Probation Board for Northern Ireland

The Probation Board for Northern Ireland (PBNI) is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department of Justice.

The Probation Board for Northern Ireland works to change people’s lives to enable safer communities through reducing re-offending.

This is carried out through:

  • Assessing people subject to a community order or licence and annually prepare over 10,000 reports for courts, parole commissioners and others.
  • Supervising over 4,100 people subject to a range of court orders and licences at any given time.
  • Delivering behavioural change programmes in custody and in the community covering areas such as violent offending, sexual offending and drug and alcohol misuse.
  • Providing a Victim Information Scheme to any person who has been the direct victim of a criminal offence where the person who offended is subject to supervision by probation.
  • Working alongside statutory and other partners to minimise the risk of harm posed by people who have offended.

The suicide rate for men and women in Northern Ireland has been on an upward trajectory since 2019. 

In 2022 there were 14.3 deaths from suicide per 100,000 people in NI - slightly higher than the rate in other UK regions. 

Our staff are supervising service users who are increasingly presenting with complex needs including addiction and poor mental health who are at risk of harming themselves. 

We would like all of our staff in PBNI to gain the skills and confidence to help someone who may be considering suicide.

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