Reforms ‘too fast, too far’, say experts

The government’s reforms to prisons and probation services could cause “chaos”, claim experts in a book launched this week.

Plans to integrate the services and introduce “contestability” between private, voluntary and public organisations will fail to reduce re-offending and will create more fragmentation of services.
The book also claims the reforms are moving “too far, too fast”.

It argues that plans for the regional commissioning of services will make it harder for probation services to work with other local agencies.

The book is edited by experts including Mike Hough, professor of criminal policy and director of the Institute for Criminal Policy Research at King’s College London.