To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many probation employees in each probation area have been on sick leave absence for (a) more than a month, (b) more than two months, (c) more than six months and (d) more than one year. (89882)

These data are not captured centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many defendants in England and Wales are under the supervision of the Probation Service; and how many probation officers there are to provide such supervision. (97250)

[holding answer 26 October 2006]: As at 31 December 2005 there were 224,094 people being supervised by the Probation Service in England and Wales.

As at 31 December 2005, based on a full-time equivalent calculation of staff numbers, some 12,715 probation staff were involved in supervision, of whom 6,173 were probation officers.

These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system, and although shown to the last individual the figure may not be accurate to that level.