State of the Sector 2024 | Executive Summary

This is the eleventh year that Clinks has carried out research into how criminal justice voluntary organisations are faring. State of the Sector 2024 reflects the views of organisations in the sector and provides a snapshot of the 2023/24 financial year.

Read the full report here

For over a decade, Clinks has surveyed the voluntary sector working with people in contact with the criminal justice system, capturing a snapshot of the landscape and the conditions in which these organisations operate. This year, in response to consistent feedback, we took a different approach - with a focus on qualitative data. Rather than conducting our usual survey, we set out to gain deeper insight into the persistent challenges organisations have raised year after year.

To do this, we partnered with the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) for the seventh consecutive year to facilitate a series of focus groups and interviews with voluntary organisations and funders across the sector, creating space for candid conversations about their experiences. This report draws on both these findings and our extensive, ongoing engagement with voluntary organisations across England and Wales.

Key findings 2024

• Concerns about how criminal justice issues are presented in the media.
• The value of coalitions and alliances, and how these might be expanded.
• How the reverberations of the pandemic are continuing to affect the sector.
• Staffing challenges, including recruitment and retention, supporting the mental health of frontline staff.
• Vetting and challenges around lived experience engagement.
• How funders and others can support the sector over the coming year.