Local police in Peterborough, where the inaugural social impact bond is being piloted, say there have been lower incidences of reoffending in the area, according to a new report from Social Finance.

The report, The One* Service. A Year On, looks at the progress of the social impact bond pilot in Peterborough, and finds that anecdotally clients report better control over their lives, and that police have conveyed lower incidences of reoffending.

However, firm results for the project – which involves a coalition of charities  working with newly-released short-sentence prisoners in the area to reduce re-offending, will not be available until the programme has been running for four years.

The programme aims to reduce the number of reconvictions among 3,000 short-sentence prisoners by 7.5 per cent over the period of the bond.  Investors into the social impact bond will receive a return if the number of reconvictions falls by at least 7.5 per cent overall.

If the social impact bond delivers a drop in reoffending beyond 7.5 per cent, investors will receive an increasing return capped at a maximum of 13 per cent per year over an eight-year period. But if the 7.5 per cent target is not reached, the investors will get nothing back.

The One Service comprises a variety of interventions both pre- and post release, provided by organisations including the St Giles Trust, Ormiston Children and Families Trust, SOVA and YMCA.  It is the only programme anywhere in the country that offers support to short-sentence prisoners after they are released from jail.