Probation threat to public safety

Clearly, savings have to be made across the board in our public services – and there is a lot of wasteful spending that could be reined in – but safety on our streets must be of paramount importance.

The coalition was very quick to ring-fence the NHS from cuts, clearly a political move rather than a financial one, given the sums squandered every year on endless layers of health service management and consultants.

The decision has meant other departments will have to absorb a bigger share of the pain and, while few will mourn the loss of some of those Labour quangos being disbanded, the prospect of cuts leading to greater danger for the public is a far more worrying one.

If the Probation Service is forced to reduce its budget by 40 per cent, officials will have to take drastic action to prioritise their workload.

The serial offenders – those whom the police and courts know all too well – must continue to be targeted, and relentlessly. The authorities know who these crooks are – they have spent a lifetime flouting the law – and they must be dealt with robustly.

Sadly, one area that may slip by the wayside as money is saved will be the work to halt binge-drinking inspired anti-social behaviour. Specialist programmes, aimed at curtailing reoffending, have been scrapped. So, too, has a project that tackled binge-drinking in South Yorkshire.

Many people have to witness grotesque behaviour caused by alcohol in Yorkshire's town and city centres every weekend. Once the police have picked up these louts, the hope is that that they can get some help so they can learn to drink responsibly and respectfully.

If such programmes are cut and reoffending increases, taxpayers may end up paying more to clean up the aftermath.