NOMS Co-Financing Organisation Social Enterprise Programme

The past, the present and the future

Introduction

• NOMS Co-financing Organisation and the European Social Fund (ESF) have committed a total of £280m of funding over 6 years (Jan 2009 – December 2014) to prepare and support over 120,000 offenders, in the community and in custody, to access mainstream employment services and ultimately gain employment.

• The ultimate intention of the NOMS/ESF Co-financing programme is to reduce the rate of reoffending • The funding provides a range of education and employment activities which complement existing provision currently available in prisons and probation as well as mainstream employment programmes such as those delivered through Jobcentre Plus, the Work Programme and the Offender Learning and Skills Service (OLASS).

• Offenders on release from prison, including short sentence prisoners are provided with support to help them secure employment.

•

Funding Structure

NOMS CFO presently contracts to 9 Prime Providers to deliver our services to offenders.

• During the life of the programme these Prime Providers have included private, public and charitable organisations including Serco, SOVA and Probation Trusts.

• They cover 12 specific area in England. Using a system of sub-contracting and spot purchasing.

• Our Prime Providers have worked with over 120 Tier 3 organisations. These 120+ organisations include a large number of VCSE suppliers.

• We have successfully worked with a “Payments by Results” model since the project began in 2009.

Unskilled, unqualified, de-motivated, drugs / alcohol issues, behavioural issues, debt problems, accommodation problems.

NOMS CFO Target Group

Skilled, qualified but unemployed DWP… Unqualified, unskilled and unemployed SFA…

NOMS CFO

Hard to help group who are currently not able to access mainstream provision, and are therefore unable to return to the labour market

NOMS CFO and the Social Enterprise Arena

• NOMS first began using European money to develop engagement with the social enterprise (SE) sector in 2008 and in April 2009, as the Co-financing Organisation was formed, appointed its first Social Enterprise ‘Champion’ and latterly the Social Enterprise Team, who act as a conduit between the SE sector and NOMS CFO.

• We have also worked with the sector when dealing with mainstream NOMS colleagues via our Social Enterprise Policy Group • Social Enterprise activity was funded via the Technical Assistance (TA) stream of European funding and was specifically for development and testing of new ways of interacting with offenders to reduce re-offending.

• TA funding has also supported other engagement activity targeted at offenders specifically with regards to sustainable development and cross cutting themes.

NOMS CFO & ESF Social Enterprise Activity

•

3 Broad strands of social enterprise activity:

• Action Research – an extensive programme of pilot projects which explored new delivery methodologies and sustainable funding models • Infrastructure Development – work with sector bodies and others to create and promote a vibrant and diverse market place including specific Sustainable Development avenues • Regional and Pathway Investment – specific budgets for SE Investment Zones in the targeted areas in England and other activity focused on housing, diversity and other resettlement pathways

Action Research

To date we have funded: 29 individual projects to explore new delivery methodologies and sustainable funding models.

Organisation we have worked with and funded include: • Beyond Youth- business case • Women’s Wisdom-competition • Work this Way-competition • Ubique – business case • Email a Prisoner – business case • Framework Housing competition

Infrastructure Development

•Supported Social Enterprise CJS development across England in developing a regional engagement programme across the UK •Enthuse the SE market to continue to work with NOMS CFO and develop further avenues for procurement opportunities •Enabling a greater visibility for NOMS CFO and NOMS mainstream in the Social Enterprise market •Listened to SE’s who wanted greater opportunities to engage with CJS and NOMS, other than the traditional spot purchase or sub provider avenue •Consortia avenue explored by NOMS CFO to try and address these requests by the market and facilitate greater market development for essential rehabilitation services. Culminating in the Social Enterprise Consortia Building exercise.

Regional and Pathway development

Areas within England are provided with additional Social Enterprise support. These are South West and Cornwall This funding totals approximately £0.5M of additional support which was specifically to work with Social Enterprises in these areas.

There has also been additional action funding to highlight social enterprise activity in the North West and Yorkshire & Humberside. Activity in these areas include: Green Future Building: Fish farms, BMX track for able and disabled, Floating Café Carlshead Farm: Horticultural qualification Leeds Market Garden: Production of 10,000 plants for sale to councils and general public

NOMS CFO Social Enterprise Consortia Building Programme

Social Enterprise Consortia Building Programme

As the NOMS CFO SE programme developed and following consultation with the social enterprise sector it became clear that the sector felt disadvantaged when bidding for Government contracts because of: a) b) The size of the Government contracts on offer The size of the typical social enterprise organisations (SME’s) • • Because of this perceived impasse the Consortia Building Programme was developed.

£1.5m to develop robust, self-sustaining consortia capable of delivering Prime, Tier 2 or Tier 3 contracts for public and private contracts within the CJS and outside.

This was to be accomplished by the provision of specific training and support mechanisms which would assist the organisations to form legal consortiums which would increase the supply chain for Government and private procurement exercises.

Social Enterprise Consortia Building Programme Benefits for NOMS CFO/ SE’s of the Consortia Building Programme

• Increase number of potential ‘primes’ in market, with particular focus on consortia structures which are not grant dependent • Improve the ability of the SE sector to participate in current and future delivery of ESF programmes • Increase SE presence within market/supply chains for a) NOMS CFO; b) other CFOs; c) services supporting employability support for offenders; and d) employability support programmes across Government departments • Develop value or supply chains that also create environmental and social benefit beyond that experienced by the participants themselves • Incorporating social value culture into the governments delivery chain.

Social Enterprise Consortia Building Programme Benefits for NOMS CFO/ SE’s of the Consortia Building Programme cont..

• Enable SME SE’s to participate in Government procurement rounds above £100k lot value by becoming part of substantive consortium able to meet the prime provider thresholds or alternatively as significant sub-contractors • Increase skill set of SE’s by facilitating consortia combining managerial and administrative expertise, understanding of support mechanisms for client group, ability to market offer, commercial acumen and experience of compliance with ESF requirements • Support SE’s in articulation of wider social value of offer to public sector commissioners • Test how enterprises and other organisations can work together to create a ‘value’ or ’supply chain’ that can offer offenders the opportunity to gain skills and employment (supported by other multi-pathway interventions)

Social Enterprise Consortia Building Programme

The Successful Bidders

NOMS CFO Round 3 2015-2020

NOMS CFO Round 3 2015-2020

• Funding for Round 3 has been confirmed as £131m for a 6 year offender assistance programme • As part of the ESF 2014- 2020 programme NOMS CFO R3 will commence in 2015 • Procurement will commence mid 2014… details TBC • CFO contracts will be regional, within ESF constraints, but will be managed at a national level

NOMS CFO Round 3 2015-2020

• Will continue to work with offenders both in prison and upon release into the community • Will ensure that it will provide delivery into prisons which will best complement the aims of The Rehabilitation Programme • Work with offenders in the last 12-18 months of their sentence … although we can work with offenders up to 3 years before their sentence ends

NOMS CFO Round 3 2015-2020

• Continue to target those furthest away from mainstream activity and the employment market • Focus on offender with multiple barriers and extremely hard to reach groups e.g. offenders with disabilities, over 50’s, BME groups and women • Activity in R3 will be widened to include health, training and work that strengthens appropriate family links which will be in conjunction with the DWP Troubled Families provision

NOMS CFO Round 3 2015-2020

• Payment will continue to be via a “Payment by Results” process which has been working successfully for NOMS CFO and its Prime Providers since 2009

NOMS CFO Round 3 2015-2020

Consultation processes are under way and we are currently engaging with: • Prisons • Probation Trusts • Other CFO’s • The Rehabilitation Team at NOMS • Ministry of Justice

Local Employment Partnerships (LEPs)

ESF are clear that a strong relationship with the 39 LEP’s will be important and NOMS CFO will implement a process allowing regular liaison at local level to ensure that work is complementary to their delivery for offenders.

• For further information please send emails to: [email protected]

or visit our website at: www.co-financing.org