Starting in June, individuals convicted of domestic abuse and sexual offenses in England and Wales will undergo rehabilitation programs led by less-experienced and less-qualified staff, under changes approved by the government and raising public safety concerns, according to a warning from a watchdog.

The existing rehabilitation programs, which are currently run by highly experienced “band 4” probation officers dealing with serious offenders such as rapists, paedophiles, and violent partners, will now be handled by less-qualified “band 3” staff. These programs aim to help offenders change their behavior through regular sessions.

There are also plans to reduce the frequency of rehabilitation courses for low and medium-risk offenders and manage them through “toolkits” at weekly meetings with probation officers instead. Additionally, several intervention programs for sex offenders, such as Horizon, Kaizen, and iHorizon, will be scrapped and replaced with a single program called Building Choices.

Martin Jones, the chief inspector of probation, emphasized the need for close monitoring to ensure the new courses’ effectiveness and public safety. He expressed concerns that the changes might not lead to the desired outcomes and could negatively impact probation officers’ workload, increasing their responsibilities.

These changes come after the justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, announced the cancellation of rehabilitation courses for 13,000 convicted criminals due to probation officers’ excessive workloads. The government plans to recruit more probation officers and introduce technological solutions to alleviate paperwork burdens, prioritizing resources on high-risk offenders.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/mar/10/alarm-plan-less-qualified-probation-staff-sex-offenders-england-wales