Martin Jones, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Probation for England and Wales, said the Probation Service was already under ‘unprecedented pressure’ and that the early release of more prisoners threatened to overwhelm the system. To make matters worse, probation staff voted in favour of industrial action this week, meaning strikes could start from October. That's nearly three times the number that are in our prisons, and obviously the early release scheme will be increasing that pressure considerably.’ The Probation Service employs about 21,000 full-time staff, but has a shortfall of about 1,500 full-time probation officers. The latest government data from December showed 5,437 full-time probation officers in post against a target level of 7,110.