Another day, another train, another prison survey visit - this time at HMP Cardiff. We spoke with 53 people on their prison wings about the impact of #NationalPrisonRadio. Here is just one snippet: "It's another avenue for release, prison is stressful and it helps the world not get on top of you."

New article: 'Probation clients’ satisfaction with their probation officer: Do perceptions of fairness and felt support matter?' Matthias van Hall shares research with formerly incarcerated clients of Dutch Probation Service. #Probation #SocialWork #Criminology journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

My latest publication in @probationjournal.bsky.social ‘Work locally’: The slow journey to devolving probation in Wales journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Just published in Probation Journal: ‘Indifference, resistance, possibility: Probation staff perspectives on the introduction of Professional Registration’: A practitioner's response journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Very grateful to all those who attended today’s session. Two excellent #SocialScience talks: one on the educational trajectories of care-experienced children, and the other on the role of Warm Hubs in developing community connections in #Wales. #SocialSciences #Senedd #Cymru

Today we’re at @senedd.cymru for a lunchtime event hosted by @cefincampbell.bsky.social to showcase two fantastic examples of #SocialScience research in action, courtesy of @ellarabaiotti.bsky.social and Emily Lowthian of Swansea University. #SocialSciences #Wales #Cymru

New open access article published in the Probation Journal -‘Professional Registration of Probation Practitioners in a Devolved Welsh Probation Service’ Coauthored with @mfeilzer.bsky.social and John Deering journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Hope & Probation @jakephillips.bsky.social & colleagues' new report on Using the lens of hope to reimagine probation practice. www.russellwebster.com/hope-probati...

Hello from the Editors at the European Journal of Probation! We are just getting started on BlueSky. We welcome submissions on a range of topics across: #probation and community justice, sentencing, #parole, resettlement, desistance, and much more. 🔗 to our website: journals.sagepub.com/home/EJP

Have you signed up for our Joint International Seminar with International Criminal Justice (IN-CJ) yet? The focus will be ‘Perspectives on Serious Offending’. Book your free place now.

Research roles advertised with the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman jobs.justice.gov.uk/careers/JobD...

The Probation Institute publishes 'Position Papers' to share its viewpoints on significant issues, grounded in empirical evidence, solid research, and the expertise of professionals in probation and rehabilitation. Free to access now. #Probation #Research

🔺 EXCLUSIVE: Criminals are going untagged for months after their release from prison in England and Wales amid “chaos” in the system used to track them, an investigation has revealed

A police officer will not face criminal charges after following two teenagers in a van before they died in an e-bike crash two years ago nation.cymru/news/police-...

Wales is getting screwed over by the Treasury (again). A deliberate decision has robbed public sector bodies in Wales of money while protecting those in England. This is fiddly but really outrageous. You can either watch the video or read below... [Thread]

Have you downloaded PQ35 yet? A bumper edition featuring 18 articles including evidence-based strategies to revive probation, a framework to support change, insights into OMiC, experiences of people subject to life licences and so much more. #probation

www.theguardian.com/law/2025/apr... Disappointing decision by the Sentencing Council under pressure. Don't give up on this!

⛔ The Lord Chancellor’s decision to block the Sentencing Council’s guidance on pre-sentence reports is a deliberate step backwards. Blocking progress is not about fairness, it’s about maintaining a status quo that already fails too many. Read our statement ➡️ revolving-doors.org.uk/a-deliberate...

Our briefing, "Lessons for Public Management Reform from the insourcing of probation services in England and Wales" is now available! Well worth a look eprints.soton.ac.uk/499654/1/109... @probationres.bsky.social @nicolacarr.bsky.social @matthew-millings.bsky.social @unisouthampton.bsky.social

🚨New Publication Alert🚨 We are happy to share news of the latest article from the ESRC-funded Rehabilitating Probation Project. Here, we explore probation staff expectations, in the months leading up to its formal implementation, of Professional Registration 1/3 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Where will the cuts to sickness & disability benefits hit hardest? New @jrf-uk.bsky.social constituency analysis shows the % of working age people receiving these benefits in England & Wales. Some MP inboxes are likely to be brimming, as concern about these plans is widespread

The Forgotten Service #probation #prison probationmatters.blogspot.com/2025/03/the-...

Our report ‘Easier said than done: resolving prisoner requests’, published today, reveals how hard it is for prisoners to get basic things done in jail. Read the report: hmiprisons.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmipris_repo... And media release: hmiprisons.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/news/inabili...

Our 'Working with Veterans' page is a dedicated learning resource featuring e-learning courses, relevant research and training resources for practitioners. #probation #veterans

Probation Institute proudly hosts the Griffins Society Research Archive. This contains the findings of research from over 30 years of research by criminal justice practitioners into the treatment of women & girls in criminal justice and is free to access.

If the Justice Secretary’s draft law aims to surgically remove the offending part of the Sentencing Council’s guideline, I hope she never operates on me. Thoughts on the Sentencing Council debacle. reformingprisons.blogspot.com/2025/04/parl...

Probation pilot provides support for victims of stalking Process evaluation of the pilot Victim Notification Scheme for victims of stalking, harassment & coercive behaviour www.russellwebster.com/probation-pi...

New 1,500-place prison in Yorkshire ‘HMP Millsike is the first of four new jails to be built as part of the Plan for Change to create 14,000 extra prison places by 2031’ www.gov.uk/government/n...

‘Victims attend parole hearings to see offenders held to account’: ‘Victims can attend the parole hearings of their perpetrators from today (1 April) as part of the Government's Plan for Change’ www.gov.uk/government/n...

A thematic inspection: What helps women cope in prison? The HMPPS action plan in response to HMIP inspection on what helps women cope in prison. www.gov.uk/government/p...

New research finds "permanent exclusion is associated with approximately a doubling of the risk of having a conviction or caution for both serious violence and for homicide or near-miss homicide in the 12-month period following the exclusion"

“She raised concerns about the practice of recall for the smallest misdemeanours such as being unavoidably a few minutes late for a probation appointment.” I know recall rates are high, but I can’t imagine probation officers recalling for being a few minutes late 🤔

Andrew Watson charts the use of volunteers in probation and how this practice declined over the past two decades. He provides a succinct but powerful argument for their reintroduction, highlighting various benefits, including the value of the lived experience when working with people on probation.

Exciting to see our paper on international women's problem solving courts in the Prison Service Journal. Co-authored this with @rutharmstrong.bsky.social and two @oxfordcrim.bsky.social graduate researchers @arkluge.bsky.social and @iuliavatau.bsky.social👏 www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/prison-servi...

"The entire apparatus is executed with maximum emphasis on punishment and a superficial mention of rehabilitation...It is absolutely no wonder that reoffending rates are so high when those leaving prison are in a worse way than when they came in." www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Great to see our event with @instituteforgov.bsky.social generate the discussion and interest that it did. Click on the link to watch/listen to the event rehabilitating-probation.org.uk/our-research... @nacro.bsky.social @ukri.org

David Jackson and Jed Stone focus on the use of AI in probation and advocate for investigations to understand the opportunity, address issues and innovate for the good of all.

Absolutely the grimmest of things to read, for anyone who cares about probation, or the UK in general. cloud-platform-e218f50a4812967ba1215eaecede923f.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/site...

The Probation Service “has too few staff, with too little experience and training, managing too many cases” HM Inspectorate of Probation has published its 2024 Annual Report of Probation Services in England and Wales. hmiprobation.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/news/the-pro...

THE STANDARD: Probation Service faces damning report as staff shortages jeopardise public safety and rehabilitation efforts. Will government pledges of new recruits and tech be enough to turn the tide? - by Anahita Hossein-Pour

Editor's Nightmare #probation #prison probationmatters.blogspot.com/2025/03/edit...

Jim quotes a great paper by my colleague Professor Peter Raynor on evidence based ways to improve the probation service

In PQ35, Helen Schofield discusses the progress made with the development of the Probation Professional Register, highlighting the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. #probation

Alarm over early re-release of recalled prisoners as jail overcrowding at crisis point again Whistleblower says over 1,000 inmates considered for the scheme which bypasses Parole Board www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Too few staff and easy availability of drugs hindering care for women at Styal says today's @hmiprisonsnews.bsky.social inspection report cloud-platform-e218f50a4812967ba1215eaecede923f.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/site...

ChatGPT prompts and responses shared in FOI request…

A bumper issue of PQ35 published today, articles include: Evidence-based strategies to revive probation, A framework to support change, Insights into OMiC, Experiences of people subject to life licences and much more. #probation

In the new PQ35, Peter Raynor kindly shared his submission to the sentencing review, focusing on evidence-based strategies proven to support people on probation to desist from crime and reduce re-offending.

In the newly released Probation Quarterly magazine, Sue Rex & Tammie Burroughs describe how risk-need-responsivity principles and desistance-based practice are complementary and mutually reinforcing.