Greater Manchester Probation Trust

Bury Probation Reducing Crime

15 Jun 2009

BURY Probation's district manager Mohammed Farooq has praised his staff after the borough was last year's most successful Greater Manchester district.

The Greater Manchester Probation Trust (GMPT), which itself is one of the country's leading services, is made up of 10 districts.
Bury's results also bucked the national trend. Across the UK re-offending rose by just under one per cent, but in the borough it dropped by 10 per cent.
The Bury District was formed three years ago and is based at the probation office in Castlecroft Road, Bury, in courts and at the town's Community Payback Unit.
Mr Farooq said: "This is good news for the people of Bury because it means we are playing a key role in the fight against crime and are working hard to contribute to safer stronger communities and reducing the fear of crime.
"The results are a huge success for staff and managers at Bury who have worked tirelessly and with enormous dedication and commitment.
"And our work with offenders was nationally recognised during the year."

Re-offending rates are the litmus test of probation intervention. Figures for January to December 2008 show that nationally there was an increase of 0.91 per cent, but in Bury it dropped by 9.90 per cent.
Mr Farooq said: “This is a very significant contribution to public protection.
“It matters in terms of crime prevention. It demonstrates that probation as an agency is successfully managing offenders.
“The people of Bury can feel reassured that we are consistently delivering.”
Some of the key achievements during the year include: a high level of offender compliance (69 per cent against target of 70 per cent) with sentences; 80 per cent of offenders reached six months without breaching their sentences and 48 per cent (against target of 40 per cent) were in employment at the end of their order or licence.
Mr Farooq added: “While this has been a splendid year for Bury Probation, we will strive to continue to improve and provide an excellent service to the community.”