The Office of the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) seeks an independent evaluation of the commissioned service West Midlands Restorative Justice (RJ) Service which has been operational since October 2018 and is being delivered by Remedi.
Commissioned in 2018, the aim of this services was to ensure that high quality RJ was accessible to every victim of crime across the West Midlands, irrespective of the individual circumstances. The service was shaped to accept referrals that were both victim and offender-led, working in collaboration with criminal justice agencies such as; CRCs (now the Probation Service); Prisons; Youth Offending Services; and Family Liaison Officers. In addition, Remedi was commissioned to act as a single point of contact that sought to build awareness and understanding of RJ and its potential benefits amongst our partner agencies and the communities that we serve.
The Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster has prioritised Restorative Justice in his new Police and Crime Plan 2021-2025 where he states: ‘Restorative justice has been proven effective in reducing reoffending and improving victim satisfaction. I remain committed to increasing the use and awareness of restorative justice and its principles across the criminal justice system and the wider public. In line with new legislation and policies, I will continue to explore opportunities to further improve the Restorative Justice offer for victims across the West Midlands by bringing together partner agencies, CJS and voluntary and community sectors.’
It is the discretion of the OPCC to extend the service at the end of the period by up to two years subject to strategic relevance remaining and the service provider’s performance. The value of the service was £450,000 per annum inclusive of any and all taxes including VAT, totalling £1,350,000 for three years.
The full specification of the service is attached below.
The PCC is seeking an independent evaluation of the service which must consider the following points:
- The effectiveness of having both offender and victim-led referrals and appropriateness of the remit of crime covered by the provider
- Reduction in reoffending rates
- Service user satisfactions rates
- Cost effectiveness (how much money was saved per individual as a result of the intervention?)
- The level and quality of support being offered to those taking up RJ
- Recommendations of additions to specific conditions that ought to be included in future agreements with commissioned services regarding data collection and assessment of the service’s outcomes
- How the partners in WMP RJ hub can be utilised to track reoffending rates for meaningful periods of time to demonstrate sustainable change
- The effectiveness of the role of the RJ hub as utilised by the commissioned service i.e. Remedi.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Restorative Justice held an inquiry into Restorative Justice practices during 2021/22. We would like you to consider the recommendations from the enquiry and include the priority themes of access, capacity and awareness, in your final evaluation. The restorative Justice Inquiry Report can be found here.
Findings from this evaluation will form the basis of future commissioning decisions for Restorative Justice services. In addition, the evaluation will support us in decision making around further policy development for the OPCC, while also steering change for this priority area both locally and nationally.
The deadline to submit a full proposal is Friday 20th May 2022. Please submit all completed proposals to [email protected].
