South East Probation Consortium - developing people and improving performance National Probation Service
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Introduction
What we do
How we are doing
Areas we cover
Our staff
‘Achieving Through People'

NPS logoThe people management strategy of The National Probation Service 2002-2007 sets out how the National Probation Service attracts and retains the best people, ensuring a workforce that is well motivated, well led and highly professional.
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Probation values
Probation staff are committed to the following core values:
Treating people fairly, openly and with respect.
An uncompromising stance against harm caused by crime.
A strong belief in the capacity of people to change.
The importance of taking personal responsibility for behaviour.
The necessity of learning from experience.
What we do
  • Recruit and select Trainee Probation Officers (TPO).
  • Manage the Trainee Probation Officer Diploma programme; where the Diploma in Probation Studies combines a BA (hons) degree in Community Justice Studies and a Level 4 NVQ in Community Justice (Working with Offending Behaviour).
  • Support in-service training for all grades of Probation Service staff.
  • Manage all Regional, and some National, training for Accredited Offender Behaviour Programmes and Unpaid Work.
  • Supporting the National roll out of the Offender Management Transitional Training.
  • Coordinating the implementation of Approved Premises staff training.
  • Deliver briefing sessions and behalf of the Mininstry of Justice.
  • Encourage personal and professional development with all Probation Service staff levels.
  • Develop and coordinate Probation Service Officer induction programmes throughout the Region.
  • Aid Quality Assurance and consistency within the Region and against National frameworks.
  • Operate an 'A' grade NVQ Centre for: Community Justice and Advice & Guidance awards at Level 3 & 4; and also Assessor (A1) and Verifier (V1) awards.
  • Work with partner agencies outside the Probation Service to support training and development for their staff - whilst also offering event organisation.

Visit the Criminal Justice System website - 'The Gateway to the Criminal Justice System'.

Other related links:

For information about NVQ's visit the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority website.

Department for Education and Skills is the Government portal of information and advice for anything to do with education, training and skills.

City and Guilds is the leading provider of vocational qualifications in the United Kingdom. Their qualifications assess skills that are of practical value in the workplace. They set standards for NVQs.

OCR was formed in 1998 from the University of Cambridge Local Examination Syndicate and RSA, which means that OCR offers an extremely broad range of qualifications.

Crimeinfo makes community punishment issues easy to understand.

Visit CJSOnline - the gateway to the criminal justice system:

Victim Support is an independent charity which helps people cope with the effects of crime.

The UK Criminal Justice Weblog has the latest news about criminal justice issues from around the UK, drawn from media websites, government sources and criminal justice organisations.



Accredited programmes are courses that offenders have to attend as part of their community sentence. They can stop people committing more offences. They are accredited by the Home Office and follow a strict national core curriculum.

For a full outline, and the rationale behind current ways of working with offenders, visit ‘What Works to Reduce Offending'. This includes more about offending behaviour programmes.

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