Probation Service failing to assess thousands who pose risk to women, watchdog says
The Probation Service in England and Wales is failing to monitor and assess tens of thousands of offenders who pose a serious risk to women and girls, a watchdog has told the Guardian,Martin Jones, HM chief inspector of probation, launching a six-month inquiry into failings in public protection, said it was inevitable there would be more murders, rapes and serious sexual offences without an improvement,His comments come amid concerns there is a shortfall of staff in the Probation Service, and as the government increases its workload by having more criminals in the community tagged and monitored,Jones said several inspections had found that about a third of offenders who were released into the community were not properly assessed,He said: “What that means, in really sharp terms, is that [probation staff] do not understand enough about the risk of the people that they’re managing.
Where they do have information, they’re not utilising that to mitigate and manage that risk.And what that means, sadly, is that women and children are at risk of violence in some way, largely perpetrated by men on probation.“The probation service is managing 160,000 offenders in the community.We have found that two-thirds of those cases – around 100,000 cases – are not being managed properly … So we are talking about tens of thousands of people who pose a risk to women and girls.”Referring to the case of Damien Bendall, who was categorised as “low risk” by probation staff before murdering an entire family in 2021, Jones warned there would be further examples of serious failings by the Probation Service without urgent reforms.
He said: “It’s inevitable that the deficit in public protection leads to increased risk to the public, and I would anticipate that unless it is properly tackled, you will see an increase in the number of serious further offences that are taking place,”Plans were outlined in the sentencing bill to increase the number of offenders monitored through electronic tagging,Last week the government announced that up to 22,000 more offenders would be tagged each year, under its “plan for change”,Jones said tagging should not be seen as easy to oversee or a way of reducing serious crime,He said: “Bendall wore a tag but it did not prevent his crimes.
And with most offenders, they need help tackling addiction, getting somewhere to live and get a job,Tagging does not help them either,”He said the ability to share information was vital for improving public protection,“If probation don’t understand the risk that somebody poses – that you don’t understand who, for example, is living in a house and the risk of domestic abuse – then you will end up with more tragedies,”Jones’s team has conducted more than 40 inspections of probation offices, which assessed their duty to protect the public, and each one was rated as “inadequate” or “requires improvement”.
In one case examined by Jones’s inspectors, police had been called out to the address of a domestic abuse perpetrator 11 times in five years,The probation service knew children were in the house but had not asked the police for any more detail about the incidents and did not understand enough about how the partner of this perpetrator and their children were at risk,In another, probation officers found that a man who posed a risk to his partner and children received no response when they visited his home three times,Staff should have questioned why he was avoiding visits but did not escalate their concerns with children’s services,Jones said the watchdog’s inspectors would suspend all of their usual inspections of probation offices for six months to concentrate on public protection.
The MoJ has been approached for comment.Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations.In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland.In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673.In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732).
Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio,org/rcip/internl,html
UK faces years of anaemic growth amid tax and regulation burden, says Next
Bosses at the clothing and homeware chain Next are forecasting years of “anaemic” growth across the UK, with the retailer claiming that regulation, government spending and higher taxes will hurt jobs and productivity.The FTSE 100 company, which is headed by the Conservative peer Simon Wolfson, said that while it did not believe the economy was heading towards a “cliff edge”, the weakening outlook gave the company “another reason to be cautious”.“The medium- to long-term outlook for the UK economy does not look favourable,” the retailer said as it released its results for the six months to July.The company, which sells its own-brand clothes and homeware alongside other brands’ products, and controls the UK distribution of the US brands Gap and Victoria’s Secret, said the rising tax burden and government spending commitments, among other factors, were putting pressure on businesses and restricting economic growth.“At best we expect anaemic growth, with progress constrained by four factors: declining job opportunities, new regulation that erodes competitiveness, government spending commitments that are beyond its means, and a rising tax burden that undermines national productivity,” it said
Bank of England holds interest rates at 4% and slows scheme to sell stock of UK bonds
The Bank of England has left interest rates on hold at 4% and will slow the pace of its “quantitative tightening” programme in the year ahead to avoid distorting jittery government bond markets.The central bank’s nine-member monetary policy committee voted 7-2 to leave borrowing costs unchanged, after five cuts since summer 2024, including a reduction last month.The MPC had been widely expected to pause rate cuts this month as annual inflation remained at 3.8% in August, nearly double the target level.The Bank’s governor, Andrew Bailey, said: “Although we expect inflation to return to our 2% target, we’re not out of the woods yet so any future cuts will need to be made gradually and carefully
The Federal Reserve’s independence is about to be tested like never before
The time has come to ban the “revolving door” between the White House and the Federal Reserve, two academics argued last year. Doing so would be “critical to reducing the incentives for officials to act in the short-term political interests of the president”, they wrote.Eight months ago, the two writers – Dan Katz and Stephen Miran – joined the Trump administration in senior roles. On Tuesday, Miran, the chair of the US council of economic advisers, walked into the Fed as a governor.Strolling through the revolving door himself, Miran pledged during his confirmation hearing to preserve the Fed’s independence, but made clear he would not resign from the White House, just take unpaid leave
Tax rises in, two-child limit out: what Resolution Foundation’s boss is urging Reeves before budget
“She clearly has to fix the problem. I think it’s one thing to come back twice. We don’t want to be here a third time.” Bluntness served Ruth Curtice well in her past life as a senior Treasury official. These days, she deploys it publicly, as chief executive of the Resolution Foundation – urging Rachel Reeves to think the unthinkable before November’s crunch budget
Are the stars finally aligning for the ‘new golden age’ of nuclear? | Nils Pratley
Presidential visits, like investment summits, involve a blizzard of claims about companies set to spend squillions in the UK. Some “commitments” are merely extrapolations of current trends. Some can be filed under “believe it when you see it”. Some involve throwing everything into the mix and producing an implausibly precise number for the “economic value” to the UK. A few pledges are genuinely new, but scepticism should be the default setting
Federal Reserve cuts interest rates by a quarter point, for first time in nearly a year – as it happened
The Fed just announced an interest rate cut by a quarter point, which was largely anticipated amid a weakening labor market.This is the first time the Fed has cut rates since December 2024. Rates now stand at a range of 4% to 4.25%, the lowest since November 2022.Stay tuned for a press conference Fed chair Jerome Powell is expected to give at 2
Bank of England governor says UK ‘not out of the woods’ on inflation, after leaving interest rates on hold – as it happened
Novo Nordisk shares climb after positive results for anti-obesity pill
What is new in UK-US tech deal and what will it mean for the British economy?
UK is going to be ‘AI superpower’, says Nvidia boss as he invests £500m
Keely Hodgkinson escapes boredom to lift British spirits at world championships
Piastri and Norris ‘in control of own destiny’ in F1 world championship battle