Labour has demanded a debate because the Government has steadfastly refused to bring its plans before Parliament. Ministers will be summoned to the Commons to defend the Government’s plans. Under, what Labour are calling, the Government’s untried and untested plans, management in the community of those that have committed crimes like domestic violence, burglary, robbery, violence against the person & sexual offences will be handed over to private companies. The Government have refused to pilot the plans, instead rolling out nationally on a very fast timescale.
Figures obtained by Labour through freedom of information requests reveals that 217,569 serious and violent offenders would be in the hands of private companies under the Government’s plans.
Commenting ahead of the debate, Shadow Justice Secretary Sadiq Khan MP said: "The companies queuing up to profit from the probation sell-off have no track record in delivering these services and some are even under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office. It is risky in the extreme to put them in charge of almost 220,000 serious and violent criminals, and Labour cannot support such a reckless gamble with public safety. This out of touch Government is running scared of debate. Because their plans for the Probation Service are so half-baked and they know their plans don’t stand up to scrutiny, they’ve purposely avoided bringing them before Parliament."
"Their plans bear the hallmark of a classic blunder. There’s been no meaningful consultation, no parliamentary scrutiny, no piloting and those charged with implementing the changes are against them. We cannot afford to take any risks when public safety is concerned. Major changes such as these should be properly tested first to ensure they reduce re-offending without exposing the public to harm. Anything less than this is simply reckless"
Probation Officers in response to the Government's plans voted for strike action. 80% voted in favour on a turnout of 46% and are due to go on strike for 24 hours on the 5th November.
