Probation hostel offenders ‘pose high risk to public’

Terrorists, murderers, rapists and child sex offenders were being housed in the approved premises across England and Wales, the probation union NAPO said.

Harry Fletcher, union assistant general secretary, warned that as higher risk offenders were now being sent to such hostels, budget cuts and proposed privatisation were “bound to compromise public safety and increase the risk of reoffending”.

Almost 90 per cent of the offenders were subject to multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA) and at least 19 offenders were regularly monitored by police, the union’s study found.

Of the 455 men studied in more than a fifth of the hostels in England and Wales last month, 374 were deemed to pose a high or very high risk and 399 were being monitored. This included 183 sex offenders, 216 men convicted of violent offences, and four other dangerous offenders.

A further 24 were convicted of arson, terrorist offences or drug dealing, 18 were persistent prolific offenders and 10 were on bail.

“Sex offenders and those convicted of violence and terrorism must be supervised at the highest level possible,” Mr Fletcher said.

“It is of deep concern therefore that the Government is cutting probation hostels’ budgets and considering privatisation.”

Cuts of 15 per cent over the next four years and introducing a “profit motive” with private providers “will undermine supervision and compromise the relationship between the police, probation and other statutory agencies”, he added.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “The purpose of approved premises has for many years been to supervise high risk offenders in the community, a number of which are already run effectively by independent organisations. All providers must meet the same rigorous standards.

“No final decisions have been made on competing out approved premises and there is no evidence to suggest that savings made to the Probation Service will compromise public protection.”