Opposition Day — Suspension of Probation Service Reforms — 30 Oct 2013 at 18:51

The majority of MPs voted against suspending Government reforms to the probation service.

The text of the motion rejected in this vote was:

• That this House
• applauds the important role of the professional Probation Service in keeping the public safe;
• recognises that more needs to be done to break the cycle of reoffending;
• notes that, without parliamentary approval, the Government plans to abolish local Probation Trusts, commission services from Whitehall, fragment the supervision of offenders on the basis of their risk level, and hand over supervision of 80 per cent of offenders to private companies;
• deplores the fact that under the Government’s plans supervision of dangerous, sexual and violent offenders may be undertaken by inexperienced and unqualified staff and by companies without any track record in this area, without any piloting or independent evaluation, all of which is taking unnecessary risks with public safety; and
• calls on the Government to suspend the national roll-out of its plans until evidence is made public that its proposals to reduce re-offending do not put public safety at risk.

Debate in Parliament | Source |