned progression model will lead to more people than ever being supervised by probation.
The service is being asked to do more before it’s ready
Yet the service is already overstretched. While the crisis in our prisons has unfolded loudly across the media, the one in probation has rolled on in relative silence. Too few staff with too little experience are managing too high caseloads, in a service which “still bears the scars of change” from its 2014 privatisation and subsequent renationalisation seven years later.
This has led, Jones says, to a loss of “probation craft” – the art of balancing supervision and support – and leaves little room for the face-to-face work that has been shown to secure change and progress in the community.
At last week’s event, he drew attention to the importance of that relational work which is so vital for people building a life after prison, asking:
“Does the service understand enough about the people they are working with? Do they understand their lives, their problems, their worries, their needs, their risks? Our inspections tell us they do not.”
The statistics tell us that too. In the last 12 months for which numbers are available, a record 57,000 people were released from prison, and 48,000 people were recalled to custody. This is twice as many as were recalled in the same quarter three years ago and is not, Jones says, a sign of a healthy system. Rising recall numbers raise important questions about whether people are getting the support they need to succeed after release.
Reasons for cautious optimism
Yet Jones is clear these challenges are not insurmountable. While too early to speak of “green shoots”, the Government has begun to invest in probation, and changes are starting to take root.
Jones is seeing improvements in recruitment and retention, which means more probation officers. And new initiatives such as Justice Transcribe [1] are helping those staff members to move out from behind their computer screens and in front of people in probation, where that vital face-to-face work can happen.
The role of the voluntary sector
While the service’s “engagement scores” show an increased ability to develop positive relationships with people on probation and an insight into their needs, the challenge of meeting those needs remains – and this, Jones says, is where the third sector comes in.
“We need to harness the expertise, the innovation, the resources in the third sector to ensure we provide better support and services for people. We know that most people in prison have huge unmet need that contributes to reoffending and poor outcomes. Working with organisations like StandOut we can surely better prepare people for their release from prison.”
During his presentation, Jones drew comparisons between youth services – which score significantly better – and adult probation, noting that the distinguishing factors are a ‘child-first’ (or person-centred) approach, a focus on local need, and strong partnership working. He advocated for all three in probation, seeing success in a model where local services work together to understand and meet the needs of the people they support.
Small, third sector organisations – like StandOut – are often particularly well placed to provide that locally rooted, person-centred support and help turn understanding into action.
Meeting need together
Perhaps the most encouraging sign is a growing recognition that the challenges facing people leaving prison cannot be tackled by any one part of the system alone. Probation services can identify need, but they cannot meet every need on their own. Equally, the third sector cannot be expected to absorb growing demand without adequate investment.
As more people are supervised in the community, meaningful progress will depend on strong partnerships between probation, local services and voluntary organisations, backed by the resources needed to make those partnerships effective.
With thanks to Martin Jones for joining us. See here for the full keynote speech.
[1] Justice Transcribe is an AI tool which transcribes conversations between probation officers and people being supervised in the community, making significant time savings for frontline staff.