Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 13 November 2023 to Question 340 on Probation Service: Staff, how many and what proportion of probation officers have workloads that are above 100% on the Workload Management Tool in each region.

The Probation Service currently uses the Workload Measurement Tool (WMT) as an indicator and as one of several sources of information to support management of workloads. There are, however, significant limitations with using the WMT to monitor workload due to its daily fluctuation, capacity for human error and the challenges in accounting for periods of leave and case support. The WMT is therefore only one element of probation capacity and should be considered alongside the situational context and other reporting routes.

This table shows by region the proportion of POs who are over 100% (as of the 22 November 2023) on the WMT. To note, the WMT is not considered a reliable estimate of total staff.

Recruitment and retention remain a priority across the Probation Service and we have injected extra funding of more than £155 million a year to deliver more robust supervision, recruit thousands more staff and reduce caseloads to keep the public safer. The Probation Service is in its second year of a multi-year pay deal for its staff. Salary values of all pay bands will increase each year, targeted at key operational grades to improve a challenging recruitment and retention position. Positively, the Probation Service leaving rate was 9.9% in the 12 months to 30 September 2023, a decrease from the previous 12 months.

The Probation Service saw an increase of 2,170 FTE or 11.8% (Probation Service grades) since September 2022. There has been an increase across all Probation Service grades such Senior Probation Officer (13.0%), Probation Officers (6.9%), Other Band 4-6 (16.0%) and in particular Other Bands 1 to 3 staff saw an increase of 1,260 FTE staff (26.4%), following centrally run recruitment for key grades supporting frontline staff. We have accelerated recruitment of trainee Probation Officers (PQiPs) to increase staffing levels, particularly in Probation Delivery Units (PDUs) with the most significant staffing challenges.There were 2,185 staff, equivalent to 2,164 FTE, as at 30 September 2023 undertaking the PQiP training, which we anticipate will start to directly impact on the reduction of caseloads as they qualify.