Offender management reform and payment by results
The Ministry of Justice has set out plans to radically reform criminal justice, to provide a firm, fair system that punishes offenders, protects the public and reduces reoffending.
Punishment is an essential part of justice, but on its own it does not stop people reoffending. Almost half of all adults leaving prison are reconvicted within a year. So the same criminals move through the courts, prison and community sentences, creating new victims of crime and extra costs to society. To cut crime and break this cycle, we need to be far more successful at getting offenders to reform after serving their sentence.
To achieve this, we will change our whole approach to the management of offenders and their rehabilitation, so we only pay for what works in delivering reduced levels of crime.
One key element of our approach to competition is to test a range of models where providers from the private, public and voluntary sectors work in partnership and are paid by the results they deliver.
There has been a long history of competition in offender services which will now become central to our commissioning model to drive value for money, encourage service reform and innovation and build a thriving market of providers.
Providers will be given the freedom to innovate and invest money in activities that work to rehabilitate offenders. They will deliver programmes which address the roots of criminality, in areas such as drug and alcohol addiction. They will also work to address skills shortages through increasing the work and training offenders do in prison, and encouraging organisations to employ offenders on release.
Our plans mean a return to what the public wants from the criminal justice system: punishment, protection and a renewed focus on breaking the cycle of crime and reoffending.
