Public Services Performance Tracker 2026 - Criminal Justice System

The Probation Institute welcomes the forensic analysis of the Institute for Government's report into prisons and probation, released on Monday 12 October - https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/sites/default/files/2026-10/public-services-performance-tracker-2026-criminal-justice-system.pdf

The Performance Tracker report identifies the significant challenges presented to the Probation Service arising from successive government schemes for the early release of prisoners, undertaken to stabilise and manage the prison population. It commends the steps taken by the Labour government under Keir Starmer to address issues of excessive probation workloads, whilst noting that the continued attrition of staff continues to undermine effective practice. It is heartening to read the report's commendation of probation's efforts to navigate a succession of changes in post custody licence and supervision, whilst noting that there is still much work to be done. The report's analysis is a potentially valuable tool for informing future decision making for probation work, with the aim of restoring stability to this highly challenged Service.

Photo by Krzysztof Hepner on Unsplash