Thousands of probation appointments missed, figures show

Hundreds of thousands of probation appointments with criminals did not take place over the last three years, new Ministry of Justice figures show. The data suggests that unmanageable workloads are to blame for almost a third of scheduled meetings being cancelled, with several probation officers warning that this could encourage reoffending and put lives at risk. Probation officers are responsible for checking that offenders are following the terms of their release from prison such as curfews, not taking drugs and wearing ankle tags that can restrict their movement. It comes as the government announces plans to reduce workloads, recruit more officers and monitor more offenders with tags. Figures released on Thursday show that 32% of probation appointments with very high-risk offenders, such as child abusers and rapists, did not take place between 2023 and 2025 because staff had unmanageable schedules - amounting to tens of thousands of cancelled appointments. One probation officer told the BBC that missed appointments could lead offenders to break the law again because "crucial information isn't gathered and shared". "If someone is a domestic abuser and they have a new girlfriend, f