MORE could be done to support people classified as low or medium risk, an inspection of probation services in Gwent has found.

The review by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation looked at the quality of work carried out by the Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) and the National Probation Service (NPS) in the area, assessing the effectiveness of work undertaken with criminals.

Although the findings praised the manner in which high risk offenders were managed, the supervision of other people, which, on occasions, amounted to just one phone call once every six weeks, did not go far enough.

HM chief inspector of probation Dame Glenys Stacey said: “Assessing the risk that someone might pose is not an exact science, and risks change over time.

“But in our view, someone’s circumstances can’t be kept under proper review through a telephone call every six weeks.”

This was the first inspection of adult probation work undertaken by a CRC owned by Working Links, and the first inspection in Wales since the government’s Transforming Rehabilitation programme was introduced.

Dame Glenys added: “Some other aspects of the CRC’s work are not operating as they should, and it is taking a long time for things to bed down.

“Staff morale is low and sickness absence high, although we did find committed responsible officers working hard to support people and to help them to change.

“The CRC’s published performance figures show it performing relatively well, but sometimes at a cost to other work that should be done.

“With not enough plans actually followed through and staff numbers reducing substantially, it is hard to avoid concluding that despite good intentions, simple affordability considerations and an overpowering need to balance the books is driving priorities in this CRC.”

The chief inspector said also that regional variation within Gwent itself was causing problems, although Newport’s probation provision was praised.

“The big issue for NPS Wales is that the quality of work varies place by place, yet if all offices could deliver the high quality of work done by the NPS in Newport, then more individuals would be helped to change their lives,” said Dame Glenys.

However, the chief executive of a UK-wide penal reform charity believes the route of the problem lies in the division of the public probation service.

Frances Crook, of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “The break-up of the public probation service, with a large part of it handed to 21 private companies, was supposed to turn lives around, reduce reoffending and make us all safer.

“This report, however, indicates that this has failed in Gwent, increasing the risk to the public and letting down people who are trying to change their lives.

“A general election is only seven weeks away, and one of the first challenges for a new government will be to sort out this mess.

“It is time to end the dangerous experiment of ‘community rehabilitation companies’ and return to the single, successful, probation service that we used to have.”