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Concerns reported in public protection inspection of the Probation Service’s East of England region

Published:

HM Inspectorate of Probation has undertaken a review of public protection measures [see notes to editor] across the East of England region of the Probation Service.

Martin Jones, Chief Inspector of Probation, said: “While strategic public protection work had been strengthened, and we saw improvements since our last inspection, fewer than half the cases inspected sufficiently met our standards in three out of four key questions. A notable theme that ran throughout our findings was a lack of engagement with partner agencies, including police; and limited professional curiosity also continued to be a concern.”

Context

  • This report focused specifically on public protection work being delivered across the East of England region of the Probation Service.
  • Seventy cases were inspected where the Inspectorate examined assessment, planning, implementation and delivery, and reviewing, all through the lens of public protection work. At the time of the inspection announcement, the region supervised 20,900 people in the community or in custody.
  • The East of England region of the Probation Service covers eight Probation Delivery Units (PDUs), Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire, Norfolk, North Essex, South Essex and Suffolk.

Findings

  • Despite improvements in case work, some of the same key shortfalls remained. Too often, the level of analysis of information regarding public protection was insufficient, with practitioners often lacking either the knowledge or confidence to seek clarification of additional detail.
  • There was a strong drive from regional leaders to ensure public protection was at the forefront of practice and was understood by frontline practitioners. This, however, did not always translate into service delivery.
  • Since our last inspection, leaders had taken swift action in relation to concerns raised related to keeping people safe. Partnership agencies spoken to during this inspection spoke about how this ‘galvanised’ the service. For example, there had been a significant push to ensure that domestic abuse and child safeguarding information was obtained and used in considering suitability for a curfew. At this inspection we found that this had been the case in 15 out of the 17 such cases we reviewed.
  • Low staffing levels and high attrition levels has caused challenges in developing a stable, consistent and experienced workforce. Thirty-five per cent of probation service officers (PSOs) had less than two years’ experience and the low numbers of probation officers, coupled with the high numbers of inexperienced PSOs meant managers were struggling to balance operational pressures with strategic development.

Mr Jones added: “Overall, regional leaders were aware that more work needs to be done and keeping people safe was not yet evident in a sufficient number of cases. I am encouraged by the region’s progress over the last eighteen months and wish the region well in their journey to improving public protection and keeping our communities safe.”

This report makes six recommendations. Four are for the region, including to ensure probation service officers have sufficient skills, knowledge, and experience to adequately assess, plan, and review risk of harm. Three recommendations are for HM Prison and Probation Service, including to reduce vetting delays and address workforce instability by implementing streamlined and more regionally responsive recruitment processes.

Notes to editor

  1. Probation Delivery Units (PDUs) replaced Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) and the National Probation Service (NPS), which merged into a unified Probation Service in June 2021.
  2. HM Inspectorate’s Dynamic Inspection of Public Protection is a new programme which started in October 2025. The Inspectorate has paused its core adult programme to undertake six months of dynamic inspection activity, focussed solely on the Service’s delivery of public protection. It will inspect all twelve regions then deliver follow-up activity with strategic leaders and managers to identify what can be done to support and guide regional leaders into improving work, increasing knowledge and confidence and providing a solid foundation for further improvement. 
  3. The East of England region is one of 11 probation regions in England with a further region in Wales.
  4. The report is available on our website on 26 March 2026.
  5. HM Inspectorate of Probation is the independent inspector of youth justice and probation services across England and Wales. We report on the effectiveness of probation and youth justice service work with adults and children. We highlight good and poor practice and use our data and information to encourage high-quality services. We are independent of government and speak independently.
  6. The Inspectorate typically uses a four-point scale: ‘Outstanding’, ‘Good’, ‘Requires improvement’ and ‘Inadequate’ for inspections, however, has opted out of one-word ratings for this inspection programme.
  7. For media enquiries, please contact Louise Cordell, Head of Communications: media@hmiprobation.gov.uk (E-mail address)