Summary
New figures show that one-third of probation appointments in the UK were missed over the last three years due to heavy staff workloads. The missed appointments involve high-risk offenders, raising concerns about public safety and reoffending. The government plans to reduce workloads by hiring more probation officers and expanding the use of monitoring tags.
Key Facts
- About one-third of probation appointments were missed in the UK from 2023 to 2025.
- High-risk offenders, such as child abusers and rapists, missed around 32% of their appointments.
- The government plans to hire more probation officers and use tags to monitor offenders.
- The probation caseload grew to over 241,000 cases by March 2025.
- New technology will alert authorities if offenders approach their victims.
- The government will consider tagging more offenders on their release from prison.
- A pilot project costing £5 million will test new monitoring technology.
- Security contractor Serco is responsible for managing the electronic tagging system.
