Probation
Justice
Written answers and statements, 5 November 2009
Adrian Sanders (Torbay, Liberal Democrat)
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will assess the effect on the completion rate for court orders of proposed reductions in the budget for the Probation Service.
Maria Eagle (Minister of State (also in the Government Equalities Office), Ministry of Justice; Liverpool, Garston, Labour)
The trend on completion rates for court orders is improving. The performance for the financial year 2008-09 was 71 per cent. successful completion and from April to September 2009 the rate is currently 74 per cent.
The budget settlement for 2010-11 is likely to maintain this upward trend. The settlement was recently announced via a written ministerial statement, indicating a £26 million increase for probation above the original indicative budget.
Nevertheless probation areas/trusts, like other parts of the criminal justice system, are introducing efficiency savings to maximise the value for money that they provide. These efficiency savings are focussed on reducing back office functions and management overheads and should not reduce resources for front-line delivery. As such, the budget settlement will not impact negatively on the completion rate for court orders.