Most domestic abusers not checked up on at home, damning probation inspection finds

Domestic abusers aren't being checked up on at home after release, a damning report by HM Inspectorate of Probation has found. 

Inspections found that in most cases where offenders should have been visited at home this had not been done, and that they were instead being met by often overstretched probation officers in public settings such as libraries and cafes. 

They found that private community rehabilitation companies, which deal with low to-medium risk offenders, were not putting enough of them on the only accredited domestic abuse programme, Building Better Relationships, and in many areas "enthusiastic" officers were delivering courses they had found or devised themselves but without any evidence that they actually worked. 

Dame Glenys Stacey, HM Chief Inspector of Probation, said that the results of the inspections were of "grave concern". 

"There are, without a doubt, more women and children afeared and at risk here than should be the case," she said. 

The audit of five areas in England and Wales, which took place in April and May this year, found that a home visit had only taken place in 19 per cent of cases where this should have been done. 

Dame Glenys warned that the public meetings could limit probation officers' ability to work with offenders. 

"It's not the sort of environment where the individual under supervision is likely to be at their most candid," she told the Daily Telegraph. 

"Equally, it's difficult for the probation worker to be challenging as well as supportive in an environment where you're busy buying a coffee."

Home visits allow probation officers to assess the offender's living environment, meet his partner, and see if any children are living there, she added.

CRCs were introduced to the justice system in 2014, and have faced criticism for poor standards of work. An inspection report released last year found that in some cases violent offenders were being supervised by telephone.

Prisons and Probation Minister Rory Stewart said: "We are taking decisive action to improve CRCs by ending current contracts early, investing £22m in through the gate services, and we have consulted on how best to deliver probation services in the future.

 "This report highlights pockets of good practice to build on, but more must be done. By putting in place new arrangements we will heed the lessons from what has and hasn’t worked, so probation plays its full part in tackling domestic abuse and protecting victims."