More community sentences in England and Wales could be ‘catastrophic’, warns watchdog

Head of Probation Service says public at risk from greater use of prison alternatives unless service is better funded

Plans to allow thousands more criminals in England and Wales to serve their sentence in the community risk “catastrophic consequences” unless the Probation Service is overhauled, a watchdog has told the Guardian.

Martin Jones, HM chief inspector of probation, said government plans to hand responsibility for overseeing offenders from prisons to probation officers meant the risk “is carried directly into the community”.