Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure that the workload of probation officers currently employed by community rehabilitation companies in Wales will be adequately covered while they transfer to the National Probation Service.

The current workload held by existing Probation Officers within the Wales Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) will be protected as they will continue to work with their existing caseload only at the point of transfer into the Wales National Probation Service (NPS).

This will ensure that Wales CRC staff will continue to manage their existing cases until they are trained in the latest practices and protocols of working with high risk of harm and those who sexually offend.

Post transition in December, staff workload will be reviewed by managers in order to monitor workloads and allocate resources accordingly. On conclusion of transition, all caseloads will be reviewed by management in line NPS workload management practices.