State of the Sector 2025 – survey launch:

It’s that time of year! We have begun work on our annual State of the Sector report which, to put it frankly, is needed more than ever. That’s because the criminal justice system is at a critical juncture, bursting at the seams in every direction and desperate for reform. The impact on the voluntary organisations working across the system cannot be overestimated. And that’s why we need to hear from you! Once again, we will be working with our longstanding research partner, NCVO, to help us understand what you tell us. 

Fill out this year's survey - https://eu.surveymonkey.com/r/HMHMZ6X

So, what are we aiming to do?

As is the case every year, we want to examine how the voluntary sector working in criminal justice is faring. We want to platform the sector’s successes and highlight the challenges, existing or emerging, that voluntary organisations and the people accessing support are facing. And we want to do this by taking a regional approach to the research. That’s why we will be holding 7 focus groups – one in each of the OneHMPPS regions – to allow us to identify region-specific challenges and successes.

We know that demand for voluntary sector support continues to grow. Coupled with an increase in the complexity and urgency of need of the people requiring our sector’s support, understanding the context is essential. Such context allows us to continue to advocate for and with the sector when we engage with key decision makers.

What are we looking to learn?

This year’s report will allow us to build on our yearly research, to further build out an extensive picture of the state of the voluntary sector working in criminal justice. We will be looking at a number of things, including:

• The experiences and needs of organisations, the people they support, and whether this has changed over time. 
• The services that sector organisations are delivering, if this has changed and why, and whether organisations feel they are able to meet the needs of their service users and why.  
• Developing insight into the barriers to success and areas where support is lacking, alongside good practice and successes. 
• Examining how the context and challenges vary across different regions, framed by the 7, OneHMPPS areas 
• Identifying region-specific factors that influence the organisations’ performance and the needs of these organisations 
• Exploring how organisations are funded and how their finances have changed over time. 

So, get involved!

Fill out this year’s survey. It really is so vital to our work as the sector’s infrastructure organisation, and we need as many voluntary organisations as possible, no matter how big or small, to take part.

Our State of the Sector 2024 report illustrated how crucial it is that the sector is recognised, heard, valued and properly resourced as a design and delivery partner within the criminal justice system (and we can't thank enough those who contributed to last year's report!) But to make this case, we need to hear from you again, as fresh data is required given that, year-on-year, the change within the system is so faced paced. 

Next steps:

Alongside this survey, we will be holding a range of focus groups covering each of the 7, OneHMPPS regions, as well as further sessions looking specifically at themes including women, race, arts and creativity, and families, as well as a session for funders. These will be a mixture of online and in-person sessions, taking place between October and December. Please look out for further information that will be coming your way as to how to take part.

In the meantime, fill out the survey. Share it with your friends and colleagues across the sector and get in touch with us to learn more. We are more than happy to support organisations complete the survey on a one-to-one basis, so do get in touch if you require support.

We look forward to hearing from you!