It is widely believed that probation officers have less influence, status and visibility in the criminal courts than hitherto, and that in some instances their relationship with the bench has declined to near‐estrangement. These changes are analysed in an historical and theoretical context; and against the touchstone of a virtually unchanging bench, the bureaucratisation of the justices' clerk and the professionalisation, bureaucratisation and increased executive accountability of the probation service are explored for explanation of the decline. Elements of a tentative solution to the problem involving organisational change and a reconceptualisation of the relationship between the bench and the probation service are offered for discussion.