Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Oral Statement of 16 October 2023 on Prison Capacity, Official Report, column 60, if he will make an assessment of the capacity of the probation service to manage an increased number of community orders in the next two years.

It is right to suggest that the measures announced may have an impact on the Probation Service, which is why we are committed to ensuring that Probation can meet any additional demand.

We have increased funding for the Probation Service by an additional £155m a year to recruit staff, to bring down caseloads and deliver better supervision of offenders in the community.

We continue to focus on staffing levels through employment of experienced staff, recruitment of trainee Probation Officers and improving retention. We have exceeded recruitment targets and since 2020, 4,000 new trainees have joined which will help bring down caseloads and help meet additional demand.