PLANS to offer private companies and charities payment-by-results for supervising offenders released from jail will be a “disaster”, union bosses have warned.

The National Association of Probation Officers has slammed Tory plans which would see private companies and charities offered payment-by-results for supervising those released from jail.

The system would also see every offender leaving jail – including those who have spent just a few days in prison – completing a year-long period of supervision that could return them to custody if they reoffended.

But the National Association of Probation Officers has warned the current system works well and private companies are unlikely to understand the complexities of probation work.

Yvonne Pattison, of North Yorkshire’s NAPO branch said: “The Government’s plans for outsourcing this vital local service will be a disaster. Probation is performing well. Reoffending rates are falling. The public are being protected.

“There is no evidence that the private sector has added any value to the provision of offender services in the past and the idea of private providers with little or no experience in the area supervising offenders is extremely worrying. The arrangements for recall to prison and dealing with risk escalation gives further cause for concern and is flawed in principle. This decision will undoubtedly compromise public protection.”