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Institute for Government Event

We are really pleased to share the news that the ESRC-funded Rehabilitating Probation Project has partnered with the Institute for Government (IfG) to convene an expert panel to explore the creation - and impact - of the unified Probation Service. The hybrid event 'What lessons can government learn from the insourcing of probation services?' takes place on Monday 17th March 2025, 12:30-1:30pm and you can register here.

As we have documented through the project to date - Millings et al. (2023); Annison et al. (2023); Robinson et al. (2023) and Millings et al. (2025) - the new public sector Probation Service was created in 2021 to unify the outsourced management of low- and medium-risk of harm offenders with the public sector management of high risk of harm offenders. While the initial transition went well, four years on probation still faces deep structural challenges – as do other public services. The government is committed to public service reform and a ‘mission-driven’ approach, but it is not yet clear what this will look like.

The hybrid event, hosted by the IfG, will seek to explore a series of questions that emerge as the fourth anniversary of the unification of probation services approaches. What can the government learn about improving public service reform from probation insourcing? What are the implications for Labour’s strategic review of probation governance? And what comes next for the probation service?

The below expert panel will discuss these questions and more. 

  • Professor Harry Annison, Co-Investigator, Rehabilitating Probation Research Project, and Professor of Criminal Justice at Southampton Law School
  • Helen Berresford, Director of External Engagement at Nacro
  • Sam Freedman, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government
  • Martin Jones CBE, HM Chief Inspector of Probation

The event will be chaired by Cassia Rowland, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government.