Chief Inspector’s blog

A new report from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has warned the Probation Service in England and Wales is being placed under significant strain, seriously impeding its ability to protect the public and reduce reoffending rates. 

As the Sentencing Act receives royal assent, our Chief Inspector shares his thoughts on next steps and announces the publication of the Inspectorate’s first Dynamic Inspection of Public Protection report

Ahead of the publication of our 2026/2027 Corporate Plan, we would like to share some Inspectorate highlights from 2025.

The launch of our Approved Premises (APs) inspection programme comes at a pivotal point for the Probation Service. The number of places available in APs has been under pressure in recent years, and this is pressure is likely to increase following the introduction of Probation Reset, SDS40 early release scheme and the implementation of the Sentencing Review.

From 01 April 2025, I will be leading the Criminal Justice Joint Inspectorate (CJJI) Chief Inspector Group for 12 months.  

We have launched the first of our Effective Practice Regional Spotlights, highlighting strong probation work observed during our inspections across Yorkshire and the Humber.

On 31 January, I submitted HM Inspectorate of Probation’s response to the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts. I will be discussing these points further with its Chair, Sir Brian Leveson, when we meet later this month.

This month I have submitted HM Inspectorate of Probation’s response to the MoJ’s Independent Sentencing Review 2024 to 2025 call for evidence.