Sadiq Khan MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary,  commenting on the Justice Select Committee Report into the Government’s Transforming Rehabilitation Programme, said:

“This crucial report by the cross-party Justice Select Committee adds to the chorus of criticism that Chris Grayling’s ill-thought out privatisation of probation will endanger public safety. Already, we’ve seen the plans criticised by experts, probation officers, Probation Trust Chief Executives and Chairs, Chief Inspectors of Prisons and Probation, and even officials in the Ministry of Justice.

“David Cameron’s reckless privatisation is causing massive uncertainty, demoralising those working in the Probation Service and resulting in experienced staff leaving. Public safety is being put at risk on a daily basis thanks to Chris Grayling’s monumental gamble. Ministers must abandon these plans before it is too late.

“The cross party committee’s report demands important answers from Ministers on the risks posed by the scale and pace of the plans, the Government’s refusal to pilot their changes, and the fragmentation of supervision between the public and private sector. The committee also supports Labour’s calls for the Government to publish full costings of its plans - which so far it has  refused to do - and to come clean on its own internal assessment of the risks posed to the public from privatising probation.”