Probation and prison services could merge

The Government is likely to merge the prison and probation services following a fundamental review of offender treatment. Tough new community sentences are also expected.

A new single Department of Corrections, creating a 53,000-strong organisation, is also an option under consideration by the Home Office.

Jack Straw, the Home Secretary, yesterday announced a study into the performance and effectiveness of the prison and probation services in an attempt to ease chronic overcrowding in prisons and restore public confidence in community sentencing.

He wants to make greater use of community sentences and is expected to introduce harsher punishment for people convicted of violence, drug-related or sex crimes. There will also be greater use of electronic tags to monitor offenders at home.

The move comes weeks after it was revealed that convicted criminals are being charged with murder and sexual assault at the rate of more than one a week while under probation officers' supervision. As part of the reforms the current 54 probation areas in England and Wales are expected to be reduce to about 15 larger zones.

The Probation Service yesterday warned that merging services would threaten public safety as offenders would not receive proper supervision.

Mr Straw wants to increase the number of offenders who receive community sentences as a way of reducing the prison population which has risen above the record 62,000 mark.

The review will examine the American system - where there is a single agency - as well as those in Canada, Sweden and Australia. Mr Straw said yesterday it was aimed at identifying "best practice" in order to reduce crime and offending behaviour.

"It is essential to ensure that both services are better integrated and work more closely together," he said. "The services must operate efficiently and effectively to restore public confidence in both community and custodial sentences."

Among the ideas being considered are greater sharing of information about prisoners and tougher community sentences for offenders involved in drug and alcohol abuse. This could include insisting on offenders enrolling in detoxification programmes and having regular drug tests. The Home Office wants to avoid accusations of offering a soft punishment to criminals.

Last week the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Bingham of Cornhill, warned that it was up to the Government to demonstrate that it was not a "soft option" if judges were to use them as an alternative to prison. The review will be headed by the prisons minister, Joyce Quin, and is expected to deliver its report towards the end of November.

The announcement drew a cautious response from probation officers. Harry Fletcher, the assistant general secretary of the National Association of Probation Officers, acknowledged that past relations between the two services had been "tense", but warned against a merger.

"A merger would almost certainly see the probation service swamped and unable to deliver properly its task of rehabilitating offenders and ensuring public safety," he said.

Mary Honeyball, general secretary of the Association of Chief Officers of Probation, said a "constructive review" could benefit both services.