1st Edition
by Philip Bean (Author)
Privatisation was introduced into
the probation service on the 1st June 2014 whereby work with medium and
low risk offenders went to a number of private and voluntary bodies,
work with high risk offenders remained with the State. The National
Probation Service (NPS) covered State work whilst the 35 existing
Probation Trusts were replaced by 21 Community Rehabilitation Companies
(CRCs). Staff were allocated to either side of the divide but all
remained as probation officers. The effect was that the existing
probation service lost control of all but 30,000 of the most high risk
cases, with the other 220,000 low to medium risk offenders being farmed
out to private firms. Privatisation was justified as the only available
way of achieving important policy objectives of extending post release
supervision to offenders on short sentences, a group who are the most
prolific offenders with high reconviction rates yet who receive no
statutory support.
This book describes the process by which the
probation service became privatised, assessing its impact on the
probation service itself, and on the criminal justice system generally.
It considers both the justifications for privatisation, as well as the
criticisms of it, and asks to what extent the probation service can
survive such changes, and what future it has as a service dedicated to
the welfare of offenders. It demonstrates how the privatisation of
probation can be seen as a trend away from traditional public service in
criminal justice towards an emphasis on efficiency and cost
effectiveness.
This book is essential reading for criminology
students engaged with criminal justice, social policy, probation,
punishment and working with offenders. It will also be key reading for
practitioners and policy makers in jurisdictions where there is an
interest in extending their own privatisation practice.