Reducing Reoffending

Tackling the causes of reoffending is an important area of work for our office. We believe that if the right services are offered to offenders who have been to prison or are serving community sentences, then we can help stop them drifting back into crime – meaning the communities in which they live will also benefit.

This page contains information on some of the services that we fund and support in Surrey. You can also Contact us to find out more.

Reducing Reoffending Strategy

Our strategy is aligned with the HM Prison & Probation Service’s Kent, Surrey and Sussex Reducing Reoffending Plan 2022-25.

Community Remedy

Our Community Remedy document contains a list of options that police officers can use to deal more proportionately with low level crime such as some antisocial behaviour or minor criminal damage out of court.

Community Remedy gives communities the option to have a say in how offenders should face up to their actions and make amends. It provides victims with a route for swifter justice, ensuring offenders face immediate consequences for their actions which could make them less likely to reoffend.

Learn more on our Community Remedy page.

Services

Surrey Adults Matter

It is estimated that over 50,000 people in England face a combination of homelessness, substance misuse, mental health problems and repeat contact with the Criminal Justice System.

Surrey Adults Matter is the name of the framework used by our office and partners to deliver better coordinated services to improve the lives of adults facing Severe Multiple Disadvantage in Surrey, including individuals in or leaving the criminal justice system. It is part of the national Making Every Adult Matter programme (MEAM) and a key part of our focus on reducing offending in Surrey, by tackling the driving factors behind offending behaviour.

We fund specialist ‘Navigators’ to improve and influence the way individuals suffering from multiple disadvantage are supported. This recognises that individuals who experience multiple disadvantage will often require more than one service and overlapping support to find effective help, leaving them at risk reoffending and repeat contact with the police and other agencies when this support is unavailable or inconsistent.

Checkpoint Plus is an innovative project that uses Navigators to offer repeat offenders of low level crimes the opportunity for rehabilitation as part of a deferred prosecution in partnership with Surrey Police.

Deferred prosecution means that conditions are imposed, allowing offenders the opportunity to address the causes of crime and reduce their risk of reoffending over a four month process, in place of formal prosecution. Victims are actively engaged in ensuring the conditions of individual cases are appropriate. They have the option to further support restorative justice actions, such as receiving a written or in person apology.

Evolved from a model first developed in Durham, the process recognises that whilst punishment is an important way of dealing with crime, on its own it is often not enough to prevent reoffending. This is especially the case for those serving short sentences of six months or less as research shows that these offenders will commit further crime within one year of their release. Equipping offenders for a life after prison, providing a community sentence and supporting to address multiple disadvantage has been shown to reduce reoffending.

‘Checkpoint Plus’ refers to the enhanced scheme in Surrey, that supports individuals experiencing multiple-disadvantage with a more flexible criteria.

Providing accommodation

Often people on probation have complex needs created by issues such as drug and alcohol addiction and mental health issues. The biggest problems are faced by those released from prison with nowhere to live.

Around 50 Surrey residents per month are released from prison back into society. Approximately one in five of those will have no permanent place to live, further influenced by factors including substance dependency and mental ill-health.

A lack of stable accommodation causes difficulties in finding work and access to benefits and services. This significantly reduces the chances of individuals making a fresh start away from reoffending. We work with organisations including the Amber Foundation, Transform and The Forward Trust to help fund accommodation for prison leavers in Surrey.

The Amber Foundation helps young people aged from 17 to 30 by providing a temporary shared home, and training and activities based around accommodation, employment and health and wellbeing.

Our funding for Transform Housing has allowed them to increase their provision of supported accommodation for ex-offenders from 25 to 33 beds.

Through our work with The Forward Trust we have helped around 40 Surrey men and women every year to find supported private rented accommodation following their release from prison.

Find out more

Our Reducing Reoffending Fund also helps a number of organisations to provide support in areas such as substance misuse and homelessness in Surrey.

Read our Annual Report to learn more about the initiatives we have supported in the last year, and our plans for the future.

See our criteria and apply for funding on our Apply for funding page.