It is argued that structured reform predicated on the ability to introduce contestability is having a detrimental impact on the effectiveness, and potentially on the future, of the Probation Service. Based on the 2008 Bill McWilliams Memorial Lecture, this article outlines the concern that the voice of the Probation Service is being silence by political expediency and needless structural change. The Service has been destabilized by New Labour's post-1997 shift from an initial empirical policy of 'what works', in the context of reducing reoffending to a dogmatic approach based on penal populism and constant restructuring to introduce the concept of contestability. The article seeks to demonstrate that New Labour did not literally mean 'what works', it meant 'what works' in appeasing the views that emerged from a simplistic interpretation of focus groups, with some views intending for the increase in prison numbers as well as playing down the success and effectiveness of probation. It is thought that the Probation Service should remain a properly resourced public service with having the voice of NAPO (National Association of Probation Officers), the trade union and professional association. Figures and references