Welcome to our Website which provides a brief introduction to the Probation Service in Gloucestershire. We are one of 42 areas within the National Probation Service for England and Wales and are managed by the local Gloucestershire Probation Board. The National Probation Service is a law enforcement agency delivering community punishments, supervising and working with offenders according to terms set by the Courts, Parole Board and Sentence Enforcement Unit. We also provide information to victims of serious offences.

The specific aims of the Probation Service are:

• Protecting the public
   

• Reducing re-offending
   

• The proper punishment of offenders in the community
   

• Ensuring offenders’ awareness of the effects of crime on the victims of crime and the public
   

• The rehabilitation of offenders.

In Gloucestershire we have an annual budget of around £6 million and a staff of over 200. The workforce is both skilled and diverse working with offenders, providing support services. We encourage both recruitment and involvement in our work from all local communities, including minority groups. In accordance with the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 we have published a Race Equality Scheme.

The National Probation Service has moved into a new combined organisation along with the Prison Service, known as the National Offender Management Service (NOMS). Simultaneously, the Government has implemented the Criminal Justice Act 2003, effective from April 2005. We are now working with a new set of sentences including the Community Order which facilitates a selection of between 1 and 12 possible requirements tailored to the needs of the offender and a new framework for prison sentences. Gloucestershire Probation Area works closely with partners in the criminal justice system to ensure that the public are protected and reoffending is reduced.