SUPPORTING PEOPLE ON PROBATION

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For over 15 years we have led the way in giving people on probation a voice. In fact we gave over 130,000 people a voice in this time and innovated the model of ‘engaging people on probation’ that is now in every probation region.

We’ve also led various reports into the state of probation, including as part of the National Audit Office’s review. So we know a thing or two about probation and the support people need to get their lives back on track. 

Since 2021, people on probation have been supported through £195 million of Commissioned Rehabilitative Services (CRS) contracts. While two-thirds of this money going to registered charities, given the constraints of this contractual process, it was perhaps inevitable that small and medium sized voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations felt squeezed out. The Oldfield Review found that half of the CRS competitions had only one or even zero bidders and six large VCSE organisations accounted for £122m of the funding that was awarded.

These contracts are soon up to be recommissioned. The Prison and Probation Service is undertaking a recommissioning exercise to commission and implement new services to meet peoples’ needs. As part of this they have invited us to be part of the Stakeholder Advisory Group, ensuring the voice of lived experience is central to the  development of these new services.