Concerns as Greater Manchester probation service has only 'half the officers needed' to keep people safe

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

A probation unit in Greater Manchester has only half the number of officers they need, as concerns were raised about its ability to keep people safe from harm.

Three services in the region have recently been inspected by HM Inspectorate of Probation, with inspectors concluding that all three units 'require improvement.' They cited a substantial lack of resources, domestic abuse risks not being properly managed, and unmanageable staff workloads as the primary concerns, when inspecting the probation units in North Manchester, Tameside and Wigan. READ MORE: Join the FREE Manchester Evening News WhatsApp community Following a report on the Probation Delivery Unit (PDU) in Tameside, Chief Inspector of Probation Justin Russell said the service is 'substantially under-resourced.' "While leadership at Tameside PDU is strong and supportive, and staff are dedicated, this probation service is substantially under-resourced – with only half of the probation officers they need," he said. "Half of the team members we spoke told us their workloads are unmanageable.

Understandably, this is having an impact on their ability to properly manage people on probation, specifically around issues such as risk of harm, which is vital for the protection of the local community and beyond." Following a visit to a PDU in Manchester North, inspectors said they wanted to see issues such as domestic abuse being properly managed, and that follow-up work to manage risk was not always being completed to the expected standard.

In Wigan, inspectors found that management of the potential risks of harm people released from custody may pose need to improve significantly, particularly in relation to domestic abuse enquiries with the police, which was not