Written evidence submitted by Clinks

Clinks’ response to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Committee’s inquiry on the impact of Covid-19 on DCMS sectors

About Clinks

1. Clinks is the national infrastructure organisation supporting voluntary sector organisations working in the criminal justice system (CJS). Our aim is to ensure the sector and those with whom it works are informed and engaged in order to transform the lives of people in the CJS and their communities. We do this by providing specialist information and support, with a particular focus on smaller voluntary sector organisations, to inform them about changes in policy and commissioning, to help them build effective partnerships and provide innovative services that respond directly to the needs of their users.

2. We are a membership organisation with over 500 members, including the voluntary sector’s largest providers as well as its smallest. Our wider national network reaches 4,000 voluntary sector contacts. Overall, through our weekly e-bulletin Light Lunch and our social media activity, we have a network of over 13,000 contacts. These include individuals and agencies with an interest in the CJS and the role of the voluntary sector in rehabilitation and resettlement.
    
3. Clinks manages the National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance (NCJAA), a national network of over 800 artists, arts organisations and criminal justice practitioners using creative approaches to reduce reoffending. We also support a network of women’s centres and specialist women’s services working in the CJS.

About this response

4. We welcome the opportunity to respond to this inquiry. Our response focuses on the impact of Covid-19 on the voluntary sector working in criminal justice, with a particular focus on arts organisations.

5. Clinks have taken several measures to respond to Covid-19:
    

1. Covid-19 inbox We have a designated Covid-19 mailbox for voluntary organisations working in the CJS who have concerns about how Covid-19, and the justice system’s response to it, will affect their operations or the information they should provide to service users. Clinks has a dedicated line of communication with Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) to discuss the issues being raised and develop solutions.

2. The RR3 Special Interest Group In response to Covid-19, the Reducing Reoffending Third Sector Advisory Group (RR3)[1] - an advisory group to the government chaired and coordinated by Clinks - has set up a special interest group (SIG) to support more effective working between the voluntary sector and government. The aim of the SIG is to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on services and ensure the safety of people in contact with the CJS. The SIG meets regularly to discuss key issues and agree recommendations for senior officials at the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and HMPPS.

3. A bi-weekly survey We have run four bi-weekly surveys to track the impact that the pandemic is having on organisations’ staff, volunteers, service delivery and finances.[2]

6. The information in this response draws on the intelligence gathered through these channels and engagement with our members through our network meetings, including NCJAA’s engagement with those providing arts and creativity based activities in the CJS.[3] We would be pleased to provide the committee with additional information in the coming months as the impact on the voluntary sector develops.

Summary of recommendations

• We recommend that additional funding be made available for PPE for voluntary organisations continuing with face-to-face activity, and for prisons to provide PPE for voluntary sector staff entering prisons to deliver services.
• We recommend that in establishing further funds, a specific grant programme is made available to organisations working in the criminal justice system.
• It is vital that the government provides the voluntary sector with tailored, up-to-date, clear and accessible information about the available financial support.
• We recommend that clear guidance and information is provided as early as possible on the changes to the government job retention scheme, as indicated by the Chancellor, to enable organisations to understand how it will apply to them, to plan services around this and, where necessary, to plan phased returns to work.
• As lockdown continues, commissioners must communicate with organisations clearly and without delay. Charities working under any public sector contract or sub-contract will need clear assurances that their funding is guaranteed and that contract management in these extreme circumstances will continue to be sensible and proportionate.
• We recommend that organisations should be allowed to retain underspend on contracted activities in order to fund the costs of remobilisation and to meet the anticipated greater need for voluntary organisation’s services when lockdown measures begin to be eased.
• Organisations with contracts for service delivery post-Covid-19 lockdown must be given sufficient time to remobilise and deliver on contracts.
• In recognition of the current context, and to enable maximum engagement from voluntary organisations, we recommend that government departments take the following steps when launching any commissioning processes during this time:

• The qualification process is straightforward with clear and accessible guidance
• Engagement with the voluntary sector to establish what market ready means in the current context and competition postponed until the sector is ready
• An absolute minimum of four weeks for organisations to respond to any competition, and longer where competitions are complex and require partnership or consortia formation.

• We recommend that, to utilise the voluntary sector as a key delivery partner in criminal justice, to support recovery from the pandemic and meet the increased needs of those in contact with the CJS, statutory partners across the CJS adopt learning from the Good Prison Project and apply its approach to joint working.

What has been the immediate impact of Covid-19 on the sector?

Service delivery

7. Over 1,700 voluntary organisations work in the CJS, playing a unique and valuable role in supporting and advocating on behalf of some of the most excluded communities, include those suffering multiple disadvantages, whose needs mainstream services often fail to meet. Our state of the sector research shows that voluntary organisations work at all stages of the CJS, inside and out of prisons, with some doing both, ensuring continuity of support through the prison gate and reducing reoffending.[4]

8. In response to Covid-19, movement in prisons has been severely restricted, with people locked in their cells for 23 hours a day. All physical visits have been cancelled, including education, training and non-essential employment activities that voluntary organisations are integral to delivering. This means organisations can no longer enter prisons to deliver in-person support. Most community voluntary organisations, that support people transitioning through the gate or under probation supervision, have been unable to continue with their usual delivery models due to lockdown restrictions and social distancing measures, with many community facilities closing.

9. The sector is responding flexibly to these restrictions. Most (54%) are able to continue delivering their services remotely to some extent, utilising telephone and video conferencing to keep in contact with those they support (51%), running advice lines (38%) and providing virtual group sessions (28%).

10. Positively, the value of creative activity to support the wellbeing of people in prison has been recognised by some establishments, with increased demands from prisons for in-cell art materials and resources. Arts organisations are responding innovatively to these requests. We have heard examples of storytelling, radio projects, collaborative music making, letter writing and creative activity packs.
     
11. Despite the sector’s flexible response, we are still seeing an overall reduction in voluntary services within criminal justice. The majority (61%) of organisations reported that they have had to decrease their service provision and are reaching fewer people. The ability to get materials to people in prison is inconsistent and reliant on pre-established relationships with prison staff. In particular, arts organisations have highlighted that they are coming up against a number of access barriers, particularly where the materials are not paper-based e.g. musical instruments or audio recordings.
     
12. Adapting to remote delivery is not always possible. In our latest survey when asked if organisations were continuing with face-to-face delivery for the services they could not adapt to remote provision, 86% said they were not. This means those services have had to stop. There are some voluntary organisations (13% of our third survey) for which remote working is not possible at all. For example, not all arts interventions can be adapted for in-cell activity, especially for arts organisations whose work is usually highly interactive - specifically theatre, dance and performance based activity – and who are therefore concerned about the effectiveness of remote delivery. NCJAA has engaged with many arts organisations that have decided not to deliver alternative activities for these reasons.

“There’s no choice. It’s a passion, a promise to deliver music collectively in the way we do … that’s what transforms lives… and we can’t put it online, it wouldn’t work” – NCJAA member.

The people organisations support

13. These challenges in service delivery are happening at a time when the sector’s services have never been more needed. The majority of organisations in our latest survey (59%) agree or strongly agree that the needs of the people they support have become greater during the Covid-19 pandemic. Specifically, there is concern about the mental health of those isolated, the impact of the lockdown on families of people in contact with the CJS and the exacerbated effects of poverty and disadvantage in the pandemic.

14. Organisations are not able to support people as they would like. 61% from our latest survey said that the number of people they are able to support during the pandemic has decreased. There is also clear concern about the quality of support organisations can provide in such restricted circumstances, with 68% of our latest survey feeling it has decreased.

“Increased vulnerability and a virtual support mechanism can only offer so much support and reassurance to people.” – survey respondent.

Staff and volunteers

15. Volunteers can be a vital backbone for organisation but during this crisis many organisations are losing this important support. 44% report that the number of volunteers supporting their organisation has decreased since the Covid-19 pandemic. This will impact on organisation’s capacity and their ability to deliver services and run key administrative activities.

16. 18% of organisations say that staff are continuing to deliver services face-to-face. Organisations are incurring additional costs for personal protective equipment (PPE) that is not covered by existing funding arrangements. The Covid-19 SIG has also raised concern that voluntary organisations supporting people on release are not being adequately provided with relevant risk information regarding the potential contact of individuals with Covid-19 whilst in custody. We have recommended to HMPPS that this information be shared with relevant voluntary organisations. Concerns around safe delivery will grow as restrictions are eased and more services remobilise. It will become even more vital that prison governors share this risk information with the voluntary sector.

Funding

17. The Covid-19 pandemic is, in many instances, increasing expenditure. Voluntary sector organisations are incurring significant costs redesigning services for remote delivery and equipping staff with the necessary technology (such as laptops, phones and video conferencing software), putting them under greater financial pressure. This is likely to impact smaller organisations more acutely.
     
18. The Covid-19 pandemic is also affecting income generation for voluntary organisations working in criminal justice. Organisations often set up a trading arm or social enterprise element to bridge shortfalls in funding from contracts that don’t meet core costs. Of the organisations that took our third survey that had a social enterprise or trading element, 70% said this is no longer able to operate, creating a shortfall in funding for those organisations.

19. In particular, many organisations delivering arts activities have moved to a business model which draws the majority of their income from fee earning, contract project work commissioned by individual prisons, government departments or health trusts, with relatively little funding covering their core costs. This is making them particularly vulnerable in the current context. MoJ recently announced £2.5 million funding for community services that divert women away from crime. This funding will be aimed at helping to cover core costs such as wages, rent and bills.[5] We recommend this good practice be applied to small and specialist organisations across the criminal justice sector, including arts organisations. 

20. Organisations are using their reserves to sustain themselves through this period, with 40% saying this is the case. Specialist criminal justice organisations have a far lower level of reserves on average compared to the wider UK voluntary sector - just 1.4 months compared to 6.3.[6] For organisations in our sector with such little reserves the impact of this crisis on income could be particularly devastating. With so much uncertainty going forward about how long this crisis will continue for, organisations do not know how much of their reserves they will need to spend, making it difficult to put contingency plans in place.

How effectively has the support provided by DCMS, other government departments and arms-length bodies addressed the sector’s needs?

What lessons can be learnt from how DCMS, arms-length bodies and the sector have dealt with Covid-19?

Emergency funding

21. We welcome the £300,000 funding HMPPS and MoJ have made available to support the voluntary sector working in criminal justice in its response to Covid-19 and are pleased to be able to distribute £275,000 of this on their behalf.[7] This grant programme is an important part of the support the sector needs to continue providing its services now and in the future. However, the criteria for these grants and the total amount available means that not everyone in our sector who requires financial support will be able to benefit.
     
22. We are extremely disappointed that MoJ was not successful in their bid for funds to support the voluntary sector working with people in the CJS from the £360m available from the Department of Culture Media and Sport as part of the government’s £750m emergency package for charities. Our sector provides vital support to some of the most vulnerable in society and it is frustrating and disheartening not to see this work and the needs of the sector’s beneficiaries recognised more widely across government.
     
23. This means that, of the £750m pledged by government to support the voluntary sector during the crisis, there is no specific fund directed at criminal justice organisations. Whilst many in our sector, being small and specialist, will be eligible to apply for funds from the coronavirus community support fund being administered by the National Lottery Community Fund, we are concerned that competition for these grants will be extremely high. Other organisations who work in specific areas of provision or with specific service user groups may be able to apply to the domestic abuse safe accommodation fund and homelessness fund and a small number of charities have received funding through Department of Health. However, without a targeted grant programme beyond the £275k we are administering, many organisations in need of vital support will miss out.

24. We welcome the recent report from the DCMS Select Committee and support its recommendation that “the Government should establish further funding to assist charities and voluntary organisations to stay afloat throughout the Covid-19 crisis” and this should be available to organisations facing financial pressures, even if they are not involved in the frontline response to Covid-19.[8]

Financial support schemes from the government

25. Our survey results have highlighted how much uncertainty there is amongst the voluntary sector working in criminal justice around financial support from the government. 79% told us they have not applied for financial support from the government. 45% of those who have not yet applied for financial support say they are not sure whether they will apply for support within the next month.

26. We are concerned that this uncertainty is exacerbated by a lack of information and clarity from government departments about the financial support that is available. In our survey, 64% told us they are not fully confident in their understanding of the financial support available from the government and a further 12% say they are not confident at all.

It is vital that the government provides the voluntary sector with up-to-date, clear and accessible information about the available financial support, tailored specifically to charities.

27. Of particular concern to us is that 39% of organisations told us they do not meet the eligibility criteria for financial support from the government. Arts organisations in particular appear to be reporting this. The financial support packages offered by government are designed for business that are constituted and operate differently to charities, making many such schemes inaccessible for the voluntary sector. It is important the financial packages of support are informed by the needs of the voluntary sector and tailored to meet these needs.
     
28. Our survey results indicate relatively low use of the government job retention scheme amongst voluntary organisations working in criminal justice. 40% said they have not furloughed any of their staff and 37% of organisations have furloughed less than half of their staff. This is in part due to a lack of clarity over the lockdown and how it will be eased, but also the criteria for furloughing staff which are particularly restrictive for our sector:
     

• Statutory funding Organisations that receive public funds for their staff costs are not eligible for this scheme. Our annual research[9] has consistently found that government funding is the largest source of income for specialist criminal justice organisations in the voluntary sector.
• Workloads To be eligible there must be no work to do. However only 18% told us they had stopped service provision altogether. Most organisations continue to work at reduced levels or even have greater demand for their services. We welcome the Chancellor’s announcement that the furlough scheme from July will enable part-time working.
• Volunteer and working restrictions Staff that have been furloughed cannot do any work or volunteering for their organisation or another organisation associated with it. For organisations under financial pressure that can continue to operate, but not afford wages or for people who want to continue volunteering with a similar organisation, this rule could prevent them from doing so. Members of NCJAA’s network have voiced frustration that the scheme prevents staff who are willing, able and have capacity to work from doing so. We welcome and support the Committee’s recent recommendation to introduce a separate Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme for charities with more flexibility around volunteering.[10]

Information sharing to support service delivery
 

29. Clinks has worked from the beginning of this crisis to encourage communication and information flow from MoJ, HMPPS and probation providers and we now have an established channels through which to do this. However, slow and inconsistent information in the early stages created significant barriers for organisations trying to support people in contact with the CJS and fill gaps in provision as they were left unaware of key operational information, including gaps in provision.

30. This challenge was particularly acute in relation to the early release scheme for prisoners.[11] The voluntary sector providing support in the community for people transitioning from release need key information about the number of people being released into which areas, when people will be released and what support needs they have. In many instances, this information was not forthcoming or timely and has created resource challenges for organisations.

31. With reduced capacity across prisons, probation and other statutory services, spare capacity within certain parts of the voluntary sector could be harnessed to deliver more support. Some organisations that are unable to deliver their current services, or are able to adapt their existing services to meet need, have expressed willingness to help, with HMPPS receiving a stream of proposals and offers since this crisis began.

32. This in principle has been welcomed by HMPPS. Clinks has worked closely with them to develop a formal process using our Covid-19 mailbox for the voluntary sector to put their proposals forward. At the time of writing, we have logged 92 mobilisation offers for HMPPS.
    To enable this process to best take advantage of the sectors expertise there is a need for timely sharing of information so that the sector understands the needs it is responding to and swift decision making so that support can be appropriately mobilised.

33. A new HMPPS and MoJ Third Sector Taskforce has also been set up to ensure that their Covid-19 response provides a mechanism for considering policy and operational considerations from the voluntary sector. We hope that implementation of the taskforce will support more effective communication with the voluntary sector and central government, enabling greater engagement in national policy making to address the issues the voluntary sector identify. This in turn will support the statutory and voluntary sectors to meet the greater need as more people face entrenched disadvantage.

What will the likely long-term impacts of Covid-19 be on the sector, and what support is needed to deal with those?

How might the sector evolve after Covid-19, and how can DCMS support such innovation to deal with future challenges?

Financial sustainability - short to medium term impact

34. 42% of organisations told us they are anticipating cash flow problems. Most of those (27%) anticipate this will happen in six months. Recovery will take time with organisations in such unstable positions and remobilisation must be a staged process to account for this. We were pleased to see the Committee recommend a stabilisation fund to secure the long-term financial health and organisational diversity of the sector - a vital step for sustainability.[12]
     
35. Organisations are struggling to meet the requirements of their grants and contracts in the current context. Only 14% of respondents say that they can fully deliver on them. Organisations are now expressing concern that this will be the case for far longer than had originally been anticipated. This poses particular problems for voluntary organisations that deliver in prisons. HMPPS have confirmed that Covid-19 restrictions will ease at a slower pace in prisons than in the community. This will leave organisations that deliver in prisons unable to operate and remobilise whilst those in the community may begin to. 
     
36. We have found that generally, in most instances, organisations have been positive about the communication and flexibility their contract and grant managers have shown over the course of the pandemic. There are growing questions about long this will last, with uncertainty about what’s on the horizon and the timelines for remobilising. Contracts, such as those from the prison education Dynamic Purchasing System, still lack clarity from June onwards leaving organisations approaching an uncertain position.
     

37. Organisations delivering under contract or sub-contract are also concerned that underspend on contracted activities over this period could be clawed back by commissioners and prime contractors. This is particularly concerning for the remobilisation and long term sustainability of organisations, especially given that there is likely to be increased demand for their services. Added to this are concerns raised by arts organisations, whose contracts for in-prison arts delivery have been postponed, that they will be expected to deliver on these without sufficient notice and in too short a period of time once restrictions are eased, raising capacity issues.

The long term sustainability of the voluntary sector in criminal justice and future funding opportunities

38. Feedback from organisations shows growing concerns about the long-term financial implications of the crisis and future sustainability of the sector. Organisations are worried about feeling the fundraising impact develop over the coming years. This is exacerbated by fears of future funding cutbacks and wider economic challenges as society recovers from the pandemic.
     
39. Funders are redirecting funds for emergency funding and front-line services responding to Covid-19. While this support is positive in the short term, there is concern that we are heading for cliff edge of support in the future. Organisations have spoken about a lack of long-term grant funding opportunities, with many existing opportunities and decisions about grants being put on hold during this time.

“Concerned that may funders seem to be pausing their application processes for emergency funding only. Difficult to plan for longer term funding for staff and retaining staff without these opportunities.” – survey respondent.

40. Added to this is growing concern about the future financial position of trusts and foundations as they also recover from the pandemic and the likelihood of less funding being available from these important sources with a potential recession coming. Our research has shown that small criminal justice voluntary organisations are particularly reliant on grant funding from charitable trusts and foundations.[13] This has long term implications on the ability of organisations to remobilise to deliver future projects and services.

41. A number of commissioning processes for future services that were planned prior to the pandemic are now imminent. This includes the procurement framework for the future probation system, family services contracts and a number of drug and alcohol contracts. 

42. These provide important opportunities for organisations to secure delivery of services in the future. In our survey many organisations have expressed willingness to engage in commissioning processes for new services, which will have been factored into their business development plans for some time. However, this is also an incredibly challenging time for organisations to engage in commissioning processes, with many organisations at reduced capacity because they have deployed resources to maintain service delivery or have furloughed business support staff. This could disproportionately impact the engagement of smaller organisations struggling with resource and financial pressures and must be taken into account by statutory providers when considering the timing of and process for commissioning during the pandemic. This also points further to the need for additional bridging funding to ensure the sectors sustainability.

“(we are a) small charity, limited resources, staff deployed to service delivery/supporting service delivery as a priority during this time.” – survey respondent.

“We do not have the staff to complete procurement application or tenders.” – survey respondent.

Responding to greater need

43. The pandemic is creating and exacerbating the disadvantage and needs of people in the CJS, whilst simultaneously restricting access to vital support services. As the CJS begins to relax Covid-19 restrictions and services begin to fully remobilise, the voluntary sector will be more needed than ever and will be responding to increased need.
     
44. As well as the funding to meet the increased levels of need, this crisis has reinforced the requirement for clear communication from statutory partners to enable voluntary organisations to provide timely and effective support. For front line service delivery organisations, a coordination model like that trialled by Clinks in the The good prison[14] would support this, maximising resource both in the statutory and voluntary sectors and ensuring the best possible outcomes for service users. Evaluation showed the model to have improved joined-up working; the information about, and access to, services; partners’ knowledge of processes and procedures and identified duplication and gaps in provision.

Supporting innovation

45. The challenges facing voluntary organisations working in criminal justice, as well as the flexibility and creativity demonstrated by organisations at this time, will have an impact in the future, encouraging more innovative ways of working and a variety of creative solutions for remote working that could enable greater reach of services. 
     
46. There have been some welcome steps from HMPPS to support this through the provision of technology in prisons and probation, but more can be done to build on this and support innovation. For example, wider use of virtual visits in prisons to access services, mobile phones in cells that can receive calls from secure numbers to enable voluntary services to more easily maintain contact with individuals, and providing those leaving prison with smart phones that can access digital services.

The importance of arts and creative activity as the CJS recovers from the pandemic

47. There is concern about the current focus from prisons and HMPPS on distraction packs in cells being seen as effective alternatives to in-person, collaborative activities. Whilst these packs are welcome and especially important to prisoner wellbeing at this time, they should not be treated as replacement for in-person, collaborative activities.
     
48. Given the impact of the pandemic, arts and creative provision in the CJS will be needed as a springboard for positive change in the future. Prior to the pandemic, the committee recommended a review of arts in the prison estate[15] and the NCJAA has engaged with Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the HMPPS Arts Forum on the implementation of this, but progress has been slow. When the Covid-19 restrictions are eased, it is important that DCMS and MoJ re-prioritise the review to ensure the positive impact of arts in criminal justice is not overlooked as the CJS recovers from the pandemic. It is essential that the NCJAA are engaged in this work.
     

“I am worried about the future of creative provision in criminal justice. If it is valued less, it likely means it is needed more” – survey respondent.

Conclusion

49. Clinks will continue to work to support and advocate on behalf of the voluntary sector working in criminal justice. In recognition that things are moving at significant pace, we would be pleased to provide the committee with additional information on an ongoing basis.