A week has passed since the most recent report on the state of our prison system. It has been encouraging to see such a consistent response from the third sector: Actions are louder than words, the current prison estate requires immediate action. Switchback’s message echoes this and our key message remains the same – we must Reshape Release. Sustained investment in effective resettlement support remains an achievable and evidence-led solution to the capacity crisis, that also provides vital community safety benefits and justice for victims.
The Independent Capacity Review further reinforced that our prison system is in an untenable state of crisis. To stabilise the justice system, the government must address the prison capacity crisis as a matter of urgency. A growing number of reports from the inspectorate, independent reviews and statements from Ministers reinforce that one key part of the problem was a collective failure to tackle the source of demand on our prisons (such as reoffending) and how that inaction posed a real danger to society as a whole. Overcrowding is dangerous for everyone; there is a prospect of serious riots within the prison estate and the courts no longer having the option of being able to send people to prison.
For Switchback, the recent month’s attention on the justice system has further reaffirmed our ambition and purpose as an organisation. Our solutions to the crisis are grounded in effective resettlement, relational working and platforming the role of lived experience in policymaking and system redesign.
Effective resettlement
People often look to the third sector for the principled argument for change but delivering effective resettlement is a solution that we know reduces reoffending. It has long proven itself to be a worthwhile investment in society. It reduces crime and has the potential to reduce the prison population and create safer communities.
It’s important for us an organisation to keep a consistent drumbeat advocating for a localised National Resettlement Framework (minimum standards of support available for every prison leaver). This is a solution to the prison capacity crisis, reducing reoffending and supporting an overwhelmed probation service, as well as preventing crime. We were encouraged that Dame Owers’ report reflects this in suggesting a localised multi-disciplinary support service for prison leavers, and makes note on the themes in which investment should be concentrated: Mental Health, access to sustainable housing, sustainable employment, financial inclusion and access to basic amenities such as ID. Because in order to thrive, people first need the basics to survive.
You can read more about our proposal for a National Resettlement Framework here:
Policy proposal: National Resettlement Framework
In this crisis, it’s vital that decision-makers remember that safely releasing people from prison is an important goal. We live in a society where we can both seek justice for victims and ensure people can re-enter society safely too. And we have a duty as a sector to engage the wider public in this thinking. There are many clear examples and strong evidence that with the appropriate support it is possible to successfully resettle those who have committed offences back into society. It has been proven (time and again) that this can be done in a way that minimises reoffending, keeps communities safe and helps individuals to thrive.
Relational working
Switchback data indicates that fewer than 1 in 10 Trainees go on to reoffend, compared to nearly half of all prison leavers nationally. And there is substantial diverse evidence on what effective resettlement practice looks like with Switchback and other charities demonstrating many of these principles with strong results.
- Authentic relationships: Our Mentors build lasting relationships with Trainees that start pre-release and carry on into the community. Mentors provide support and challenge throughout the process to help Trainees to achieve their goals.
- Reliable: In a context of mistrust and regular experiences of being let down, it’s crucial that we always do what we say we are going to do; this foundation of trust supports Trainees to accept support.
- Person-centred: Our work is led by Trainees; we work on their goals and expectations, not ours.
- Holistic: We connect Trainees to resources and support – this can mean helping people to apply for benefits, referring them to our Real Work Training partners, supporting them to find employment opportunities or connecting them to social networks or other charities that can support them.
Other examples of organisations providing long-term, relational support include the Khidmat Centres supporting Muslim women leaving prison in Bradford, and the Oswin Project supporting people leaving prison in the North-East. Whilst there are nuances between our approaches tailored to our cohort and context, we share a commitment to long-lasting relationships and community, and a focus on people achieving the goals they set for themselves.
Dr. Matt Cracknell, a senior lecturer in criminology and sociology at Brunel University, summarised the academic evidence on “Effective Practice in Resettlement”. He notes the importance of the relational aspect of supervision and many other aspects of the work carried out at organisations like Switchback. Similarly, Dr. Neil Hazel, Chair of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Salford, has carried out decades of research on the most effective principles of resettlement for young people. These principles are consistent with the practice in successful rehabilitation charities like Switchback. HMPPS must consider how best to integrate these principles.”
You can view our illustrated example of relational working here, that was co-created with our Experts by Experience Board:
Switchback publishes comic strip to show impact of effective relational support
Recall
We can’t talk about the prison population crisis without talking about recall. The use of licence recall – where people are returned to prison because they’re deemed to have broken the licence conditions of their release – is out of control. It has doubled in the last 15 years alone, while one in five people currently in custody are there on recall.
Dame Owers’ review comes at a timely moment for Switchback as we have recently published The Prison Recall Report 2025, providing seven key recommendations for change that are porous throughout the independent review. You can read the report here:
The Prison Recall Report 2025 in partnership with our Experts by Experience
For Switchback the rising rate of recall is both a symptom of poor resettlement support, and a cause of ineffective resettlement. Not only do avoidable recalls like this damage positive progress, derail rehabilitation, and erode hope in the ability to live life differently, they contribute to the prison capacity crisis, with people taking up cell space who often pose no risk to the public and haven’t committed a further offence. Recalls are overused, often as a way to manage ‘risk’ of future offending as opposed to being a last resort.
The way out of the recall crisis relies on commitment to both urgent and long-term measures. Switchback recommends the introduction of an independent decision maker for non-emergency recall decisions. This could relieve the pressure on individual probation officers to be solely accountable for the actions of people who are not recalled and allow them greater capacity to focus on creating rehabilitative relationships.
Additionally, it’s crucial to get support right for people when they leave prison. Resettlement gaps drive recall and reoffending. Too many people are released without anywhere to live or any realistic pathway to safe and stable accommodation. Getting support right on release will have an impact on the high rates of recall, one-to-one human support is a central part of this. That’s why Switchback’s proposal for a national resettlement framework features one to one support at its heart.
Platforming the role of lived-experience in policymaking
Switchback’s most important value is keeping Trainees at the heart of everything we do, so our Experts by Experience Board plays a central role shaping our key messaging and advocating for effective resettlement as a solution to the capacity crisis.
Throughout our influencing journey advocating for a National Resettlement Framework and bringing attention to the rising rates of recall we have worked alongside decision makers on a local and national influencing scale and each time we have introduced them to a member of our EBE board, or brought our former and current Trainees stories, opinions and solutions alongside us.
We’ve been privileged to meet Minister Timpson, former Secretary of State for Justice David Gauke, Dame Owers, the Chief Inspector of Prison Charlie Taylor, Chief Inspector of Probation Martin Jones and many engaged ministers, decision-makers and vocal advocates for the sector. For each meeting we have focussed on how we can amplify the voices of prison leavers and ensure our EbE Board are gifted opportunities to make change, be heard and listened to.
That’s why we use peer-research methods to establish key findings and to make key recommendations. Our Prison Leavers and Mental Health Report 2024 and the Prison Recall Report 2025 are the start of a research journey for Switchback and have played a key role in influencing at a national policy level. It’s been great to see our recommendations referenced in reports and in the news media.
Thank you
Thank you to all those that have worked alongside the Switchback Influencing Team on #ReshapeRelease – campaigning for investment in effective resettlement.
We want to thank Clinks for highlighting the prominent role the third sector plays in providing evidence for alternatives solutions to imprisonment and encourages investment in resettlement support and relational working. You can read their response blog here.
Alongside this it was great to see the Howard League remain a prominent vocal support in the news cycle responding to the Independent Reviews. Andrew Neilson, the director of campaigns at the Howard League for Penal Reform, told The Guardian: “This review into prison capacity spells out in forensic detail how the government has found itself facing the prospect of running out of cells. It is a crisis, or more accurately a series of crises, that has been brewing over several decades and across successive governments.” We agree wholeheartedly and encourage you to read their blog on why prison capacity is out of control here.
