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Ministry of Justice makes voluntary sector involvement a priority

Finance | Niki May Young | 10 Nov 2010

The Ministry of Justice has released its business plan for 2011–2015 introducing measures for greater participation of the voluntary and private sectors that will create a “revolution in rehabilitation”, Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke has said.

In a five-point plan of action, priority number one for the coalition is to increase involvement of the voluntary and private sectors in the rehabilitation of offenders using payment-by-results incentives for the organisations. The document explicates that no further rehabilitation services will be provided without testing if the services can be more effectively provided by the voluntary or private sectors.

The percentage of spending on the voluntary and community sector for its services will not be confirmed by the Ministry until the end of each financial year but increased involvement of the sector follows cuts to the total departmental budget from £8.9bn to £7.3bn in 2014/2015.

Voluntary organisations will be involved from now to August next year with the design of payment-by-results pilots, funded in part by social impact bonds, running from August 2011 until November 2014.

But Clinks, an organisation campaigning for the use of the voluntary and community sector in working with offenders, has warned that payment-by-results "poses both an opportunity and a risk". In particular it states that a "transfer of risk" from the government to the organisation undertaking the work could see voluntary organisations bearing the risk of deferred payments. This, Clinks added, could also intensify pressure to provide a strong evidence base.

But Clarke asserted that the new business plan would ensure a fairer model of service provision: "Our aim will be to ensure that justice services are provided by whoever can most effectively and efficiently meet public demand. We will not pay for good intentions, or for ticking procedural boxes, but by the results achieved," he said.

The plan outlines a further commitment to developing rehabilitation services by involving the voluntary sector involvement in both post-sentence and mid-sentence rehabilitation measures, including the introduction of more work for prisoners.

“Our programme of fundamental reform will result in a revolution in rehabilitation that will reduce reoffending,” said Clarke. “We will ensure that those who break the law are punished. But by helping offenders get off drugs, move into work, and manage mental illness we will see fewer of them slipping back into lives of crime. Prisons will be places where meaningful work and opportunities to reform are the expectation for prisoners, not a matter of choice.”

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