Part-funded by the European Social Fund, PS Plus was a project that aimed to assist offenders (beneficiaries) in gaining employment, education & training, and secure accommodation, with the ultimate goal of reducing re-offending in England and Wales. Between September 2002 and June 2008, PS Plus provided assistance to 77,407 beneficiaries in 42 prison establishments and across 15 probation areas (Fig. 1).

PS Plus intervention led to a recorded 4960 jobs being secured and 6978 education/training courses being taken by the project’s beneficiaries (Fig. 2).

Fig. 1 Beneficiary Distibution	Fig. 2 Hard ETE Outcomes

These hard outcomes (education) training, employment and housing) alone give an incomplete picture of both the extent and success of the project. PS Plus worked with beneficiaries with large barriers to employment, and project intervention may have improved the employability of beneficiaries without necessarily providing employment, education/training or housing upon completion of a beneficiary’s sentence. In addition to the hard outcomes detailed above, which were audited for ESF purposes, a further 74,724 soft outcomes and 23,120 qualifications were gained by PS Plus beneficiaries (Fig. 3-4). As a result, improvements to beneficiaries’ employability were both extensive and prolific.

Fig. 3 Qualifications Gained	Fig. 4 Soft Outcomes Recieved

As a public organisation, PS Plus had a statutory duty to eliminate discrimination throughout the project and prides itself on its diversity values and ability to promote equality. The project worked with 15,793 (20%) beneficiaries from ethnic minorities, 1317 disabled beneficiaries and 255 beneficiaries over the age of 60 (Fig. 5-6).

Fig. 5 Age Groups	Fig. 6 Ethnic Origins

Since the beginning of the second phase of the project (September 2004), the Case Assessment & Tracking System (CATS) has allowed PS Plus to systematically record assessments in ten key intervention areas for every beneficiary. This has given us a valuable insight into the background of the project’s beneficiaries, enabling staff to better prepare them for the future. Of the 61,901 beneficiaries worked with in PS Plus 2 and PS Plus 3, 93% stated that they required assistance with finding employment, while 89% required help with educational or training issues. Substance abuse was prolific, with 41% and 24% of beneficiaries requiring assistance with drug and alcohol issues respectively. Figure 7 details the extent to which assistance was required in 9 of the intervention areas assessed, showing clear differences in the requirements between beneficiaries worked with in custody and those worked with in the community.

Fig. 7 Beneficiary Needs

For more information on each phase of PS Plus, please continue to the Reports section of the website.

Disclaimer: Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of PS Plus, HM Prison Service, The National Probation Service or NOMS. The reports refer only to offenders on the PS Plus project, and are not a reflection of the establishments and probation areas involved.