Case study
taken from:
Learning Labs - Evaluation of the Pilot Projects
University College Northampton
Setting up the learning lab
This scheme began in 1997 in Kirklevington Grange
Prison, Teeside. Regular meetings of the Cleveland and Durham Quality
Network had been held at this prison with the intention of forming
inter-agency links and improving the quality of the services offered. The
group identified the problems that existed for prisoners on release who
had to trawl around a number of benefits agencies. The idea of a
"passport" was developed to guide them through the labyrinth of
necessary formalities and ease the passage from institution back into the
community.
The Cabinet Office was interested at an early stage
as the ideas and activities of this scheme complemented their own interest
in improving the quality of services in the public sector. The scheme was
also of interest within the prison system because there was anecdotal
evidence that difficulties experienced in securing benefits, usually
within the first two weeks after release, increased the likelihood of
re-offending.
The original steering group had between 14 and 20
members drawn from key agencies who had dealings with prisoners on their
release but this was reduced to a core group of about half this size. The
Benefits Agency, employment and housing agencies, CAB and probation were
involved at the outset. At an early stage a sociologist with a background
in criminology from the University of Sunderland was employed to look into
the issues both from the agency and the user perspective. Resources were
acquired (with some difficulty) to finance the research work and the pilot
scheme which involved appointing staff to specially created posts.
How the learning lab worked
The passport was implemented as a pilot project at
two prisons on Teeside amongst those prisoners who consented to take part.
Adaptations and refinements were made as a result of feedback from
prisoners and the findings were integrated into a new and updated version
of the passport. The research reports also played a prominent part in
publicising what was going on and raising the profile of the project as a
whole through conferences, meetings, talks and press articles. During this
pilot phase discoveries were made about the nature of the problem the
learning lab had been set up to tackle. For example it had been a commonly
held belief that prison sentences of over 12 months duration created
greater problems for prisoners on release than shorter sentences of under
12 months. However the research showed that the converse was true and that
those with shorter sentences were also the group most likely to re-offend.
Barriers and problems
Progress was not as smooth and straightforward as
might have been hoped. In the words of one respondent: "We were still
stumbling around. The barriers had been partially overcome but not fully.
Then the Cabinet Office came in with the idea of becoming a ‘learning
lab’ which fitted well with our ideas and the work we’d already done.
Things then happened much quicker".
Barriers identified included the attitudes of those
within member organisations who were not directly involved in the scheme
and the bureaucratic procedures it was necessary to confront in the
individual agencies in order to move forward. For example, colleagues of
the core group who had a less intimate knowledge of what was happening
were sometimes less enthusiastic, even cynical about its value. Within the
prison service itself, a conference held specifically to introduce and
explain the passport scheme was poorly attended by staff from other
prisons. There were issues over confidentiality and prisoner ID which
could not be easily resolved and the struggle to obtain resources to
implement the pilot studies also retarded progress.
Despite these difficulties, the work of this
learning lab over its three year existence has been consistent and
continues to develop. Currently in its fourth year, there are plans to see
prisoners at the beginning of their sentence; for Benefits Agency staff to
go into the prison more than one day a week and to tackle the issue of
data protection.
Impact on staff
The Prisoners’ Passport has been very much a
bottom-up initiative with the support of those at the top. It has involved
inter-agency collaboration at all stages rather than merely
inter-departmental working. It has introduced an innovative practice that
has increased the quality and efficiency of the service provided. The
involvement of the Cabinet Office has been a positive experience for core
group members and given the scheme considerable momentum.
 | Agencies involved have a greater mutual respect
for each other |
| Both users and providers of the scheme have
reported their satisfaction |
| There is evidence of attitude change towards each
other on the part of users and providers |
| There is some evidence (although statistics do
not exist to make proper comparisons) that the rate of re-offending of
released prisoners from these two Teeside prisons in the first few
months after release has fallen. |
Achievements of the Learning Lab
| The quality network group already existed and
provided a foundation for the work of the learning lab and key players
from relevant organisations were identified early on. Those who were
negative about the scheme left the group. The membership then stayed
stable over a 4 year period and this continuity enhanced its progress. |
| The Prison Governors gave their support and
encouragement from the outset as did the managers in the other agencies
involved. |
| The group resisted widening their remit and
maintained a clear focus. |
| The principle idea for this project came from
frontline staff engaged in daily contact with the client group-
prisoners. "We knew what the problem was and what was needed to
make this work better". However, without the resources which they
were able to acquire, implementation of the scheme would not have taken
place. The amounts of funding needed have been relatively small (e.g.
ten thousand pounds a year) but vital. |
| Once the passport was up and running there were
evident rewards for all participants and this contributed to a general
‘feel-good factor’ which in turn enhanced the further work of the
team. |
Senior members of the prison service have maintained
a consistent interest in this project and plans are now underway to put
the scheme into operation in 10 other prisons in different parts of the
country.
Last Updated: 05/2002 |
