Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many probation officers have been suspended for (a) less than one month, (b) between one and three months, (c) between three and six months, (d) between six and 12 months and (e) more than 12 months due to alleged (i) misconduct and (ii) gross misconduct in each of the last three years.

We are unable to provide an answer. Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS)’s central records on suspensions is held as a dataset separate to its conduct and discipline dataset which records misconduct allegation as well as outcomes. We are unable to provide end to end information regarding cases where a suspension has led to a conduct and discipline investigation as the dataset on suspensions does not hold case reference numbers which, in this case, is essential for the data matching to take place.