Written question asked by Elfyn Llwyd (Plaid Cymru) on Tuesday, 4 March 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 6 March 2008. It was answered by Lord Hanson of Flint (Labour) on Tuesday, 11 March 2008 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Probation Service

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what estimate he has made of the proportion of those leaving probation service employment who will be replaced in the next two financial years;

Answer: Information is not available to answer this question as staffing requirements are currently being reviewed throughout the probation service.To date, long-term work force planning has been conducted in a limited manner within the probation service and has largely been undertaken in concert with the annual intake on to the Diploma in Probation Studies (DiPS), which is led by NOMS probation area co-ordination unit. Responsibility for all other recruitment and work force planning rests with each of the individual probation areas. With the forthcoming cessation of the DiPS and the development and implementation of its replacement, the process by which work force planning will be conducted nationally and locally, is currently being reviewed in order to align it to future arrangements.

Secondary information