Prison service 'now in crisis' as system is 'understaffed, underinvested in and overwhelmed'

The subject has become the centrepoint of criminal justice discussion after it emerged two people who killed Thames Valley Police’s PC Andrew Harper – Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers – were set to be released early. Cole and Bowers remain eligible for early release after their convictions for manslaughter a… Nick Smart, the president of the Police Superintendents' Association (PSA) has joined the growing number of voices to criticise the Government's early release scheme. ...

The quiet skill at the heart of domestic abuse work

Some of the most important work in domestic abuse happens quietly, away from the headlines. It is done by case managers, and it deserves far more recognition than it gets. Having spent my career in criminal justice, I have watched skilled case management transform outcomes in some of the most… Here, Jonathan Hussey, the Managing Director of Red Snapper Managed Services, reflects on the key skills needed to support domestic abuse work....

Probation service launches new recruitment drive to secure next generation of officers

Trainees complete the Professional Qualification in Probation (PQiP) over 15, 21 or 27 months, depending on existing qualifications. Probation officers supervise people on probation, manage risk and support rehabilitation. They work across the justice system to tackle the root causes of reoffending, including substance misuse, housing instability and unemployment. The… The Government is recruiting an additional 1,300 trainee Probation Officers across 2026/27, on top of the 2,300 already pledged to be brought in since 2024. ...

Beyond Time Served: The Impact of Short Sentences on Women

Approximately 44% of women reoffend within a year of leaving prison. For those serving sentences of less than 12 months, that figure rises to around 72%. These statistics alone make for sobering reading, but the macabre deepens when we consider what these numbers represent in human terms. A short custodial… by Gemma Waller...

What I’ve learned in my first year embedding For Baby’s Sake across the North East of England

Brooke Fenwick qualified as a social worker in 2013 and has extensive experience supporting families across a range of children’s services. Her career has included work in safeguarding, supporting children in care, and managing edge-of-care intensive support and family group conference services. Brooke has also worked directly with young people… by Brooke Fenwick...

AI court errors would be ‘too much for society to comprehend’

Mr Lammy was speaking after announcing that virtual legal assistants powered by AI will be rolled out to crown courts across the country in an effort to tackle the rising backlog of cases. The assistants will be trialled in controlled environments before being used by judges and lawyers, the Ministry… That's the view of Justice Secretary David Lammy, who said there are teams within Government working to make sure the effects of so-called AI hallucinations “are not overly significant”....

Courts to get ‘AI legal assistants’ to tackle rising case backlog

Ministers say the technology will help legal professionals get cases moving faster. The AI assistants will be trialled in controlled environments before being used by judges and lawyers, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said. Judges will also have access to an AI tool for finding trial-ready cases and group similar… Virtual legal assistants powered by artificial intelligence will be rolled out to Crown Courts across the country in an effort to tackle the rising backlog of cases, the Government has announced....

Prisoner supervision improvements 'not achieved' three years after recommendations made

Approved premises or hostels and their staff provide vital services for the criminal justice system and support people released from prison who require enhanced supervision and monitoring when they return to the community. The Probation Board for Northern Ireland (PBNI) currently has access to 91 places for service users who… A Follow-Up Review by Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland has found that none of the four recommendations made and accepted to improve approved premises services had been fully achieved three years after they were made....

COMMENT: You do not need an accreditation stamp to change behaviour

I want to make the case that this work is not a second-best solution. In many contexts it is operationally scalable, evidence-aligned, and meeting needs the accredited offer was never designed to reach. The real divide is not accredited versus non-accredited. It is high-quality versus low-quality delivery. What the evidence… The HMPPS accredited offending behaviour programmes list is short. Fully accredited, currently commissioned interventions represent a relatively small proportion of the total intervention landscape, and the gap is being filled, quietly and at volume, by organisations operating outside that list....

Rise in number of serious cases in courts backlog as overall figure falls

A report by Audit Scotland found there were 13,268 outstanding trials at the end of the 2025/26 year. This was around a third of the peak backlog in 2022. However, outstanding scheduled High Court trials rose to 1,002 at the end of 2025/26, almost three times pre-pandemic levels. Scotland’s High… There has been a rise in the number of serious, complex cases in the Scottish court system’s backlog, while the overall number of outstanding trials has fallen....