Background
The Jersey Probation and After-Care Service (the Service) exists to provide the
parishes, courts and prisons with a high quality information service and to supervise
those offenders entrusted to it in order to reduce re-offending, allow restitution and
protect the public.
The Service is a department of Jersey’s Judiciary and is a non-ministerial department.
The Probation Board is appointed by the Bailiff on behalf of the Royal Court to
provide a governance framework for the Service. The Board consists of Jurats with
the Minister for Justice and Home Affairs and Assistant Chief Minister invited to
attend as non-voting participants.
In 2025 the Service recorded a net underspend of £441,000. Some of the key work
of the Service is shown below.
The Service has been looking to implement a new case management system. During
2025 the potential supplier withdrew from the process.
The Functions of the Comptroller and Auditor General
(C&AG)
Article 11 of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Jersey) Law 2014 requires the
C&AG to:
- provide the States with independent assurance that the public finances of
Jersey are being regulated, controlled, supervised and accounted for in
accordance with the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2005 - consider and report to the States on:
o the effectiveness of internal controls of the States, States funded bodies
and funds
o the economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the way the States, States
funded bodies and funds use their resources; and
o the general corporate governance arrangements of the States, States
funded bodies and funds; and - make recommendations to bring about improvement where improvement is
needed.
Scope
The audit scope will cover the activities of the Probation and After-Care Service
including the governance and oversight arrangements of the Probation Board.
Objectives of this audit
The audit will evaluate how well the Probation and After-Care Service uses its
resources to manage risk, and to ensure it delivers an efficient, effective and
economic service.
Audit approach
This audit will use a:
- result-oriented approach (is the Probation and After-Care Service meeting the
States’ objectives and ambitions?); and - system-oriented approach (are robust systems / processes in place for the
Probation and After-Care Service to support performance and value for
money?). - The audit will commence with an initial documentation request. The findings of the
document review will be followed up by interviews with key officers and potentially
with other stakeholders. - The audit will include benchmarking costs and service performance against relevant
comparable probation and after-care services as agreed with key officers. - The audit will commence in June 2026.
- The detailed work will be undertaken by affiliates engaged by the C&AG.
Audit criteria
To assess relative performance during our audit, we will use the following criteria.
