Plans to disband specialist teams that deliver treatment courses for sex offenders have prompted fears public safety will be jeopardised.
Under the Ministry of Justice proposals, which are being fiercely resisted internally, behaviour programmes for a wide variety of offenders would be delivered by staff who are not fully qualified probation officers.
A probation worker from one of the at-risk sex offender units said it was a “lose-lose situation” as bespoke work would no longer be available and experienced staff would leave.
“It will impact on the men’s ability to change, learn and succeed in the future, so the rehabilitative element of probation is being compromised,” said the officer who wished to remain anonymous.
As part of the overhaul, officials are understood to be considering whether to scrap two of the intervention programmes for sex offenders, Horizon and iHorizon, even though a MoJ evaluation found they were leading to positive change among those who took part.
Officials said there were no immediate plans to terminate the Horizon schemes but acknowledged they were “developing” their range of accredited offending behaviour programmes.
The controversy is likely to fuel concerns about the effectiveness of probation work after damning reports into five murders and two sexual offences committed by two men who were under supervision.
In January, probation inspectors highlighted a series of errors in the handling of the case of Damien Bendall, who murdered a woman and three children, including an 11-year-old girl he had raped. Bendall was given a “whole life” sentence for the attacks in Killamarsh, Derbyshire, in September 2021.
A separate review, also published in January, found that staff had underestimated the risk of harm posed by Jordan McSweeney, before he sexually assaulted and murdered Zara Aleena in Ilford, east London, in June 2022, nine days after being let out of prison.
The changes being consulted upon will affect specialist units across 12 probation regions in England and Wales. The units hold sessions with groups of up to 10 sex offenders released from custody or serving community sentences, aimed at improving their behaviour, relationships and ability to deal with problems.
The work is carried out by highly skilled “band 4” probation officers who have extensive experience of dealing with rapists, paedophiles and online abusers.
The MoJ intends to replace each team with a generic unit able to deliver courses for all types of offender, including domestic abusers, with sessions facilitated by non-fully qualified staff at a lower “band 3” grade.
A MoJ document sent to probation staff says: “We aim to align the delivery requirements of programmes to men who have committed sexual offences with those of programmes delivered to high and very high-risk domestic abuse perpetrators, the general offending programme and structured interventions.”
Ian Lawrence, general secretary of the probation union Napo, said: “The government wants to create a ‘one size fits all’ regime. It’s an efficiency measure.
“We have made it absolutely clear that there must be a change of direction. We think it presents a real and present danger to public safety.”
The chief probation officer for England and Wales, Kim Thornden-Edwards, has denied the move is about cost cutting and said officials were working very closely with the unions to mitigate their concerns.
“We are not looking at any dilution of standards,” she said in a BBC Radio 4 interview in March. “It’s about making sure that we get the widest possible skills across a group of people who are dedicated to group work.”
A MoJ spokesperson said: “Our number-one priority is public protection and we will never compromise on safety. Our proposals would mean more staff can deliver high-quality programmes that steer offenders away from crime.”
The MoJ added that it was bolstering training for trainee probation officers and introducing a more advanced programme for senior staff to improve the way sex offenders were managed.
