Petition stop probation sell off

On 1st June 2014 the Ministry of Justice closed down the Probation Service and split up its work between a new National Probation Service and 21 Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRC's) for England and Wales.These reforms are costly, bureaucratic and unsafe. They are already causing chaos and are a threat to public safety. In October 2014, the Government wants to privatise the 21 CRC's. The private firms bidding to buy them have no track record in running probation. The MOJ has a terrible reputation for managing private sector contracts. This is a recipe for disaster, particularly for local communities which rely on probation to supervise dangerous offenders, help turn their lives around and keep victims safe.We call on the Government to halt the competition to sell the CRC's until after the general election,allow a democratic debate on this risky and unnecessary privatisation and for a pilot to be conducted to ensure that the proposals will reduce re-offending and are safe.