Catch22 has submitted evidence to the House of Commons Justice Select Committee’s inquiry, Rehabilitation and Resettlement: Ending the Cycle of Reoffending. The inquiry looks to address a persistent challenge faced by the Criminal Justice System (CJS): the high rate of reoffending. With 78% of offenders cautioned or convicted in 2023 having a prior conviction, it’s evident that existing approaches are failing to break the cycle. Reoffending is not just a financial burden on the system, but one that causes significant harm to communities, victims and offenders themselves.
Through Catch22’s work delivering over 20 different services across the CJS, we’ve seen that when individuals are given the right support; a purpose, a safe place to live and good people around them, they can break the cycle of reoffending. This inquiry is an important opportunity to reform our approach to offender management and support.
Our response to the Justice Select Committee reflects our commitment to achieving the best possible outcomes for people in touch with the CJS, and centres around 3 factors we believe are indispensable in reducing recidivism and reoffending:
1. Continuity: The system must seek to – at all costs – maintain individuals’ ties to positive networks and support systems.
Short sentences and licence recall sever these ties; pushing individuals even further away from the protective factors we know are critical in reducing the risk of reoffending; like employment and stable housing. We advocate for a presumption against short sentences and the implementation of rehabilitative alternatives to Fixed Term Recall (FTR), such that the rehabilitative journey is streamlined rather than fragmented.
2. Personalisation: Support must be tailored to the bespoke needs of the individual.
This means that sentence plans, licence conditions and resettlement support are developed according to the rehabilitative needs of the individual, rather than for short-term or transactional outcomes. In achieving this, Catch22 advocates for greater use of pre-sentence reports (PSRs), mentorship and co-production opportunities.
3. Effective custodial rehabilitation: For those custody is suitable; the system must improve its quality of custodial environment and rehabilitative offers.
To address criminogenic behaviour and ensure the best chance of positive resettlement, those in prison must have access to high-quality, tailored rehabilitative support and purposeful activity, such as employability and substance use services. Too often these are lacking or inaccessible for those who need them most.
We also showcased successful initiatives like the Newham Youth to Adulthood Hub and the Achieving Compliance and Engagement (ACE) programme, which demonstrate the power of innovative, co-located, and mentoring-based approaches in providing support to reduce reoffending.