MP fears probation service cuts

Mr Baldry will raise the matter in the Commons next year

Banbury MP Tony Baldry says he believes the government could be planning to close the town's probation office.

He says the proposals follow a government announcement that it would "substantially reduce" funding for the Probation Service in England.

The Conservative MP has now written to the Lord Chancellor, Jack Straw, expressing his concerns.

But a spokesman for the Probation Service says no decisions have been made about closing any offices.

Mr Baldry, who says he believes the plans include shutting the Banbury office and moving staff to Oxford, will raise the matter in the Commons when it returns from its Christmas break next year.

'Fears over quality'

"Here in Oxfordshire I understand the cuts could be quite severe," he said. "We could be looking at something like a 20 per cent reduction in officers."

And he says a potential cut in staff numbers would affect the quality of the service.

Public protection is the main priority for the Probation Service Spokesman Probation Service

"The whole point of having probation officers work in a town such as Banbury is that they get to know the people that they are working with, their families, their circumstances," he said.

"In that way they are able to far better inform the courts when it comes to pre-sentencing reports and dealing with any breaches of court orders.

"They are also able to help those who have been given probation and other non-custodial sentences so that they don't re-offend.

"All of that local knowledge, local understanding and local contact will be lost if the Banbury probation office is closed and probation officers transferred to Oxford."

But a Probation Service spokesman said: "No decisions have been made regarding the closure of any offices.

"Public protection is the main priority for the Probation Service. Discussions regarding the most effective use of the Thames Valley probation budget are ongoing."

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