Probation services transitioning to UK Government

Interserve’s justice business is transitioning to the Ministry of Justice as part of the UK Government’s renationalisation of offender rehabilitation.

Interserve’s justice business was launched in 2015 after the company won a contract from the Ministry of Justice to deliver probation services via five Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) across a large part of England.

The company’s 1,600 staff have supported more than 162,000 service users since 2015 and its Hampshire & Isle of Wight CRC was the first in the country to receive a “good” rating by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation.

The contract is being renationalised on Friday as part of the Ministry of Justice’s decision to merge the National Probation Service with England’s 20 Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) to create a new Probation Service.

Kim Thornden-Edwards (pictured above), Managing Director of Interserve’s justice business, said: “I’m deeply proud to have led our probation services and greatly admire the work we have delivered – especially during the last 12-months and the complications caused by COVID-19.

“We introduced a wide range of new initiatives to support people on probation and help them stop reoffending. These included changes to how we supervise our service users so that we could build upon their strengths, new behavioural programmes and rolling out Breaking Free, the country’s first ever accredited online application that helps people quit substance abuse.”

For more information about how the transition will affect service users, please click.