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Humberside Probation Service

I am grateful for the opportunity to have an Adjournment debate to raise my deep concerns about the effect of proposed cuts on Humberside probation trust, the severe threat to front-line jobs of compulsory redundancies, the threat to the effectiveness of a highly rated and successful probation service, and the threat to the jobs and livelihoods of my constituents and those of my colleagues in the Humberside region. I hope that my right hon. Friend the Minister will note that such is the concern about the cuts in the service that I am joined here by my hon. Friends the Members for Kingston upon Hull, North (Ms Johnson), for Cleethorpes (Shona McIsaac) and for Brigg and Goole (Mr. Cawsey), and I have also received representations from the hon. Member for Beverley and Holderness (Mr. Stuart) and the right hon. Member for East Yorkshire (Mr. Knight). I start by stressing that the Humberside service is highly regarded. It was one of the first probation services in the country to achieve trust status. It is made up of dedicated staff, who do an excellent job, often in difficult circumstances. The director general of the national service, Mr. Philip Wheatley, stated:""The challenges we face in delivering our ambitious objectives are considerable. We must sustain and build on the excellent work being done by staff in probation and prisons who work in challenging circumstances with some of the most vulnerable and demanding people in society."" He continued:""There has been a significant decline in adult re-offending since 2000 and latest figures show a further fall of 13 per cent. between 2005 and 2006."" That demonstrates the commitment and dedication. There seem to be two problems currently facing the service. The first is the implementation of the new formula-based system. I can understand the need for efficiencies, but any approach must be fair and rational across the National Offender Management Service. Something is clearly wrong when the formula has such an impact on the Humberside service compared with other services. I know that it is based on conviction rates, but it makes no distinction between types of offence. Although Humberside may have a lower conviction rate than the national average, I understand that the percentage of convictions for serious crimes is higher than average, with all the implications of that for stress on staff and demands on the service. Front-line cuts will not help and I do not believe that they can be justified. The second problem seems to be Humberside probation trust's application of the cuts. Up to 60 compulsory redundancies have been threatened and discussed with staff, with 82 per cent. of those redundancies falling on front-line staff—probation officers and probation service officers. How can any compulsory redundancy in the service be justified? How does that fulfil the aspirations of the Ministry of Justice and the Humberside service? I have received many moving representations on the matter from constituents, who are worried about the position. I had a meeting this evening with Helen Burton, a Unison steward and probation service officer from Hull, and Tim Wilson, who is the national officer for the National Association of Probation Officers. I have also had letters from organisations that are involved in working to reduce crime, expressing their concerns that the proposals will not help that goal. I was especially shocked to hear that 11 trainee probation officers will have no posts to go to. That is not only a personal tragedy for those individuals, but a terrible waste of the money that has been spent on training those staff. I am also told that case loads for existing staff will increase—in some cases, from an average of 40 to triple that amount.