Skip to main content
Mayor of London logo London Assembly logo
Home

Staying out of trouble – are probation reforms working?

Created on
08 March 2017
  • There are 45,000 offenders on the probation system in London and tackling re-offending accounts for 69 per cent of the total criminal justice spend in the capital[1].
  • The Government’s probation reforms, introduced in June 2014, have changed the way probation and offender management services are delivered in London.
  • A report published by the National Audit Office found that the Ministry of Justice needed to “stabilise and improve” how the new system is operating[2].

What have been the challenges of introducing the reforms in London?

What impact have the changes had on reoffending rates in the capital?

What is working well and where are improvements needed?

The London Assembly Police and Crime Committee will tomorrow review progress of the reforms and find out what challenges remain.

The guests are:

  • Tajinder Matharu, Head of Performance and Quality, National Probation Service, London (also representing the National Offender Management Service – NOMS)
  • Samantha Cunningham, Acting Director, Integrated Offender Management, Programmes and Neighbourhoods, Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime
  • Commander Neil Jerome, Metropolitan Police Service
  • Helga Swidenbank, Director of Probation, London Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC)
  • Linda Neimantas, Head of Quality and Performance, London CRC

The meeting will take place on Thursday 9 March from 10.00am in the Chamber at City Hall (The Queen’s Walk, London SE1).

Media and members of the public are invited to attend.

The meeting can also be viewed via webcast.

Follow us @LondonAssembly and take part in the meeting discussion using #AssemblyPolice and #ProbationServices

Notes to editors

  1. Justice Matters, Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, 27 February 2017.
  2. National Audit Office, Transforming Rehabilitation, April 2016.
  3. Full Agenda papers.
  4. Steve O’Connell AM, Chairman of the Police and Crime Committee is available for interview.  See contact details below.
  5. As well as investigating issues that matter to Londoners, the London Assembly acts as a check and a balance on the Mayor.

For media enquiries, please contact Mary Dolan on 020 7983 4603.  For out of hours media enquiries, call 020 7983 4000 and ask for the London Assembly duty press officerNon-media enquiries should be directed to the Public Liaison Unit on 020 7983 4100.

Need a document on this page in an accessible format?

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of a PDF or other document on this page in a more accessible format, please get in touch via our online form and tell us which format you need.

It will also help us if you tell us which assistive technology you use. We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 5 working days.