Prisoners: Rehabilitation
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the efficacy of the offending behaviour (a) programmes and (b) interventions offered in prisons.
Answered by Jake Richards
HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) expects that all programmes and interventions meet the evidenced standards for what works to reduce reoffending and promote desistance. This includes being able to evaluate them. We expect our programmes and interventions to be either accredited or centrally approved to ensure they meet those evidenced standards.
The Correctional Services Accreditation and Advice Panel (CSAAP), an independent group of experts, provides HMPPS with accreditation recommendations to inform their accreditation for use across prisons and probation. CSAAP expects programmes to be designed and delivered based on the best international evidence and requires evaluations to be conducted before they can recommend accreditation.
The Ministry of Justice and HMPPS have developed a comprehensive research and evaluation strategy for accredited offending behaviour programmes. This strategy aims to assess the implementation of these programmes, along with their short-term and long-term outcomes, in an iterative manner. The objective is to establish a thorough understanding of programme delivery and its impact on reoffending and other outcome measures among various participant groups.
HMPPS also has a National Framework for Interventions (NFI) Policy Framework which provides a mechanism for ensuring that those interventions delivered regionally and in lower volumes than our accredited programme offer, including those delivered in collaboration with our third sector partner organisations, also meet the evidenced standards for effectiveness. These standards are consistent with those applied by CSAAP when making accreditation recommendations for offending behaviour programmes across HMPPS. Where interventions are reviewed under the NFI policy framework, it is expected that providers are responsible for the evaluation of their intervention products. Providers do, however, have the option to engage with the Ministry of Justice Justice Data Lab to complete evaluations.
In recent years, several studies and evaluations of HMPPS offending behaviour programmes and interventions have been published in line with the research and evaluation strategy. These are outlined below.
Reoffending impact evaluation of the prison-based Resolve offending behaviour programme (2021) - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/957855/RESOLVE_report.pdf
An impact evaluation of the prison-based Thinking Skills Programme (TSP) on prison misconduct (2023) - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1174194/TSP_Prison_Misconduct_Report.pdf
An impact evaluation of the prison-based Thinking Skills Programme (TSP) on reoffending (2023) - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1173986/TSP_Reoffending_Report.pdf
The Healthy Identity Intervention (HII): Findings from an interim outcome evaluation (2023) - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/648833bcb32b9e000ca96609/healthy-identity-intervention-interim-findings.pdf
Evaluating the Building Better Relationships (BBR) programme: Feasibility study for an impact evaluation of proven reoffending (2023) - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1149864/evaluating-the-building-better-relationships-programme.pdf
The Healthy Sex Programme: An exploration of pre-to-post psychological test change. (2023) - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1137873/healthy-sex-programme.pdf
Post-release reoffending outcomes for individuals with offence-related sexual paraphilias: An exploratory risk-band analysis. (2023) - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1137663/sexual-paraphilias.pdf
Horizon and iHorizon: Psychometric analyses of the Success Wheel Measure (2023) - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1137660/horizon-iorizon-psychometric-analyses.pdf
Horizon and iHorizon: An uncontrolled before-after study of clinical outcomes (2023) - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1137650/horizon-iHorizon-uncontrolled-study.pdf
The Learning Disabilities and Challenges (LDC) suite of accredited offending behaviour programmes: An uncontrolled before-after evaluation of clinical outcomes (2024) - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/676ada7b3229e84d9bbdea66/LDC_suite_study.pdf
Kaizen: An uncontrolled before-after evaluation of clinical outcomes. (2024) - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/676ad8c3cdb5e64b69e30a46/Kaizen_analysis.pdf
A Review of General Cognitive-Behavioural Programs in English and Welsh Prisons and Probation Services: Three Decades of Quasi-Experimental Evaluations (2024) - https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0001405
A Multi-Site Qualitative Evaluation of the Accredited Thinking Skills Programme (TSP) (2025) - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6821cd14d9c9bb76078f7f07/A_Multi-Site_Qualitative_Evaluation_of_the_Accredited_Thinking_Skills_Programme__web_.pdf
Stepwise Driving: A structured intervention for impaired driving – Exploring the views of facilitators and programme attendees (2025) - https://doi.org/10.1177/02645505251350077
Building Choices: Process evaluation of the design test of the new accredited Offending Behaviour Programme (2025): Building Choices: Process evaluation of the design test of a new accredited Offending Behaviour Programme - GOV.UK
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