Our vision
has always been to operate Councils through the gate, so that Council members
can be recruited, trained and elected in prison and continue this role and further
development on release, getting peer support through the gate.
This vision
is even more applicable in light of the Coalition Government’s plans under
Transforming Rehabilitation, in which every prisoner will spend at least the
last 3 months of their sentence in a prison in the area into which they will be
released, receiving through the gate support.
Support
from the Cabinet Office has now enabled us to pilot this approach for the first
time and represents an exciting time to evaluate this joined up model.
Cabinet Office’s Centre for Social Action
In April 2013 the Cabinet Office launched the Centre for Social Action
with the goal of encouraging people to make a difference through social action.
As part of the Centre for Social Action, the Cabinet Office has awarded a grant to Nesta to manage the Centre for Social Action Innovation Fund.
Through the programme, Nesta will provide financial and non-financial support to help grow the impact and reach of innovations that mobilise people's energy and talents to help each other, working alongside public services.
As part of the Centre for Social Action, the Cabinet Office has awarded a grant to Nesta to manage the Centre for Social Action Innovation Fund.
Through the programme, Nesta will provide financial and non-financial support to help grow the impact and reach of innovations that mobilise people's energy and talents to help each other, working alongside public services.
User Voice’s Council model
The Council model provides a structured and effective means by which
prisoners and other criminal justice service users can voice collective
problems and solutions and provides a reference point for the design, delivery
and evaluation of new and existing policies, procedures and services.
The model distils the myriad of issues into general themes, rather than personal issues, in a democratic process.
The model is flexible enough to adapt according to an individual prison (Prison Councils) or community (Service User Councils) environment.
The model distils the myriad of issues into general themes, rather than personal issues, in a democratic process.
The model is flexible enough to adapt according to an individual prison (Prison Councils) or community (Service User Councils) environment.
