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 Welcome to the Website of the National Probation Service, County Durham.
We aim to provide proper punishment in the community, to ensure offenders are aware of the effects of their crime on victims and the public, and to deal with the underlying factors that can prevent re-offending.
The service in County Durham is consistently among the top performers in the country when measured against government targets for achievement. Our staff work closely with Police and Prison colleagues, the Crown Prosecution Service, Courts, Local Authorities and a wide range of other organisations.
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Our aims include:
- Accurate and effective assessment of risk and dangerousness.
- Involvement with victims of serious sexual and other violent crime.
- Offender programmes that have a track record in reducing reoffending.
- Intervening early to take young people away from crime.
- Enforcing the terms of orders and licences.
- Providing courts with accurate information and pre-trial services.
Each year the National Probation Service supervises 200,000 offenders, 30% of whom are prisoners on licence. 250,000 pre-sentence reports are prepared for the courts and 8,000,000 hours of unpaid work is carried out by offenders working in local communities.
County Durham is one of 42 probation areas across England and Wales, all part of the National Probation Service.
County Durham has a population of around 600,000 and has four prisons. The Probation Service in County Durham employs 300 staff working in Prisons, Courts and the community. Annually the service has a caseload of approximately 2,600 and completes around 2,500 pre-sentence reports on offenders for the courts.
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Community Payback is a new initiative by the National Probation Service.
The people of Durham and Darlington are being given their chance to have their say over how offenders pay back the community. Every year over 5 million hours of compulsory unpaid work is carried out by offenders. In the north-east alone, over 200,000 hours of work is undertaken every year.
Often this work goes un-noticed and Community Payback aims to address this by giving local residents the opportunity to play a part in deciding the kind of work that is carried out.
To learn more about the scheme, and to find out the kind of projects which could be eligible for this work, please visit our main Community Payback page.
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Click here for the latest press releases from the Durham area. |
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We are committed to the principles of openness embodied in the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and will release information to the greatest extent possible, consistent with the public interest.
Click here to view our Freedom of Information page. |
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If you are considering a career in the Probation Service, click here to view any current vacancies and for general information on working and volunteering for the Probation Service in County Durham. |
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We make a selection of basic statistics available on a monthly basis. This is a breakdown of our current caseload by gender, race, offence type, etc. Click here to view our statistics month by month. |
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