Since 2019, the UK National Probation Service has undergone significant reform. At its heart has been an ambitious estates transformation program. The multi-year program includes the development of a design guide and delivery of a long term estates strategy by our professional team to help the HM Probation and Reform Service, including workspace improvements, better more economical buildings with associated social and wellbeing benefits that such investment brings.
Probation officers supervise offenders leaving prison on license and those serving community sentences. They protect the public by meeting regularly with offenders and ensuring they are complying with the conditions of their release and not committing crime. A recent refresh of the UK’s national standards for probation requires staff to meet face-to-face with all the offenders they supervise at least once a month, with more frequent meetings taking place with higher-risk offenders.
Re-offending accounts for around 80 percent of all recorded crime in the UK. These service improvements are among several which have been designed to support offenders re-integrating into society and prevent thousands of people becoming victims of crime each year and contribute towards saving some of the c$21 billion USD (£18 billion) per year by reducing repeat offending rates. The Probation Service is also actively trying to diversify its workforce and attract a greater number of people from ethnic minority backgrounds into the service.
The new estates strategy will not only help the UK Probation Service to attract and retain this talent. It will also provide a new, more modern working environment for employees and crucially act as a catalyst to change the way the UK Probation Service operates.
Over 120 sites around the country have been reviewed. To date (July 2023) 46 (some challenging) sites have been refurbished with a further 12 ongoing projects. Total spend over the program will be in excess of £100m with individual projects ranging from £200k to over £4m.
To deliver the demanding four year fit out and refurbishment Program, we adopted a resilient, flexible, and dynamic approach. We embedded our multi-disciplinary teams of construction professionals regionally across the UK and supported the Probation Service to achieve its ambitious goals.
An exemplar for the projects has been highlighted by the Redfern Probation Office, winning the Future Focused and Sustainable Property category at the Civil Service Smarter Working Live Awards.
The development of new buildings and a more efficient, unified estate for the Probation Service will also deliver better value for money, support the Probation Service to work towards their environmental sustainability and equality compliance goals and create a consistent look and feel across offices and departments.
Amy Rees, Director General for Probation commented: “I visited the newly refurbished Swansea office yesterday and I was so impressed. It is impossible to overstate how much the building has improved morale and staff's basic ability to do their job”.
Client
Ministry of Justice
Services
- Project management
- Program management
- Cost management
- Building surveying
- Architecture
- Mechanical and electrical engineering
- Other specialist disciplines as required
