£200 million investment in rehab services to cut crime

Charities and companies which help rehabilitate offenders have been awarded around £200 million of Government funding to help cut crime in the new probation system.

• Services to provide specialist housing, employment and training support to reduce reoffending
• Multi-million-pound contracts awarded to more than 25 organisations
• Providers to work with Probation Service to rehabilitate offenders and cut crime

The investment of an initial £195 million has been awarded to 26 organisations across England and Wales to provide vital support services that help reduce reoffending, such as employment and housing advice. This includes over £45 million awarded to services tailored to female offenders to address their specific needs and the underlying causes of their crimes as part of the Government’s pledge to see fewer women go to prison. The total funding awarded could rise to £270 million if contracts with these organisations are extended to their full terms.

By tackling the drivers of crime and getting offenders’ lives back on track, these services will help to prevent thousands of people becoming victims each year and save some of the £18 billion annual cost of repeat offending.

The move is one of the improvements being made to the Probation Service next month as responsibility for supervising low- and medium-risk offenders comes back under public sector control. The delivery of unpaid work in community sentences and behavioural change programmes are also being brought back in-house.

Prisons and Probation Minister Alex Chalk said:

Tackling things like homelessness, unemployment and illiteracy is vital to our drive to cut crime but these issues cannot be solved by our brilliant probation staff alone.

The expertise and support of charities and companies like those we are funding today plays a crucial role in helping offenders to rehabilitate and lead a crime-free life.

Almost £46 million has been awarded to charities which provide wraparound support to women in the criminal justice system, acknowledging the complex array of issues female offenders particularly face. Organisations including The Nelson Trust, Women in Prison, and a partnership between the St Giles Trust and the Wise Group will work with vulnerable women to help them get their lives back on track. This significant investment provides long-term support to women’s centres and other dedicated services for women serving community sentences or leaving prison.

Prison leavers are around 50 per cent more likely to reoffend if released with nowhere to stay so over £33 million will be shared by charities helping the homeless, including St Mungo’s, Shelter and NACRO. Their work will help get offenders off the streets into stable accommodation and work alongside the Probation Service’s new temporary accommodation service.

A further £33 million has been awarded to companies such as Seetec, Maximus and Ingeus which provide offenders with skills training and employment support. With their expertise in helping people find work they will partner with probation staff and the New Futures Network in the Prison Service to support offenders into jobs.

Up to £118 million has been awarded to organisations which work with offenders to address personal issues, including Catch 22, The Forward Trust and The Growth Company. This ranges from support accessing mental health services to help with managing complex family relationships.

The funding has been awarded through a new process designed to make it easier for charities and other third-sector organisations to access funding from Government and around two-thirds of the funding has been awarded to registered charities. In addition, many lead organisations are using the specialist skills of smaller organisations to help deliver services, with another 50 organisations, mostly in the voluntary sector, in their supply chains.

Notes to Editors

• Women’s and personal support services have been procured at Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) level, while each provider for Education, Training and Employment services will work across one of the twelve probation regions in England and Wales. Accommodation services will also be provided at a regional level except in Wales where they have been procured at PCC level.
• For the first time, the Probation Service is jointly commissioning the full range of rehabilitative services in Greater Manchester with the region’s Combined Authority from July 2021. In London, women’s services will be commissioned jointly with the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) by providing funding to MOPAC’s existing providers for an extension and expansion of the current service. A new commissioning process will be undertaken for services from 2022.

Full list of contracts awarded according to region

Please note, the figures given are for the standard term of the contracts which are 2 years and 9 months, unless specified (see each contract below). Note Women’s services contracts are for 3 years and 9 months. For Accommodation and Education, Training and Employment services these are predicted values.

East Midlands

• Women’s Services
  • Lincolnshire Action Trust - £544,992 (Lincolnshire)
  • Changing Lives - £1,240,656 (Leicestershire)
  • Nottingham Women’s Centre - £1,831,193 (Nottinghamshire)
  • Women’s Work Derbyshire - £1,509,887 (Derbyshire)
• Support services for issues including mental health, family and relationships
  • The Forward Trust - £998,975 (Lincolnshire)
  • Ingeus - £6,021,064 (Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire)
• Accommodation
  • Nacro - £2,963,412
• Education, Training and Employment
  • Ingeus - £2,913,656

East of England

• Women’s Services
  • Advance - £2,128,122 (Bedfordshire, Essex, Hertfordshire)
  • St Giles Wise (SGW) - £2,177,655 (Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk) (Northamptonshire – until June 2023)
• Support services for issues including mental health, family and relationships
  • Nacro - £3,054,280 (Suffolk, Northamptonshire, Hertfordshire)
  • The Forward Trust - £4,374,002 (Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Norfolk, Essex)
• Accommodation
  • Seetec - £2,883,298
• Education, Training and Employment
  • Seetec - £2,729,155

Kent, Surrey and Sussex

• Women’s Services
  • Advance - £1,317,735 (Kent)
  • Brighton Women’s Centre - £1,167,285 (Sussex)
  • Women in Prison - £588,630 (Surrey)
• Support services for issues including mental health, family and relationships
  • The Forward Trust - £2,557,318 (Sussex, Surrey)
  • Seetec - £2,135,134 (Kent)
• Accommodation
  • Seetec - £1,977,871
• Education, Training and Employment
  • Seetec - £1,903,774

London

• Women’s Services
  • In London, women’s services will be commissioned jointly with the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) from mid-2022 with the Probation Service providing funding to MOPAC’s existing providers until then.
• Support services for issues including mental health, family and relationships
  • Catch 22 - £12,501,519
• Accommodation
  • St Mungo - £4,882,708
• Education, Training and Employment
  • Maximus - £4,999,117

North East

• Women’s Services
  • Changing Lives - £4,253,089 (Cleveland, Northumbria)
  • St Giles Wise (SGW) - £866,581 (Durham)
• Support services for issues including mental health, family and relationships
  • Ingeus - £3,032,996 (Northumbria)
  • St Giles Wise (SGW) - £3,177,664 (Durham, Cleveland)
• Accommodation
  • Thirteen Housing Group - £2,740,568
• Education, Training and Employment
  • Ingeus - £2,903,359

North West

• Women’s Services
  • Lancashire Women - £1,791,947 (Lancashire)
  • PSS UK - £3,050,765 (Cheshire, Merseyside)
  • Women’s Community Matters - £319,435 (Cumbria – until June 2023) (Subject to contract)
• Support services for issues including mental health, family and relationships
  • The Growth Company - £5,732,481 (Lancashire, Merseyside) (Cumbria – until June 2023)
  • Seetec - £2,108,173 (Cheshire)
• Accommodation
  • Seetec - £2,988,646
• Education, Training and Employment
  • Maximus - £3,151,152

South Central

• Women’s Services
  • Advance - £2,111,499 (Hampshire) (Thames Valley – until June 2023)
• Support services for issues including mental health, family and relationships
  • Catch 22 - £4,091,542 (Hampshire, Thames Valley)
• Accommodation
  • o Ingeus - £1,828,763
• Education, Training and Employment
  • o Ingeus - £1,889,412

South West

• Women’s Services
  • Nelson Trust - £2,897,254 (Avon & Somerset, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire)
  • The Women’s Centre Cornwall - £1,765,668 (Devon & Cornwall, Dorset)
• Support services for issues including mental health, family and relationships
  • Catch 22 - £5,706,872 (Avon & Somerset, Dorset) (Wiltshire, Devon & Cornwall, Gloucestershire – all until June 2023)
• Accommodation
  • Seetec - £2,852,365
• Education, Training and Employment
  • Seetec - £2,624,658

Wales

• Women’s Services
  • The Nelson Trust - £1,992,162 (Dyfed-Powys, Gwent, South Wales – all until June 2023)
  • PSS UK - £432,225 (North Wales – until June 2023)
• Support services for issues including mental health, family and relationships (Young Adults and 26+)
  • St Giles Wise (SGW) - £6,011,313 (Dyfed-Powys, Gwent – all until June 2023) (South Wales, North Wales)
• Accommodation
  • o Forward Trust - £2,006,168 (Dyfed-Powys, Gwent, South Wales)
  • Nacro - £633,425 (North Wales)
• Education, Training and Employment
  • Maximus - £2,440,833

West Midlands

• Women’s Services
  • Changing Lives - £6,095,524 (West Midlands, Warwickshire)(Staffordshire – until June 2023)
  • Willowdene - £1,014,080 (West Mercia)
• Support services for issues including mental health, family and relationships
  • Catch 22 - £1,639,494 (West Mercia)
  • Ingeus - £8,324,204 (Staffordshire, West Midlands) (Warwickshire – until June 2023)
• Accommodation
  • Nacro - £3,823,196
• Education, Training and Employment
  • Maximus - £4,147,256

Yorkshire & The Humber

• Women’s Services
  • Changing Lives - £1,835,581 (South Yorkshire)
  • St Giles Wise (SGW) - £1,072,461 (North Yorkshire)
  • Together Women - £4,604,673 (Humberside, West Yorkshire)
• Support services for issues including mental health, family and relationships
  • Foundation - £1,246,789 (North Yorkshire)
  • Ingeus - £6,671,666 (Humberside, West Yorkshire)
  • The Growth Company - £2,593, 567 (South Yorkshire)
• Accommodation
  • Shelter - £4,068,990
• Education, Training and Employment
  • The Growth Company - £4,134,343

Greater Manchester

• Greater Manchester Combined Authority – For the first time, the Probation Service is jointly commissioning the full range of rehabilitative services in Greater Manchester with the region’s Combined Authority from July 2021.