National Probation Service
From SR
History and Roles
The National Probation Service (NPS) is a major component in reducing crime.
The 21,000 staff of the NPS, and their colleagues in other organisations who support their work, are committed to minimising the impact of crime on communities and especially victims who have been touched by serious violent or sexually violent crimes. They are actively committed to rehabilitate offenders given community sentences and those released from prison; to enforce the conditions of their court orders and release licences and to take whatever steps in their power to protect the public.
Its aims include:
- Protecting the public
- Reducing re-offending
- The proper punishment of offenders in the community
- Ensuring offenders' awareness of the effects of crime on the victims of crime and the public
- Rehabilitation of offenders
NPS work with offenders combines continuous assessment and management of risk and dangerousness with the provision of expert supervision programmes designed to reduce re-offending. Enforcement of the order/licence conditions is a priority.
The NPS makes a critical contribution to decisions about the early release of prisoners through the production of reports (approximately 87,000 annually) which combine risk and dangerousness assessments with community supervision plan proposals.
Freedom of Information
The NPS is a law enforcement agency and public authority, and is therefore bound by the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, which came into effect on 1st January 2005. This means that members of the public have a right to access information held by the NPS.
