About us

Cumbria is a large and sparsely populated County marked by significant contrasts. In addition to the well known beauty of the Lake District, Eden Valley, Hadrian’s Wall and so on, there are areas of considerable deprivation – amongst the worst in the country. Crime is comparatively low but, again, there is significant crime in particular areas. Drug abuse, alcohol abuse, domestic violence, racist crime, paedophilia and violence all appear within the tranquillity that is associated with our county.

The Probation Service in Cumbria is also small with around 200 staff. This places us as one of the smallest areas in the country. Nevertheless, in many areas of performance Cumbria achieves very high results. Steady progress has been made across a whole range of issues and are proud of what we have achieved. As we celebrate this we also remain ambitious to do better.

We are aware that some of the work we do is very much in the public eye, especially our supervision of the more dangerous offenders. Along with our partners we work hard to ensure that proper plans are in place for such offenders and that in doing so we do not ignore those other offences that are less damaging but present real challenges to communities. Our role in supervising offenders who perform unpaid work for the community is key to this. Increasingly this work is set within the context of "Community Payback" in which members of the community suggest what work will best assist and provide a genuine sense of paying back for the crime that has been committed.

Programmes to look at drug abuse, drink associated with driving, domestic violence, and those generally antisocial ways of thinking that offenders display are all in place and make a further contribution to reducing the risk of further offending.

We work with victims too. It is less well know that all victims of more serious crimes where longer prison sentences are imposed are contacted by probation staff and, if they wish, are kept informed of the progress of the prison sentence and, for example, when an offender might be due for release.

We work widely with other organisations and enjoy very fruitful relationships through forums such as the Cumbria Criminal Justice Board, the Drug and Alcohol Action Team, and the Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA). Without these and many other ways in which we work with others we could not be effective.

We are proud to serve the people of Cumbria in what is, at times, very challenging work and I hope that this website allows you to understand more of what we do and feel more confident that offending is being addressed in a robust and constructive way.