The move to outsource 70 per cent of the probation services is to exclude the management of high-risk criminals according to leaked guidance from the Ministry of Justice.

Experts have expressed concern that by leaving high-risk offenders, who in some cases are publicly notorious, will leave the public sector probation service stuck with providing high risk services with added media attention, while the private sector benefits from low risk offender.

The leak comes as the House of Commons discusses the possibility of a vote in both houses before probation privatisation can go ahead.

Justice secretary, Chris Grayling, told a justice committee last month that: “The aim is to have those two teams in place by April and to have started the process of migrating cases so they are properly allocated across those two groups, but without an absolute requirement to do so by 1 April”.

“We need to make sure public safety is guaranteed. If a particular offender is in the wrong group but there is a good reason for them staying with the current offender manager, they will do so."

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