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Probation body’s community-service figures recover

The Probation Service says that the number of community-service referral assessments increased last year, after a “notable reduction” reported in 2022. 

The service’s director, Mark Wilson, said that “concerted efforts” to address last year’s drop led to 2,142 assessments last year – an increase of almost 30% compared with 2022. 

Writing in the body’s annual report for 2023, Wilson said that it continued to experience increased demand for its services, due to a surge in activity across the criminal-justice sector after the pandemic.

Court referrals up     

He said that the service was continuing to encounter “significant challenges” in recruiting staff, but had increased staff numbers from 421 to 456 last year after attracting 64 new employees. 

Overall, the service dealt with almost 17,000 offenders in the community and just over 3,000 in prison, and completed almost 11,000 probation reports during the year. 

The report shows that the courts referred just over 9,200 to the service last year – up from 8,600 the previous year. 

Just over 80% of these were males. 

Theft tops offences list 

The service made 7,879 supervision orders during the year – an increase from 7,496 in 2022. 

Theft offences were the main reason that offenders were referred to the service last year. Just over 18% of referrals were in this category, with 18% linked to drugs offences and 17% to assault. 

Those convicted of road traffic offences accounted for just over 20% of community-service orders, despite making up just under 7% of total referrals.