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Last week it was reported there were 6,500 jobs to go in the MOJ and now this! It's a bean counter's attempt to save public expense by driving down costs with the intention of increasing productivity whilst delivering ostensibly a better service and outcome for the user. It would make sense to trial something like this before culling staff to give it half a chance of succeeding.
However to do that risks the chance of there being evidence to show that it doesn't deliver a better service. The reality of it all is that it is only cost cutting nothing more no matter how you dress it up.
There are worrying signs of something very similar happening with the NHS, Police and Local Authorities. Get leading lights within the relevant professions to buy in to Government thinking and then implement it. Blame can then be laid not at the hands of the government but the professionals who were dumb enough to fall for it. Once the damage has been done it becomes politically difficult to undo it.