- •Sentencing, prison, probation
- •If you have already spent time ‘on remand’
- •If you’re given more than one prison sentence
- •If your sentence is for 12 months or more
- •If your sentence is under 12 months
- •If a court fine can’t be paid
- •If a court fine isn't paid
- •Probation - what it is
- •How probation works
- •What the Probation Service does with the information it holds
- •If you’re convicted of a violent or sexual crime
- •What happens if you break the terms of your probation
- •Types of rules you must follow while on probation
- •If you have been given a community sentence
- •Types of recall arrangement
- •Fixed-term recall
- •Standard recall
- •Extended sentences
- •Offender managers - how they can support you
- •How your offender manager can help you
- •If you miss a meeting or appointment
- •If you break the rules during your probation period
- •What your offender manager must do
What the Probation Service does with the information it holds
The Probation Service can share the personal information it holds about you with some other organisations and some victims of crime. This can include:
the Parole Board (if you left prison on probation)
other probation trusts - for example, if you move to a new area
the victim of a serious offence, if the victim asks the Probation Service to keep them informed
Information can also be given to other organisations - like health and social services.
If you’re convicted of a violent or sexual crime
If you’re convicted of a violent or sexual crime and are released, you may be placed under Multi-Agency Protection Arrangements (MAPPA).
These bring together police, probation and prison services to supervise (manage) people when in the community.
If you’re released under MAPPA, information about you may be shared across different organisations like:
children’s services
adult social care services
local education services
health trusts and authorities
Jobcentre Plus
What happens if you break the terms of your probation
If you are on probation you must follow strict rules - like attending regular meetings with an offender manager. If you break any rules, you may have to return to court or be sent back to prison. Find out what happens if you break the terms of your probation.
Types of rules you must follow while on probation
If you have a community sentence, or are released from prison under licence or parole, there are rules you must follow.
These could include having to:
go on a course to help you stop committing crime
get treatment for an addiction you may have - like drugs
stay in your home between certain hours
If you have been given a community sentence
If you commit another crime you could be sent to prison
If you break the rules of your community sentence - like not attending meetings or committing another crime - you may either:
receive a warning
be taken back to court
If you do something serious, like commit another crime, you could go straight to court. You may not just get a fine or a warning - you could:
get a harder sentence
get more rules to follow on probation
be sent to prison
If you’re on licence or parole from prison
If you’re on licence or parole from prison when you break the terms of your probation, you can be ‘recalled’. This means you are sent back to prison.
How you find out you are being recalled
The offender manager will either:
write to you stating you’re being recalled (after getting a final warning)
arrange for you to be arrested by the police because you have done something (like commit a serious crime), or are a risk to the public
What happens when you go back to prison
When you go back to prison, you get a copy of a report explaining why you have been sent back. You can also see a copy of a report your offender manager has written about you.
Asking to be released again - ‘making representations’
You have the right to ask the Parole Board to release you again - this is called making representations.
You sign a form saying whether or not you want to do this.
You can make representations:
yourself
ask a friend or family member to do it
get a legal adviser to do it
You tell the Parole Board why you think it’s safe for you to be released back into the community. This must be done within two weeks of being told the reasons you were recalled to prison.
The Parole Board looks at your case and decides whether or not you can be released.
Prison staff can explain the process in more detail.