Question
During the course of the Sentencing Act 2026, I asked the former Lord Chancellor to reassure me about the Probation Service and the use of tagging, following an incident where a constituent had been traumatised by her former partner’s being released under licence and pursuing her because the tags failed. If the Minister cannot reassure me now about the Probation Service vacancy rate and number of tag failures over the last 12 months, will she write to me providing that information?
Answer
I appreciate the hon. Gentleman’s concerns and would be happy to look further into the issues that he raises. As he knows, we are working incredibly hard to ensure we have the probation team and workforce that we need to keep the public safe. We have successfully onboarded 1,389 trainee probation officers. We are up on our targets and the data is going in the right direction, but we appreciate that we need to do more and are working hard to ensure we keep the public safe when offenders are released into the community.38% vibes
Verdict: RED (17/100)
The reply does not clearly answer most of the question. It gives no probation vacancy rate or 12-month vacancy figure, offering a trainee onboarding count and general statements about progress instead. It does not address electronic monitoring tag failures at all. Its only response to the request for follow-up is a non-committal offer to look further into the issues raised, with no timeframe or commitment to write to the Member. The member would likely need to ask again for the specific figures.
How we got there
| Question item | Coverage | Specificity | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| What is the Probation Service vacancy rate over the last 12 months? | Partially Addressed | Hedged | The reply gives no probation vacancy rate and no 12-month vacancy figure; it substitutes a trainee onboarding count (1,389) and general claims that targets are being met and the data is improving, which is related workforce context but not the vacancy metric asked for, and it does not say this is all the department holds. |
| What is the number of electronic monitoring tag failures over the last 12 months? | Not Addressed | Generic | Nothing in the reply mentions electronic monitoring tags or any count of tag failures over the last 12 months; the only related line is a general offer to look into 'the issues he raises'. |
| If the Minister cannot give the member reassurance on these matters now, will she write to the member providing that information? | Partially Addressed | Hedged | The reply says the Minister 'would be happy to look further into the issues', which gestures at following up but does not clearly commit to writing to the Member, gives no timeframe, and does not say what information would be provided. |