Beyond the Cycle #2: Turning green shoots into systemic change
An updated roadmap for Government to build on progress and deliver lasting change for people in the revolving door.
Soon after the election of a new Government in 2024 we coproduced Beyond the Cycle with our members. A roadmap for the new Government, it was aligned to Labour’s manifesto priorities and missions and laid out tangible, achievable goals to tackle the cycle of crisis and crime.
We argued that the human and financial cost of inaction on tackling repeat offending driven by unmet health and social needs was too high; that too many people were pulled into repeat contact with the justice system not because they pose the greatest risk, but because they face the greatest barriers.
Over the course of two years our arguments have gained real ground – and are stronger than ever.
As a new leadership under Andy Burnham takes over, we offer a new set of asks. Last year, our Preventing the Revolving Door report with Newton showed for the first time the scale, cost and distinctiveness of the revolving door cohort. The research, described by one official as a ‘gamechanger’, has been shared widely across government departments.
This cross-departmental approach is what must be taken forwards. Those in the revolving door do not experience their lives in departmental categories. It’s time for a coordinated response, building on the pioneering work on a whole-system approach to diversion taking place in Andy Burnham’s own former mayoral region, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.
The lesson for national government is clear. It’s time to move beyond disconnected initiatives and into a prevention-first justice settlement, built around the people who are currently least well served by the system and whose repeated contact creates enormous human and financial cost.
Our asks now need to reflect the stage we are in; not whether Government agrees with the direction of travel, but whether it can deliver with enough discipline and urgency to make progress stick.
This is why we now present Beyond the Cycle #2: our offer to Government on how we can turn green shoots of hope into systemic change, and end the revolving door.
