The extent of Chris Grayling’s botched privatisation of the probation service is exposed by research which brands it an “unmitigated disaster” that left the public at greater risk from ex-offenders released from jail.
Probation officers say bigger caseloads and unrealistic targets, ushered in when Grayling was the justice secretary, have meant that they are unable to keep to the same standards as before. More than a third – 36% – of those interviewed as part of the research admit that they regularly cut corners and compromise professional standards to meet targets.
“The privatisation of probation is unprecedented in terms of its scale and scope and it has proven to be something of an unmitigated disaster for professionals,” write Professor Gill Kirton, of Queen Mary University of London, and Dr Cécile Guillaume, of Roehampton University, in the journal Work, Employment and Society, published by the British Sociological Association.
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https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jun/30/chris-grayling-probation-privatisation-disaster