County Probation Service

<span class="wrapper"><p>See also Probation Committee Annual Reports - CCC 2/13.</p> <p>Further Reading</p> <p>The Probation Service ed. Joan King - 1958.</p></span>

The Probation Service developed out of the Police Court Missions, established after 1876, under the auspices of the Church of England Temperance Society and its local branches, with the aim of tackling the social causes of intemperance and its consequences and helping those driven to crime by extreme poverty.

The Police Court Missionaries, of whom there were over 100 by 1900, would stand bail for the release of suitable offenders. Gradually their responsibilities went beyond the supervision of offenders released on bail to include finding accomodation for those released from prison or court, marital conciliation and working with difficult children.

In Chester, the Police Court Mission Committee was established in October 1894, on the initiative of the Revd. W.H.L. Cogswell. Funds were raised by subscription and J.C. Porter was employed as a Police Court Missionary on a salary of #90 p.a. Within the first year, 240 Court cases were dealt with and 522 home visits made. By 1907, Police Court Missions had also been established in Northwich, Altrincham and Stockport, the Chester Mission being responsible also for Wallasey and Broxton [oab]see EDM 27 and EDM 28 for records of the Altrincham Police Court Mission Society[cab].

A statutory Probation Service was not established until 1907, with the passage of the Probation of Offenders Act of 1907. Many of the Police Court Missionaries were appointed to the new Probation Service, as was the case in Chester, but continued to be partly financed by Police Court Mission Committees.

The duties of probation officers were to "advise, assist and befriend" the probationer and to ensure that he observed the terms of his recognizance. The Act was permissive, but the Home Secretary was empowered to regulate the new service.

A comprehensive system was not established until the Criminal Justice Act of 1925, which designated each petty sessional division as a probation area. Such areas could be combined and were to be administered by Probation Committees of local magistrates, elected by their fellows. In Cheshire, the Finance Committee of the County Council took over financial responsibility for the salaries of the probation officers in 1926 but it was not until 1939 that the Court of Quarter Sessions established a Probation Sub-Committee [oab]see QAM 15 for signed minutes 1939-1949[cab].

Subsequent legislation added to the responsibilities of probation officers - the Children and Young Persons Act of 1933 extended the scope of supervision orders and required home surroundings reports to be made on juvenile offenders - and an official system of Home Office inspection was instituted. Legal procedure was clarified by the Criminal Justice Act of 1948, which also gave statutory recognition to approved probation hostels and homes.

In 1952, the Combined Area Probation service was established, covering 24 Petty Sessional Districts of the County and employing 20 full-time and 8 part-time officers. A County Probation Committee was appointed to organise and maintain the service, with local Case Committees for each petty sessional division, responsible for reviewing the work of probation officers with individual probation and supervision cases and giving help and advice in carrying out their work generally [oab]see CCCL 1/1 for signed minutes[cab].

The Probation Committee had the general duty to ensure that the duties of probation officers were efficiently carried out. Its members were appointed by the Justices of each division, with the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman of Quarter Sessions members ex officio and the Clerk of the Peace as Clerk to the Committee and it possessed its own seal. Contributions towards its expenses were levied on its constituent local authorities, based on their population size, and the Committee also received a substantial grant from the Home Office.

The County was divided into 4 areas, each under a senior Probation officer. The combined Probation Area was enlarged in 1957, with the addition of the county borough of Wallasey and, subsequently, also Birkenhead.

In 1967, the Committee was re-named the Probation and After-Care Committee.

After the passage of the Courts Act of 1971, which abolished the Court of Quarter Sessions, the membership of the Committee was re-constituted and the Secretary of State for the Home Office was empowered to add judges of the Crown Court to its members.

Local Government re-organisation led to the re-organisation of the Petty Sessional Divisions within the new administrative county of Cheshire, to create 8 Divisions that were co-terminous with the 8 new County Districts, each of which was to be represented by 2 members on the Committee.

The structure of the Probation Committee was reformed in 1982, leaving the main Committee overall responsibility for the Probation Service, but matters of detail to the Personnel Sub-Committee; Resources Sub-Committee and the Community Service Sub-Committee.