By C1 Staff
UNITED KINGDOM — The largest private probation operator is planning to allow probationers to report in at ATM-style kiosks, as part of a cost-cutting plan.
The Guardian reports that Sodexo justice services will introduce the kiosks, which utilize biometrics, to allow offenders to report in without seeing a probation officer.
At least 700 jobs are expected to be cut in the next six to 12 months.
The kiosks will use fingerprint technology to check identities and allow an offender to report in, receive information and request a face-to-face meeting with a probation officer.
The company will also set up a centralized administrative hug supporting operational staff in face-to-face contact with offenders, which means some low-risk offenders being supervised via a call center despite the majority of serious continued offenses being committed by offenders categorized as low-to-medium risk, according to the probation officer’s union.
Staff received an email to expect 30 percent staffing reduction from the chief executive of Sodexo, Martin Graham: “I’m sure many of you will be shocked by such a figure but you need to remember that this figure is dependent on being able to deliver all the efficiency savings.
“Whatever the final agreed figures, however, it is clear that we will need to make significant staff reductions over the next weeks and months. Some of these will probably have to be compulsory redundancies.”
Sodexo currently runs six of the 21 newly privatized community rehabilitation companies in England and Wales.
The union’s secretary issued this statement in response to the staffing reductions: “We are angry and disappointed about this news. Probation staff have been through hell over the last 18 months dealing with [Chris Grayling, justice secretary]’s so-called reforms and now many of them are facing redundancy and job insecurity.
“When we met with Sodexo earlier this year they told us there would be no reductions in workforce. The use of call centers and machines instead of highly skilled staff is downright dangerous and will put the public at risk.”