Reoffenders: Charities

(asked on 15th April 2021) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to build partnerships with charities, similar to its partnership with The Clink, to reduce rates of reoffending.


Answered by
Alex Chalk Portrait
Alex Chalk
Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
This question was answered on 23rd April 2021

Our relationship with the third sector is an important part of our work to reduce rates of reoffending. We have and continue to build strong partnerships with charities both at a national and local level.

This includes The Clink, which will expand its partnership with HMPPS over the next three years, extending an award training scheme that has been available in five prisons to an additional 70. Other examples include our partnership with Recycling Lives. This provides training and work experience in eight prison-based workshops, supporting men and women into employment on release. We have also empowered prison governors to establish relationships with local charities to help meet the needs of the men and women in their care.

Our partnership work with charities is built into the way we develop policy. The Reducing Reoffending Third Sector Advisory Group (RR3) is a formal advisory group to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS). The RR3 provides valuable advice to Ministers and officials on a range of issues linked to reducing reoffending, from mental health and substance misuse to employment.

We continue to explore new ways of working. The Prison Leavers Project, announced in February 2021, will see test cross-sector approaches to reducing reoffending, working with colleagues from across the public and third sector to test new ideas and ways of working.

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