Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 13
13
Accepted
Evaluation of 'Reset' scheme lacks assessment of impact on reoffending and public protection.
Recommendation
We asked MoJ whether it has evaluated the impact of prioritisation measures such as ‘Reset’ and ‘Impact’, on rehabilitation outcomes. It told us that it is hard to attribute changes in reoffending rates to particular schemes, and it is too early to look at the effect of ‘Impact’. However, it explained that it is currently doing an evaluation of the ‘Reset’ scheme, which will look at how the scheme was implemented and the impact on the criminal justice system, and that it would include some quantitative data on contact time and recall rates. However, it did not confirm that the evaluation would include an assessment of the effect on reoffending and public protection.25 Probation staff
Government Response Summary
The department will capture data to monitor the impact of changes, develop a probation evaluation strategy, and continue to monitor and publish data on reoffending and recall. Evaluation of 'Reset' will be published by July 2026.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
2.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 2.2 Work is underway to capture the data required to monitor the impact of changes to the probation service on key metrics. Work is also underway to develop a probation evaluation strategy for the changes being implemented later this year. 2.3 The department will continue to monitor reoffending and recall, and this will continue to be published via regular National Statistical publications in the usual way. The monitoring and evaluation plans being developed are considering how the department can better understand impacts on key outcomes such as these. However, as evidence to the hearing set out, it is very challenging to attribute changes in the reoffending measure to individual initiatives due to the large number of changes underway at a national level (due to the lack of a robust comparison group). 2.4 Evaluation of the changes introduced through ‘Reset’ will be published by July 2026 in line with standard Government Social Research publication protocols on GOV.UK.