Probation inspection
These documents provide detailed guidance about how we inspect the Probation Service. Following a consultation in 2022, we have revised our inspection standards and methodology.
Information regarding our consultations can be found on the Standards and Ratings page.
Rules and guidance
The rules and guidance assists inspectors to make their judgements against our national, regional and Probation Delivery Unit (PDU) standards.
National inspection rules and guidance (PDF, 527 kB) – December 2024
Domain one rules and guidance (PDF, 786 kB) – August 2023
Domain two case assessment rules and guidance (PDF, 644 kB) – December 2024
Management oversight (PDF, 207 kB)
Guidance manual
To assist the Probation Service, we have produced a guidance manual. It provides an overview and details all the stages of regional and PDU inspections, including what happens before, during and after an inspection. It also details how we report our findings.
Probation Inspection Manual v8.3 (PDF, 581 kB) – December 2024
