Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 8
8
Accepted
Significant disparities in employment outcomes persist for different groups of prison leavers.
Conclusion
HMPPS and MoJ monitor how outcomes for prison leavers vary between groups. For example, in 2021–22: 8% of female prison leavers were employed after six months compared with 18% of male prison leavers; 11% of black or black British prison leavers were employed after six months compared with 18% of white prison leavers. HMPPS has not performed analysis to identify the causes of this variation and accepts that it is an area it needs to develop further.16 HMPPS gave us examples of how it is working to tailor services to meet individual needs, such as a specialist project in the north west working with individuals who have autism and Anawim, a women’s centre in Birmingham where probation staff are co-located with other relevant support services.17 8 C&AG’s Report, para 3.2 9 IPL0004 10 C&AG’s Report, para 1.7 11 At the end of March 2023, 119 prisons in England and Wales held around 84,400 prisoners (Ministry of Justice, Population bulletin: monthly March 2023) 12 Qq 29, 40, 117 13 Q5 14 C&AG’s Report, para 2.8 15 Q38 16 Q11; C&AG’s Report, para 1.13 17 Qq 21, 23 10 Resettlement support for prison leavers Support for offenders with substance misuse needs
Government Response Summary
The government agrees and states HMPPS is planning a programme of work, including assessment and evidence synthesis, to understand disparities in resettlement outcomes for different groups. This analysis, focusing on protected characteristics, will be delivered by April 2025.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented Resettlement outcomes such as accommodation and employment are routinely reported against different groups, however, the causes of any disparities between groups are less well understood. His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS or the agency) is planning a programme of work to understand disparities in resettlement outcomes, beginning with an assessment of which differences in outcomes are statistically significant. The agency is also conducting an evidence synthesis summarising the internal and external evidence base around potential reasons for variation in outcomes and what the key evidence gaps are. Identifying where meaningful differences exist and the key evidence gaps will ensure analysis is focussed on the right areas. Depending on the emerging evidence gaps, this programme of work may include: • surveys, interviews and focus groups with target cohorts to understand why outcomes differ between groups; • quasi experimental evaluation techniques to unpick potential causal drivers in differences between outcomes; • monitoring information collected through interventions to understand uptake by, and differences in outcomes between cohorts; and • reviewing existing planned evaluations for opportunities for insights to be gained. HMPPS’ initial focus will relate to published protected characteristics (gender, ethnicity, age), sentence length and probation region. Where data allows, this will involve exploring interactions with wider characteristics. By April 2025, the agency will deliver this analysis across prioritised thematic areas, which will inform the agency’s plans for ongoing monitoring based on these findings.