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Probation means you鈥檙e serving your sentence but you鈥檙e not in prison.

You could be put on probation because:

• you鈥檙e serving a community sentence
• you have been released from prison on licence or on parole

While on probation, you may have to:

• do unpaid work
• complete an education or training course
• get treatment for addictions, like drugs or alcohol
• have regular meetings with an 鈥榦ffender manager鈥�

When you鈥檙e on probation you may have meetings with your offender manager. This will usually happen at your local probation office.

At your first meeting your offender manager will explain:

• the rules of your probation
• the dates, times and places of future meetings
• any appointments you must go to, for example training courses or treatment
• what happens if you do not do what you are asked

Your offender manager will ask you to read and agree to a 鈥榮entence plan鈥�. This will tell you the rules you have to stick to during your probation and what your responsibilities are.

What you must tell your offender manager

You must tell your offender manager if:

• you plan to change your name or address
• you will not be able to make any meetings you have arranged with them
• you鈥檙e having problems sticking to the rules of your probation

If you miss a scheduled meeting with your offender manager, you should get in touch and tell them why. You may need to provide proof, like a letter from a doctor or your employer.

You are allowed to miss meetings or appointments to attend religious or other important events if you give your offender manager advance notice.

You could go back to court if you break any rules of your probation. For example, if you:

• do something your sentence bans you from doing
• commit another crime
• miss meetings and appointments without a good reason
• behave in an aggressive, racist or other unacceptable way at a meeting or appointment

You can also be taken back to prison if you break the conditions of your licence or parole.

You can be taken straight back to prison if you have been released on licence or parole and you break the rules of your probation. This is known as a 鈥榬ecall鈥�. Your offender manager will tell you why you鈥檝e been recalled.

There are three types of recalls.

Fixed-term recalls

You鈥檒l be sent back to prison for either:

• 14 days - if your original sentence was less than 12 months
• 28 days - if your original sentence was 12 months or more

When you鈥檙e released you鈥檒l be back on probation and licence until the end of your sentence.

Standard recalls

You鈥檒l go back to prison until the end of your sentence, unless a parole board or the Secretary of State for Justice decide to release you.

Your case will be sent to a parole board automatically after 28 days. They will either release you straight away or set a date (within 1 year) when you can be released on licence.

Your offender manager can also review your case at any time and recommend to the Secretary of State that you should be released.

Indeterminate sentence recalls

Your case will be sent to a parole board either:

• 28 days after you go back to prison
• within 12 months of your last parole board review

The parole board will do one of the following:

• release you on licence immediately
• set a date when you鈥檒l be released on licence
• keep you in prison
• ask you to attend a hearing
• delay making a decision about your sentence until they have more information

If you have been taken back to prison and think you should be released on probation again, ask the prison in writing. This is called 鈥榤aking representations鈥�.

You can also ask a family member, friend or legal adviser to write to the prison for you.

You must do this within 2 weeks of being told why you are being recalled to prison.