The recent heatwaves revealed how ill-prepared Britain remains for a hotter future – and how unequal the ability to cope with it has become, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
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The Probation Service must not be subsumed
Probation is a unique profession that requires different working practices to prisons or the Civil Service — to give our clients the best support, we must be given our independence, write KATIE LOMAS and BEN COCKBURN
A Probation sign at Uxbridge Magistrates Court, west London
Extreme heat is now one of the defining public health challenges of a warming world, explains Prof IAN WILLIAMS
The US-Israeli conflict with Iran has had far-reaching consequences, including a boost to Pakistan’s regional standing, argues ROGER McKENZIE
19.01.1930-23.04.2026
Kate Clark pays tribute to Ricardo, whose life spanned the hopes of Allende’s Chile, the horrors of military dictatorship and decades of campaigning for justice in exile
Keir Starmer's early political life suggests a very different future from the one he ultimately embraced, says KEITH FLETT
After the dismissal of union representatives and years of precarious working conditions, Kimpton Clocktower workers are drawing a line, writes THOMAS BELL
PROBATION was accidentally nationalised and moved into the Civil Service as a consequence of the government’s failed Transforming Rehabilitation reforms in 2014.
The National Probation Service that was created at that time was markedly different to the service that had existed before, with the former probation trusts abolished despite all of them having performance assessed as “good” or “outstanding” and many having externally assessed excellence marks.
The cancelling of the CRC contracts in 2021 moved the final elements of probation work into the Civil Service and now all of the probation system exists in the Civil Service, either directly provided or in small contracts for specialist support services. This has been a disaster for the profession.
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