Infected Blood Compensation Scheme
(1 week, 1 day ago)
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The Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office (Nick Thomas-Symonds)
In August 2024, I established the infected blood compensation scheme in regulations. This enabled the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) to begin making compensation payments to people who are infected and the work to progress payments quickly continues as an absolute priority.
Today I laid before Parliament the draft Infected Blood Compensation Scheme Regulations 2025. These regulations need to be debated and approved by both Houses before they can come into force. Once in force, the regulations will provide IBCA with the powers it needs to begin making payments to eligible affected people (such as partners, parents, children, siblings and, in some instances, carers) this year, and to make payments to eligible people through the supplementary routes. This is in addition to maintaining the core route for eligible infected people as established last year. As we set out in August, the infected blood compensation scheme is tariff-based, with the core route setting out tariffs which are intended to work in a way which would be appropriate for the majority of people applying to the scheme.
The Government have published an accompanying explanatory memorandum and equalities impact assessment alongside the regulations on legislation.gov.uk. On gov.uk, we have published an updated compensation scheme explainer and an addendum report from the expert group.
I would also like to welcome the progress being made in delivering compensation. In addition to the over £1 billion of interim compensation payments we have paid, IBCA has now invited 113 people to claim compensation. So far, 23 offers have been made, totalling over £34 million and 14 offers have been accepted and paid, totalling over £13 million. IBCA remains on track to invite 250 people to apply by the end of March and will continue to publish the monthly statistics on its website. However, this is only the beginning, and there is much more work to do.
By laying these regulations, we are one step closer to having the entire infected blood compensation scheme fully established in law. This will be a significant moment for all those who have waited for this for too long. My aim remains for these regulations to be in place by 31 March and I hope parliamentarians from across both Houses support these regulations so that we can finally focus solely on delivering compensation to those who have waited for justice for so long.
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Security and Intelligence Agencies: Contingencies Fund Advance 2024-25
(1 week, 1 day ago)
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The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Ms Abena Oppong-Asare)
The security and intelligence agencies will be seeking a supplementary estimate for 2024-25. As it will be some time before the associated legislation receives Royal Assent, the agencies are seeking an advance from the Contingencies Fund in order to meet contractual commitments. Parliamentary approval for additional resource of £56,879,000, capital of £51,762,000 and cash movements of £168,000,000 will be sought in a supplementary estimate for the security and intelligence agencies. Pending that approval, urgent expenditure estimated at £276,641,000 will be met by repayable cash advances from the Contingencies Fund. As the security and intelligence agencies are non-ministerial departments, I am making this statement on behalf of their accounting officer to ensure that Parliament is informed of this advance from the Contingencies Fund.
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Statutory Gambling Levy: Prevention
(1 week, 1 day ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Stephanie Peacock)
I am repeating the following written ministerial statement made today in the other place by my noble Friend, the Minister for Gambling and DCMS Lords Minister, Baroness Twycross:
Today I am updating the House on the Government’s plans to introduce the statutory gambling levy, further to the Government’s response to the levy consultation published on 27 November 2024.
In that response, the Government were clear that delivering prevention activity at the local, regional, and national levels with effective commissioning and oversight arrangements is highly complex and needed further consideration. The levy will for the first time provide increased, independent, dedicated investment for prevention initiatives and we wanted to take the time to get the policy right, while ensuring necessary legislation is passed. It is a priority for the Government to have the levy in place by April 2025 with funding flowing as soon as possible thereafter.
To ensure that there is sufficient trust, expertise and authority in the use of the levy funding for prevention, I can confirm that we have appointed the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) in the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to take on the role as lead commissioning body in this area for England, alongside appropriate bodies in Scotland and Wales.
Prevention remains a crucial part of the Government’s efforts to tackle gambling-related harm. An effective prevention plan seeks to identify the right mix of interventions to be applied at both the population and individual level. In its broadest sense, prevention will include a wide spectrum of measures, including but not limited to regulatory restrictions on products, place, and provider, as well as tailored measures for at-risk groups and individuals, including education and early intervention activities, with the ultimate goal of delivering on the Government’s objective to reduce gambling-related harm in Great Britain.
That is why the Government are increasing investment through the levy to facilitate a comprehensive approach to harm reduction in all three nations of Great Britain. We will allocate 30% of levy funding to the prevention stream, up to £30 million each year, alongside the significant funding allocated for research and treatment.
Ringfenced investment in this area will help to encourage innovation and support a strengthened, integrated and co-ordinated approach to prevention in Britain. As the Government’s lead on improving England’s health, we are confident OHID is well-placed to capitalise on its expertise and relationships in this area. It will maximise the impact of the dedicated funding the UK Government are putting behind this effort.
OHID, working closely with appropriate bodies in Scotland and Wales will seek to develop a comprehensive approach to prevention and early intervention, supporting improvement across respective nations. OHID and appropriate bodies in Scotland and Wales will undertake necessary design work to determine the final scope of prevention activity, working closely with the research and treatment leads to ensure a joined-up approach. We will develop and provide clear and measurable outcomes for the prevention strand of the statutory levy system, as we have already done for research and treatment. However, future activity may focus on:
Awareness-raising: building the public’s understanding of the risks associated with gambling-related harm, is crucial to preventing harm before it occurs. Population level campaigns could be used to raise awareness of gambling-related harm and reduce the stigma often associated with seeking help.
Local and regional initiatives: delivery of more upstream interventions to address harms earlier and more effectively at local and regional levels, with interventions tailored to the needs of those communities, and the development of a national approach would be a significant step forward.
Building capacity: providing investment for organisations, particularly those in frontline settings, to further understand and deliver harm reduction activities that will reduce harm for at-risk people.
The statutory levy will for the first time provide ringfenced investment towards the prevention of gambling-related harms. Together with OHID and the wider levy system, we are confident that the levy will play a crucial role in the Government’s manifesto commitment to reducing gambling-related harm.
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Contingency Fund Advance: UKAEA Pension Scheme
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Kerry McCarthy)
I hereby give notice of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s intention to seek an advance from the Contingencies Fund of £55,000,000 for the UK Atomic Energy Authority pension schemes. This is a cash request to enable pension payments to be made as they fall due.
Parliamentary approval for additional cash of £55,000,000 will be sought in a supplementary estimate for UK Atomic Energy Authority pension schemes. Pending that approval, urgent expenditure estimated at £55,000,000 will be met by repayable cash advances from the Contingencies Fund.
The cash advance will be repaid upon receiving Royal Assent on the Supply and Appropriation (Anticipation and Adjustments) Bill.
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Manston Inquiry
(1 week, 1 day ago)
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The Minister for Border Security and Asylum (Dame Angela Eagle)
In fulfilment of the commitments made by the former Home Secretary, the right hon. Member for Fareham and Waterlooville (Suella Braverman), I am today announcing the establishment of an article 3 ECHR non-statutory independent inquiry to investigate the conditions encountered by those detained at Manston short-term holding facility between June and November 2022.
The inquiry will investigate the decisions, actions and circumstances which led to those conditions, and will reach conclusions on the treatment of those detained. The inquiry may make recommendations regarding the conditions and should investigate whether there are lessons to be learned regarding the Home Office’s handling of the incident.
The formal start date of the inquiry will be 17 March 2025 and I will place a copy of the terms of reference for the inquiry in the Libraries of both Houses.
The inquiry will be chaired by Sophie Cartwright KC, who has experience in inquests and inquiries. Arrangements for the inquiry will be a matter for her, but as the sponsoring Department, the Home Office will provide support and ensure the inquiry has the resources needed to fulfil its terms of reference.
The Government will make no comment on issues which are now in the purview of the inquiry until it has concluded, but we will encourage all current and former public officials with evidence to provide to the inquiry to co-operate with its requests for assistance.
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Security Service: Correction of Evidence
(1 week, 1 day ago)
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The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Yvette Cooper)
The purpose of this statement is to notify the House that MI5 has corrected previously incorrect evidence that it provided to the High Court and the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, in relation to the case of agent X and alleged acts of domestic abuse. The High Court has today varied the injunction covering this case which allows further information to be reported. The Investigatory Powers Tribunal case is continuing and is expected to conclude later this year.
It is clearly a very serious matter to provide incorrect information to the court and MI5 has apologised directly for this.
I have commissioned an independent external review to report to me and to the director general of MI5 to understand what led to incorrect information being provided by MI5 to the High Court. Sir Jonathan Jones KC, former HM Procurator General, Treasury Solicitor and head of the Government Legal Service, will lead the review and ensure that an independent authoritative view can be taken on what went wrong, and any actions MI5 needs to take to prevent a similar occurrence in the future. Sir Jonathan will report his findings directly to me and Sir Ken McCallum, and I will ensure these are shared with the Investigatory Powers Commissioner and the Intelligence and Security Committee.
MI5 does an incredibly difficult and important job every single day to keep our country safe from a wide range of threats, working to the highest of standards, and it is of course essential that those high standards must always be maintained.
Protecting national security is the first duty of the state, and the work of our intelligence agencies is critical to keeping the UK and its citizens safe. Covert human intelligence sources—or agents—play a crucial role in that work, and maintaining the secrecy of their identities is essential to protect them, their families, the vital intelligence they provide, and the recruitment of future sources.
The Government maintain and support the principle of neither confirming nor denying allegations about whether individuals may or may not be operating on behalf of the UK intelligence agencies.
The Investigatory Powers Tribunal case to which this incorrect evidence was provided is still ongoing, and therefore I cannot provide further information or comment to the House on this case at this time.
The Government are also clear that all organisations must have robust safeguarding policies under continuous review and must take any allegation of domestic abuse extremely seriously. The public and Parliament must have the highest confidence in the processes in place to protect the most vulnerable and protect those most at risk in society.
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Social and Affordable Housebuilding and Supported Housing: Next Steps
(1 week, 1 day ago)
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The Minister for Housing and Planning (Matthew Pennycook)
Further support for social and affordable housebuilding and next steps on supported housing
England is in the grip of an acute and entrenched housing crisis. The detrimental consequences of this disastrous state of affairs are now all-pervasive. We have a generation locked out of homeownership; 1.3 million people languishing on social housing waiting lists; millions of low-income households forced into insecure, unaffordable and far too often sub-standard private rented housing; and 160,000 homeless children living in temporary accommodation.
Among the most important causes of the housing crisis is a failure over many decades to build enough homes of all tenures to meet housing demand and housing need. That is why the Government’s plan for change includes an ambitious milestone of delivering 1.5 million safe and decent homes in this Parliament.
We are also determined to deliver the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation. Today, I am announcing further support for the affordable homes programme and the local authority housing fund, and outlining the steps the Government intend to take to raise standards and better regulate supported housing.
Affordable homes programme
We will set out details of new investment to succeed the 2021-26 affordable homes programme at the spending review later this year. This new investment will deliver a mix of homes for sub-market rent and homeownership, with a particular focus on delivering homes for social rent.
In October 2024, we announced £500 million in new in-year funding for the affordable homes programme. As a result of significant demand from housing providers across the country, that additional funding is already oversubscribed.
I am therefore pleased to announce that the Government are allocating a further £300 million to the affordable homes programme. This will support the near-term delivery of more social and affordable housing, delivering up to 2,800 new homes with more than half being social rent homes.
Local authority housing fund
In addition to further funding for the 2021-26 affordable homes programme, I am announcing a £50 million increase to the third round of the local authority housing fund (LAHF 3). This takes the total funding for this round of the programme to £500 million, alongside about £30 million of existing funding being reallocated.
LAHF provides funding to local authorities to help them deliver better-quality temporary accommodation and to support UK commitments to those on Afghan resettlement schemes who are fleeing persecution. The fund’s third round, which we confirmed in July 2024, has had high levels of interest from local authorities, with over 150 taking part. In total, LAHF 3 will deliver more than 2,700 homes by 2026.
The majority of the additional £50 million allocated will be used to procure better-quality temporary accommodation so that local authorities can appropriately support local families in need of housing.
We recently invited councils to express an interest in delivering additional housing through LAHF, and we will be contacting those councils shortly to confirm the allocation of both the additional and reallocated funding.
Supported housing
While there are many excellent supported housing providers undertaking crucial work to help vulnerable people get back on their feet and improve their lives, there are still significant numbers of unscrupulous providers who fail to provide high-quality accommodation to their tenants and a minority of rogue exempt accommodation operators who exploit gaps in the existing regulatory regime to profiteer.
The impact of poor-quality, non-commissioned exempt accommodation on vulnerable individuals can be devastating, whether it is the physical and mental consequences of living in squalid conditions, the risks that arise from the absence of effective supervision and safeguarding arrangements, the money gouged from hard-up residents through service charge costs that are ineligible for housing benefit purposes, or simply the inability to sustain an exempt accommodation tenancy, or to move on from one, because of a lack of care or support.
This Government are determined to improve the quality of accommodation in the supported housing sector and assisting local authorities to drive up standards in their areas. That is why we are committed to implementing the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023.
We are today announcing that on 20 February 2025, we will publish a consultation on a number of the regulatory reforms contained within it. These include proposals for national supported housing standards and a locally-led licensing regime to give local authorities the powers they need to effectively manage the supported housing markets in their areas.
We are committed to taking a sensible and proportionate approach to the introduction of these planned reforms and we look forward to receiving feedback through the consultation from good providers, local authorities and residents to ensure we get things right.
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Electoral Commission Reports on the 2024 Elections: Government Response
(1 week, 1 day ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Rushanara Ali)
Our democratic systems and institutions are strong and are rightly admired around the world. This Government will build on this, further strengthening our democracy and encouraging full participation from eligible voters.
It was a challenge to deliver separate local and general elections in 2024, following complex reforms to electoral law and parliamentary boundary changes. The entire electoral community rose to this challenge. I am grateful to returning officers, electoral registration officers and their teams for their hard work and dedication to the successful delivery of these polls—and to every volunteer who gave their time to support the democratic process.
The Electoral Commission, in line with its duties, reported in September 2024 on voter identification at the 2024 general election; and in November 2024 on how that election was delivered, as well as the delivery of the May local elections, police and crime commissioner elections and mayoral elections in England and Wales. I am pleased to publish today the Government’s response to the Electoral Commission’s reports.
I welcome the Commission’s views and recommendations and thank them for their work. I note the many positives from their findings: most importantly that the elections were well run, and electors were highly satisfied with the processes of registration and voting, despite delivering two sets of polls in short succession. I welcome the marked increase in voter confidence since 2019: 83% of the public reported a high confidence in the polls and 87% believed the polls were free from fraud and abuse. Those numbers are a testament to the efforts from across the electoral community in the intervening period—but also an encouragement to improve further.
I also note the challenges that the commission’s reports highlight. We treat their recommendations seriously; this response sets out what this Government are doing about them. Disability must not be a barrier to participation: there is clearly more to be done to help disabled voters access the support that is their legal right where they need it. We must also tackle the unacceptable intimidatory and abusive behaviour some candidates face when standing for public office; review and improve voter identification rules, to make it easier for legitimate voters; reduce the risk to delivery through improved electoral processes; and widen participation in our democracy.
This Government will work with our partners to increase participation in elections, to ensure a wider range of voices is heard and that people’s views are fairly represented. We will deliver on our manifesto commitments to improve registration, extend the right to vote to those 16 and over for all UK elections, review and improve the voter ID rules, and strengthen the political finance framework.
These reforms are not the sum total of our ambition. We continue to work with our partners to scrutinise and improve our election processes, even as we reflect further on the commission’s reports and develop practical responses.
In parallel to this response to the Electoral Commission’s reports, I am also pleased to publish the findings of an independent, nationally representative public opinion survey related to voting in the UK, undertaken by Ipsos. This is the third wave of a set of surveys conducted on behalf of the Government to understand elector attitudes to and experiences of several measures in the Elections Act 2022, including voter ID, accessibility and absent voting. Further work will follow, with this research contributing to the Government’s evaluation of the impact of the Elections Act 2022 on the 2024 general election. That evaluation will be published in spring 2025. This Government are determined that all eligible voters will be able to cast their vote, with support where necessary.
The Government will work closely with the Electoral Commission and key stakeholders from across the sector to further understand and assess the impact of recent and future reforms. I am pleased to announce that we will be bringing all this work together into an overall Government strategy for elections, setting out the Government’s approach to elections and electoral reform for this Parliament. This will be published later this year.
We are the custodians of an internationally renowned democracy that has endured and evolved over hundreds of years: we will protect our democracy, fix its foundations, and ensure it continues to grow to become stronger, more inclusive and more vibrant than ever before.
The associated documents will be deposited in the Libraries of both Houses.
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Grenfell Tower
(1 week, 1 day ago)
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The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Angela Rayner)
I want to provide the House with an update on the Government’s work with the Grenfell community and on my decision about the future of Grenfell Tower.
Supporting the community
Learning the lessons from the Grenfell tragedy and ensuring lasting change are key priorities for the Government. In his statement to this House in September, the Prime Minister (Keir Starmer) committed to supporting the community now and always, and to building a legacy of change in their name.
I am committed to supporting bereaved families, survivors and immediate community, and working to ensure that we never see a repeat of the tragedy. Since my appointment, I have valued hearing directly from the community about the issues that matter to them.
Grenfell Tower
I am responsible for Grenfell Tower and for making a decision about its future. I understand that this is a deeply personal matter for those affected, and I am keeping their voice firmly at the heart of this decision making.
I would like to update the House that over the last week I have met bereaved families and survivors, and residents in the immediate community to explain my decision that Grenfell Tower will be carefully taken down.
Listening to the community
I have reached this decision after listening carefully to the community, and I am grateful to everyone who has shared their personal stories and views, especially bereaved and survivors.
In November last year, I explained to families that I would listen to their views and make sure their voices were heard, as well as consider expert information before making a decision on the future of the tower in February.
From November I offered bereaved and survivors the opportunity to meet in-person in North Kensington and Whitehall, or online, at different times and individually when families felt more comfortable with this. I have also spent time with representative groups, residents’ associations, schools and faith leaders. I am grateful to everyone who shared their view—whether directly with me, with the Minister or officials—and especially to the bereaved and survivors.
The tower was the home of the 72 innocent people who lost their lives, and of survivors whose lives were forever changed. It is clear from conversations it remains a sacred site. It is also clear that there is not a consensus about what should happen to it.
For some, Grenfell Tower is a symbol of all that they lost. The presence of the tower helps to ensure the tragedy is never forgotten and can act as a reminder of the need for justice and accountability. Being able to see the tower every day helps some people continue to feel close to those they lost. For others it is a painful reminder of what happened and is having a daily impact on some members of the community. Some have suggested that some floors of the tower should be retained for the memorial, others have said that this would be too painful.
Expert advice
I also considered independent expert advice. Engineering advice says that the tower is significantly damaged. It remains stable because of the measures put in place to protect it but even with installation of additional props, the condition of the building will continue to worsen over time. Engineers also advise it is not practicable to retain many of the floors of the building in place as part of a memorial that must last in perpetuity.
Taking the engineering advice into account I have concluded that it would not be fair to keep some floors of the building that are significant to some families, while not being able to do so for others and knowing that, for some, this would be upsetting.
How the tower will be taken down
The Government are committed to taking the next steps respectfully and carefully. There will be continued support for, and engagement with, the community throughout the process.
In the coming months, the Government will confirm the specialist contractor that will develop a detailed plan for taking the tower down. The work will be led by technical experts with specific health and safety responsibilities and will include a methodology that includes environmental, health and safety measures and a detailed programme of work. The views the community have shared already will inform the plans. The Department will continue to work with them, for example on arrangements to pay their respects.
There will be no changes to the tower before the eighth anniversary. It will likely take around two years to sensitively take down the tower through a process of careful, progressive deconstruction that happens behind the wrapping.
We continue to support the independent Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission as the community choose a design team to work with them on designing a memorial.
I will ensure that parts of the tower or materials from the site can be carefully removed and returned for inclusion as part of the memorial, if the community wishes.
The Department has regularly consulted the Metropolitan Police, HM Coroner and the Grenfell Tower inquiry to ensure decisions about the site do not interfere with their important work in pursuit of justice and accountability. The Police and HM Coroner have again recently confirmed they have everything they need.
Continued commitment for the community
My commitment to the community continues. I will ensure bereaved families, survivors and residents continue to have opportunities to speak with me and the Building Safety Minister on issues that matter to them most.
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Probation Service: Prioritisation
(1 week, 1 day ago)
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The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Shabana Mahmood)
The Probation Service is an essential part of our criminal justice system. Keeping our streets safe and cutting crime depends upon the vital work of probation officers and staff. Today, it supervises just over a quarter of a million offenders, from those on community sentences to those released from custody. That is not all. The Probation Service provides sentencing advice to judges and magistrates every day in our courts, oversees more than 4 million hours of community payback each year, monitors 9,000 offenders on tags at any given moment, provides a vital link to thousands of victims, through the victims contact and the victims notification schemes and works in close partnership with policing and the voluntary sector to keep our communities safe.
The pressure facing our Probation Service is considerable and I am grateful for everyone who works tirelessly across the system. It is only right to acknowledge the incredibly hard, and often hidden, work that probation officers do across England and Wales. These dedicated staff have been the single constant throughout the last decade of change. We need to ensure that the Probation Service can deliver the vital work that needs to be done to keep the public safe and reduce reoffending. However, the Probation Service this Government inherited was burdened with a workload that was, quite simply, impossible. We need to be honest and open about the state that the Probation Service was left in by the previous Government. The transforming rehabilitation strategy failed. The rhetoric was of a revolution in how we manage offenders, but the reality was far different. Workloads increased, as new offenders were brought under supervision for the first time, and scarce resources were stretched further than ever. We know that morale plummeted, and worrying numbers of staff voted with their feet, leaving the service altogether, leading the then inspector to declare a “national shortage” of probation professionals.
The new structures failed. The privately owned community rehabilitation companies set up to manage medium and low-risk offenders underperformed, and between 2017 and 2018, just five of 37 CRC audits carried out by HMPPS demonstrated that expected standards were being met. In 2019, eight out of the 10 CRCs inspected that year received the lowest possible rating—“inadequate”—for supervising offenders. The chief inspector of probation called them “irredeemably flawed”. The previous Administration reunified the Probation Service but wasted a decade and millions of pounds.
When we took office, we discovered that orders handed out by courts were not taking place. In the three years to March 2024, around 13,000 accredited programmes, a type of rehabilitative course, did not happen. This was not because an offender had failed to do what was expected of them, but instead because the Probation Service had been unable to deliver these courses in the required timeframe.
For that reason, I have asked the Probation Service to put in place a process of prioritisation. Accredited programmes handed down by the courts to those who are considered to have the higher risk of reoffending will be prioritised. This is not a decision I take lightly. But it is a decision to confront the reality of the challenges facing the Probation Service. Those who will not complete an accredited course will remain under the supervision of a probation officer. And all the requirements placed upon them will remain in place. Any breach of a community sentence could see them hauled back into court, and any breach of a licence condition could see them back behind bars.
In July, I committed to bringing on 1,000 trainee probation officers by March of this year—a commitment that we are making progress towards. Next financial year, we will onboard at least another 1,300. New probation officers are the lifeblood of the service, and they will guarantee its future. And I want to ensure that we are taking advantage of the latest technology, like AI. We must give probation staff access to modern digital services, drawing in data from across the justice system. Work is already ongoing that is improving the flow of information that is so critical to an accurate assessment of an offender’s risk, and new tools are beginning to strip away the administrative burden that gets between a probation officer and an offender.
However, given the challenges faced by the Probation Service, new staff and better processes are not sufficient on their own. Faced by a caseload of just over a quarter of a million we need to think about how we use the Probation Service most effectively. If the service is to fulfil its historic purpose—protecting the public by reducing reoffending—we need to look hard at what works, and where officers time is best spent. When it comes to the value of a probation officer’s time the evidence is clear that we must shift more of probation officers’ time towards the higher-risk offenders, spending more time on protecting the public, working with partners, and working with the offender to rehabilitate them and motivate them to change.
This Government will focus the Probation Service on the interventions that have the greatest impact. For lower-risk offenders, we will task probation officers with a swifter intervention. They will spend more time with an offender immediately after their sentencing or release from prison to assess the root causes of an offender’s crime. Then they will refer them to the services that will address that behaviour, which could be education, training, drug treatment or accommodation. Once they are following that direction, as long as the offender stays on the straight and narrow, we must then focus probation officer’s time more effectively. This means more time spent with the offenders who pose the higher risk of harm or reoffending and more time with offenders whose prolific offending causes so much social and economic damage to local communities.
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