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Probation: South East

Volume 502: debated on Wednesday 9 December 2009

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many Probation Service staff there were in each probation area in the South East in each of the last five years; and what the ratio of offenders to such staff was in each such year. (304282)

Over the five year period, the number of qualified probation officers1, 2 has increased by 7.3 per cent. nationally, with numbers in the south-east increasing by 7.9 per cent. The total number of staff in each probation area in the south-east region is shown in the table, together with the ratio to offenders.

Ratio of offenders to probation staff in the south-east

20043

20053

20063

20073

20084

Hampshire

Staff in post5

520

584

603

610

613

Ratio—offenders:staff6

10.5:1

10.1:1

10.3:1

10.6:1

10.9:1

Kent

Staff in post5

457

476

506

489

448

Ratio—offenders:staff6

10.1:1

9.8:1

11.0:1

12.1:1

13.5:1

Surrey

Staff in post5

246

264

265

285

288

Ratio—offenders:staff6

7.0:1

6.8:1

7.6:1

7.5:1

7.2:1

Sussex

Staff in post5

364

403

428

397

403

Ratio—offenders:staff6

13.2:1

11.2:1

11.7:1

14.6:1

13.7:1

Thames Valley

Staff in post5

612

623

650

640

668

Ratio—offenders:staff6

8.8:1

9.4:1

10.3:1

10.7:1

10.5:1

1 Includes; senior probation officers, senior practitioners, probation officers and practice development assessors.

2 Figures for 2008 are taken from the HR Data Warehouse and are correct at publication. Probation areas/trusts have the ability to resubmit historical data into the HR Data Warehouse and this may result in occasional variations in subsequent reports.

3 Figures as at 31 December

4 Figures as at September 2008; the latest date for which there are corresponding staffing and offender figures.

5 Includes all staff employed within the area.

6 Calculated against all staff employed within the area.