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News Archives: Index

October 7, 2010: Probation Set For Industrial Action

October 5, 2010: Turning Prisoners Into Taxpayers

October 4, 2010: Murder Changes Now In Force

September 20, 2010: Probation Programmes Face Cuts

August 24, 2010: Victorian Poor Law Records Online

August 10, 2010: Justice Job Cuts

July 28, 2010: Prison Violence Growing

July 22, 2010: Police Numbers: Latest Figures

July 22, 2010: New Jurisdiction Rules

July 16, 2010: CCJS On Prison And Probation Spending Under Labour

July 15, 2010: Latest Statistics On Violent And Sexual Crime

July 15, 2010: Latest National Crime Figures

July 15, 2010: New Chief Prisons Inspector

July 14, 2010: Hard Times Ahead For Prisons: Anne Owers

July 14, 2010: Prison Does Not Work: Ken Clarke

July 13, 2010: Criminal Justice Reform: Sentencing and Rehabilitation

July 13, 2010: Criminal Justice Reform Priorities

July 12, 2010: What Price Public Protection, Asks Probation Chief Inspector

July 12, 2010: NOMS has failed, says Napo

July 10, 2010: IPCC To Investigate Death of Raoul Moat

July 9, 2010: Women In Prison: New Report

July 9, 2009: Unjust Deserts: Imprisonment for Public Protection

July 8, 2010: Police Search Powers Change

July 7, 2010: Make 'Legal High' Illegal, Says ACMD

July 2, 2010: Failing Children In Prison

July 2, 2010: Police Buried Under a Blizzard of Guidance: HMIC

July 1, 2010: Freedom To Change The Law?

June 30, 2010: A New Outlook On Penal Reform?

June 30, 2010: Revolving Door Of Offending Must Stop, Says Clarke

June 30, 2010: Ken Clarke: Speech on Criminal Justice Reform

June 29, 2010: No More Police Targets

June 26, 2010: Family Intervention Projects Questioned

June 25, 2010: Cutting Criminal Justice

June 24, 2010: Napo on Sex Offenders Report

June 23, 2010: Closing Courts: The Cuts Begin

June 23, 2010: Strategy To Tackle Gangs

June 15, 2010: Courts and Mentally Disordered Offenders

June 8, 2010: Working With Muslims in Prison

June 1, 2010: Your Chance To Nominate a QC

November 7, 2006: Probation Union Response

Responding today to the Home Secretary’s statement on the Probation Service and to revelations in the BBC Panorama programme, Harry Fletcher, Assistant General Secretary of Probation Union Napo said:

“The Probation Service has been set over 30 targets by this Government. It is performing better than ever at all levels, indeed many targets are exceeded. Last year over 14,000 offenders under supervision were deemed high risk to the public. Most were ex-prisoners on parole. 0.6% of them were convicted of a further serious offence during 2005. The Probation Service does not have the resources or the authority to offer 24-hour surveillance of those offenders thought dangerous. The Home Secretary needs to look at why if prisoners are deemed dangerous or are a risk to the public they are being released in the first place.”

“Hostels are not, and cannot legally be, prisons. The majority of residents are ex-prisoners and nearly half are convicted sex offenders. All residents must observe hostel rules such as a night time curfew and a ban on drugs and alcohol. Any individual who breaches these rules risks being returned to custody. The Panorama programme does not criticise probation practice. If the Home Secretary wants more intensive supervision then he must supply considerable numbers of additional trained and experienced staff.”