Public protection in probation: learning from effective practice
Keeping people safe is a core responsibility of the probation service. The Dynamic Inspection of Public Protection in the Probation Service (DIPP) examined how effectively the service protects the public and identified practice that supports practitioners to do this well.
The National findings: Dynamic Inspection of Public Protection in the Probation Service, show that substantial improvement is required in this area. Across 858 inspected cases from every region of England and Wales, planning was sufficient in 57 per cent, while implementation and delivery were sufficient in only 40 per cent. Fewer than half of assessments met the required standard, and reviewing was too often insufficient. There is therefore a clear need for improvement.
Alongside these findings however, inspectors identified more than 300 examples of effective practice. These demonstrate examples where practitioners managed public protection effectively, including in complex and rapidly changing circumstances. Inspectors identified themes linked to leadership, systems, partnerships and practitioner skills that supported stronger public protection work. The Effective Practice Spotlight: National findings – Dynamic Inspection of Public Protection in the Probation Service brings these themes and examples together to support practitioners, managers and leaders to strengthen public protection work.
Timely access to relevant information was a consistent feature of the effective practice identified. In Merseyside, for example, an automated system changed domestic abuse information-sharing from practitioners having to request information to police alerts being proactively received. Response times reduced from six weeks to hours, the backlog of more than 2,000 requests was eliminated, and during the first six months the approach improved risk management information in more than 10,000 cases.
Strong partnership arrangements also supported better public protection work. The Greater Manchester multi-agency public protection team combined co-location, specialist expertise, consistent MAPPA referral arrangements, live auditing and support for practitioners. Inspectors found sufficiently coordinated multi-agency oversight in 67 per cent of the MAPPA cases inspected.
Responsivity was another important theme. Inspectors saw practitioners adapting their approach for language, literacy, faith, gender, wellbeing and other individual circumstances to find ways to make supervision and interventions meaningful and achievable.
Clear governance and operational leadership supported improvement. Following previous concerns about the quality of public protection work in the North East, dedicated public protection governance, clearer operational expectations and stronger relationships with police and children’s services contributed to marked progress across assessment, planning, implementation and reviewing.
Inspection findings and the spotlight examples show that effective public protection depends on the quality of the wider system supporting practitioners. It requires clear leadership, timely information exchange, strong partnerships, meaningful oversight and confident, professionally curious practice. The DIPP Effective Practice Spotlight gives practitioners, managers and leaders practical examples to discuss, reflect on and adapt locally. While the findings underline the scale of improvement required, the examples offer practical learning about what supports stronger public protection work.
Pause and reflect: Read the findings and spotlight with your team. What could you apply in your own practice to strengthen public protection?