Unpaid Work in North Wales

In June 2020 the Ministry of Justice established the Probation Services Dynamic Framework (PSDF) to allow the Authority and Participating Bodies to purchase services to deliver rehabilitative and resettlement Interventions. The Dynamic Framework and subsequent Call-Off Competitions are conducted pursuant to Section 7 of the PCR 2015 (Social and Other Specific Services) the 'Light Touch Regime'.

UPW has been one of the requirements for Community Punishment Orders (previously Community Service Order) since 1973. Person(s) on Probation can receive sentences of between 40 and 300 UPW hours, depending on the seriousness of the offence, to be completed within 12 months of the sentence.

North Wales have a relatively high proportion of People on Probation with UPW requirements, as well as a backlog of incomplete hours due to Covid and lack of placement availability.

The overall ambition is to provide a Service that benefits the wider community through the delivery of high-quality work placements within the local area and further volunteering/employment opportunities upon placement completion. Therefore, the ambition for Unpaid Work is to have a sufficient number of quality placements that improve the availability of educational and training opportunities. There is national evidence available which indicates that where People on Probation recognise the benefit of the work they are doing, then they are more likely to gain rehabilitative insights from the sentence. Thereby supporting longer positive outcomes that aid desistance. Additional information: The specific evaluation and award criteria for each competition were detailed in full in the procurement documents for the call off competition. The procurement documents are published on the Authority's esourcing portal.