To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps his Department is taking to ensure that trainee probation officers due to qualify in September 2009 are offered jobs in the Probation Service. (277747)

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent estimate he has made of (a) the number of trainee probation officers who will qualify in 2009 and (b) the number of jobs available to newly qualified probation officers in 2009. (277837)

There are 556 trainee probation officers (TPOs) due to complete the Diploma in Probation Studies in September 2009. A recent survey of the 42 probation areas, who are the employers, has shown that it is too soon to be certain how many of these graduates will be offered jobs in the Probation Service.

The regional directors of Offender Management have been asked to review the position of their local Probation Boards and Trusts to ensure that decisions about TPO employment are based on credible workforce plans that take full account of the staffing requirements of the next three years within the region and elsewhere in the country.