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  1. Biography

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Professor Matthew Millings

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Liverpool John Moores University

  1. Keep sight of core probation values and purpose
  2. Maintain the appetite to learn and develop
  3. Recognise the value of probation
“Probation has been through a series of profound organisational changes and that sense of being able to recall, renew and identify core probation values has been really important at those moments.”

Biography (Back to top)

Matthew Millings is a Professor of Criminal Justice in the School of Justice Studies at Liverpool John Moores University. During his career, Matthew has led and contributed to national and international research on probation reform, violence reduction, and justice innovation. More specifically, his research interests encompass: (i) the structure and delivery of multi-agency working within criminal justice; (ii) organisational change, innovation, and reform within criminal justice; and (iii) exploring and developing the role of research in informing criminal justice policy and practice. As Principal Investigator, Matthew has recently (2021-2025) led a three-year ESRC funded project titled ‘Rehabilitating Probation: Rebuilding culture, identify and legitimacy in a reformed public service’; see www.rehabilitating-probation.org.uk. The project captured the experiences and consequences of the unification of probation services in England and Wales in 2021 at local, regional and national levels; and from a range of perspectives, both internal and external to the probation service. The study builds upon a previous ESRC-funded study in 2014-15, that Matthew led as Principal Investigator, which examined the experiences of probation staff in one case study area as they transitioned from public to private sector employment as the Transforming Rehabilitation Reform programme created a mixed economy of probation service provision.

Return to reflections from research