Cabinet Office gives £500k to help probation trusts develop spin-outs

05 Jul 2013 News

The Cabinet Office has given £500,000 to 11 probation trusts to develop seven spin-outs to bid for contracts under the government plans to open up delivery of probation services to private and voluntary sector providers in 2015.

The Cabinet Office has given £500,000 to eleven probation trusts to develop seven spin-outs to bid for contracts under the government plans to open up delivery of probation services to private and voluntary sector providers in 2015.

The government wants to abolish the existing 35 probation trusts and instead have 21 prime contractors.

But, government plans to reform probation hit the buffers last month, when , and called on the government to carry out a more detailed impact assessment before pressing ahead.

Elsewhere, Acevo and NCVO have won a joint grant of £150,000 from the Ministry of Justice to deliver support to charities through the proposed government reforms to rehabilitation services.

The grant has been won in partnership with consultancy Candour Collaborations. Services for charities will include TUPE and pensions workshops; networking sessions and impact measurement advice.

Karl Wilding, director of public policy at NCVO, said: “I hope this programme will give voluntary organisations the skills and confidence to fight for the best deal from private contractors and commissioners. Full involvement of expert voluntary organisations in rehabilitation is what service users and their communities need and deserve.”

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