Official Statistics

Offender Employment Outcomes - Statistical Guidance

Published 25 July 2024

Applies to England and Wales

The ‘Offender Employment Outcomes’ statistics publication covers the employment status of people on probation, including breakdowns on region, sex, age, ethnicity, offence type and sentence length. This document provides a guide on these statistics. This guidance contains the details around the following performance metrics:

• MI016 – Employment at 6 Weeks Post Release from Custody
• MI017a – Employment at 6 Months Post Release from Custody
• MI017b – Employment at 6 Months Post Disposal for Community Sentences

Offender employment statistics were previously published annually each July alongside other probation performance measures in the Community Performance Annual statistics publication. The data is now published as a standalone publication given the high priority placed on the data by the probation service and to improve transparency.

The Probation Service is responsible for managing all individuals on a community sentence or licence following their release from prison or post disposal for community sentences in England and Wales.

There are 12 probation regions across England and Wales: 11 probation regions in England and one in Wales.

1. Definitions

1.1 Cases in scope - Releases from Custody

Figures count employment circumstances by releases from custody, including releases following recall, committal to custody for breach of post sentence supervision and at sentence, or post sentence, supervision expiry.

Where an offender has been released from custody more than once in the period, their employment circumstance will be counted once for each release where the case has not terminated before the measurement point.

In instances where an individual has multiple releases on the same day, only one of the records is assessed. All other instances of the records are excluded from the statistics.

The following cases are not considered in scope and are therefore excluded from the statistics:

• The individual is recalled to custody before the measurement point, including releases where the individual is subject to same-day recall to custody
• The case is terminated before the measurement point
• Releases from unsupervised short sentences
• Releases following committal for post-sentence supervision (PSS) breach
• Releases on temporary licence (RoTL)
• Releases both from and to Immigration Removal Centres

Due to the different inclusion criteria and data cleansing, the total volume of releases in this release will not match official statistics for total offender releases.

1.2 Cases in scope - Community Sentences

Figures provided count commencement of community and suspended sentence orders supervised by probation. This excludes sentences with only unpaid work, curfew or electronic monitoring requirements as these are not subject to offender management by the Probation Service.

Sentences where the Probation Service are not required to provide offender management or where the sentence ends on the day imposed are excluded from the statistics.

Because of different inclusion criteria and data cleansing, the total volume of community sentence starts in this dataset will not match official statistics for total community sentence starts.

1.3 Employment circumstances

For people on probation serving custodial sentences, employment circumstances are assessed at 6 weeks following the point of release (MI016) and at 6 months following release (MI017a). For those under community sentences, employment circumstances are only assessed at 6 months post community sentence disposal (MI017b).

All employment circumstances are recorded on an ‘as at’ basis; that is the status at 6 weeks following release (MI016), or 6 months following release or community disposal (MI017a and MI017b).

Cases are reported in the month of their employment circumstances, not in the month of their release date or community disposal date. For example, for MI017a, if an individual was released from prison in September 2022, they would be reported in March 2023, as this is 6 months following their release.

For further information of terms within these definitions, please refer to section 5.1 Glossary of Terms.

Employed	Includes individuals who are in any type of paid work, regardless of whether permanent or temporary. This could be: - Full-time employed - Part-time employed - Full-time self-employed - Part-time self-employed - Apprenticeship - Temporary or casual work - Zero-hours contract
Unavailable for Work	Includes individuals who are - Retired - Carers - Unable to work because of Foreign National Offender restrictions - Unable to work because of a Work Capability Assessment - Participating in any form of education, whether full-time or part-time - Volunteering
Unemployed	Includes individuals who are recorded as having no paid employment, or individuals who have other sources of income. They could be: - Unemployed and on benefit - Unemployed and not on benefit - In receipt of state benefit - Any other income - Enrolled in education or training but have not yet started
Unknown	The employment status is unknown, either because: - No status is recorded - There are multiple contradictory statuses for a single release - There are errors in the record - The individual has declined to provide information

2. Calculations

2.1 Formula

The employment metrics MI016, MI017a and MI017b are measured as a percentage. The percentage is the outcome of the equation:

a / (a + b)

where:

• ‘a’ is the number of people on probation who are in the employed category at 6 weeks (MI016) or at 6 months (MI017a and MI017b)
• ‘b’ is the number of people on probation who are in the unemployed category at 6 weeks (MI016) or at 6 months (MI017a and MI017b)

2.2 Exclusions from the MI calculations

Cases assessed as either Unavailable for Work or Unknown are excluded from the MI calculations.

2.3 Data sources

These statistics are from case management systems and involve manual data entry. While due care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the data, as with any large administrative data source, the possibility of errors cannot be eliminated. Over time, minor changes are made to recording practices.

3. Statistical Notes

3.1 Suppression

To protect the disclosure of personal information of any individual, all cases within the tables are rounded to the nearest multiple of 5.

Total figures are also subject to this suppression methodology after calculation, so the sum of numbers in each column may not match the total shown.

Percentages for MI016, MI017a and MI017b are based on unrounded volumes. All other percentages are based on the rounded volumes.

Suppression methodology:

1. Totals are at first calculated using the non-rounded volumes of cases
2. The MI016, MI017a and MI017b are all calculated using the non-rounded volumes of cases
3. All volumes, including the totals, are rounded to the nearest multiple of 5. Any number lower than 3 is rounded to 0
4. Percentages (with the exception of MI016, MI017a and MI017b) are calculated from the rounded numbers
5. Percentages based on fewer than 30 individuals are suppressed

3.2 Notable changes in methodology or recordings

Change to Offence Type categorisation

The offence types have been reviewed and aligned to the Probation tables of the Offender Management Statistics. As a result, more offence types are reported as “Other/Unknown”.

All data in the tables of Offence Type should be considered revised. We are currently providing data for the latest two performance years and we will follow up with the other years in due course.

We are reviewing these data records and if any changes are required, they will be provided in the next release of the Offender Employment Outcomes Official Statistics.

4. Data Quality Statement

4.1 Relevance

These statistics are generally used by:

• Government
• Academia
• Media
• Charity sector
• General public

Additionally, these statistics play an important role in helping to ensure the Ministry of Justice’s accountability to the public. To ensure these statistics meet the needs of users, users are encouraged to provide comments and feedback on existing outputs including content, breadth, frequency and methodology.

4.2 Accuracy and Reliability

These statistics are from Management Information from case management systems and involve manual data entry. Management Information refers to information that is not collected specifically for statistics or research. This data is collected by the Ministry of Justice for uses such as registration and record-keeping.

Although due care has been taken when processing and analysing the returns, as with any large administrative data source, the possibility of errors cannot be eliminated. While the figures shows have been checked as far as practicable, they should be regarded as approximate and not necessarily accurate to the last whole number shown in the tables.

Over time, minor changes are made to recording practices to improve the accuracy of these statistics.

In accordance with Principle 2 of the Code of Practice for Statistics, the Ministry of Justice is required to publish transparent guidance on its policy for revisions.

The 3 reasons specified for statistics needing to be revised are changes in sources of administrative systems or methodology changes, receipt of subsequent information, and errors in statistical systems and processes. Each of these points, and its specific relevance to this publication, are addressed below:

• Changes in sources of administrative systems or methodology
  This guidance document will clearly state where there have been revisions to data due to changes in methodology or administrative systems. In addition, statistics affected within the publication will be appropriately footnoted.
• Receipt of subsequent information
  The nature of any administrative system is that data may be received late. Revision mid-year will only be made where it has been deemed that the late data has a major influence on the statistics. All other minor revisions will be published in the next scheduled update.
• Errors in statistical systems and processes
  Occasionally errors can occur in statistical processes, however procedures are constantly reviewed to minimise this risk. Should a significant error be found, the publication on the website will be updated and an errata slip published documenting the revision.

4.3 Timeliness and Punctuality

These statistics are assessed for MI016 at 6 weeks following release, and MI017a or MI017b at 6 months post release or community disposal. Therefore, the statistics do not necessarily relate to an individual’s release date, but the month of their employment circumstance.

Data takes around one month to be collected and processed, and an additional month is required for any necessary revisions. Post data collection, analysis and quality assurance takes between one and 3 months.

To comply with the Code of Practice for Statistics, these statistics will be announced at least 4 weeks before the publication date. Any changes to pre-announced release dates will be agreed by the Head of Profession for Statistics and promptly announced, with reasons provided for these changes.

4.4 Comparability and Coherence

The total volume of cases in scope for community sentence starts and prison releases in these statistics will not match official statistics for total community sentence starts or prison releases, due to different data cleansing and exclusion criteria used. Therefore, there should not be comparisons made between different official statistics for cases in scope.

4.5 Accessibility and Clarity

These statistics are published on the Ministry of Justice GOV.UK website, and the publication is available from 09:30am on the day of release.

The tables are published in an Excel format. The summary document and this guidance are both published in an accessible HTML format.

The summary document is designed in a way to provide quick access to the top-level statistics, with further information within the tables. This guidance document and the notes within the tables provide clarity on any technical terms, definitions, or acronyms to ensure that these statistics can be used effectively.

5. Further Information

5.1 Glossary of Terms

Apprenticeship	Employment under an officially recognised apprenticeship scheme under the government’s apprenticeship programme.
Carer	An individual who is responsible for providing care (either paid or unpaid) to a family member or other individual (child or adult) who is elderly, disabled or suffers with a chronic health condition This includes stay-at-home parents for children under the age of 5. The weekly caring commitment prevents seeking employment or full-time education.
Curfew requirement	A curfew is one of the 13 requirements available to add to community orders and suspended sentence orders. An individual can be sentenced to be at a specified place (usually their own home) for certain periods. These periods can be up to 16 hours per day, for up to 12 months. The curfew is electronically monitored.
Declined to provide information	Refusal to disclose employment status. The Responsible Officer must record detailed information in the Personal Circumstance ‘notes’ section to state what steps have been taken to establish the individual’s employment status. The option should be used in a minority of circumstances and the Responsible Officer should continue to attempt to establish the employment status regardless of previous refusals.
Electronic monitoring requirement	An electronic compliance monitoring requirement is one of the 13 requirements available to add to community orders and suspended sentence orders. An individual is electronically tagged to ensure they comply with restrictions imposed on their movements, for example, a requirement to stay away from a particular area.
Enrolled but not commenced education or training	Acceptance on a full-time (at least 30 hours per week) formal programme of study with a confirmed future start date. The individual is not currently engaging in any formal education or training.
Full-time education or training	Engagement in a formal programme of study for at least 30 hours per week. This includes: - Receiving tuition - Carrying out practical work - Undertaking supervised or unsupervised study - Taking examinations - Taking course-related work experience
Full-time employed	Employment as a full-time permanent member of staff or a temporary contact of at least 3 months duration, for at least 30 hours a week. This excludes apprenticeships, as they are a separate category.
Full-time self-employed	An individual runs their own business for at least 30 hours per week and takes responsibility for its success or failure. This can include self-employed contractors.
In receipt of state benefit	Receipt of any type of state benefit with the exception of Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), which is recorded separately as ‘Unemployed (on benefit)’. This includes, but is not limited to: - Income Support - Tax credits - Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) - Carer’s allowance - Pension Credit.
Other income	Receipt of regular, sustained and reliable income from a source not included under any of the other statuses. This includes, but is not limited to: - Landlord rental income - Spousal earnings - Family trust
Part-time education or training	Employment as a part-time permanent member of staff or a temporary contact of at least 3 months duration, for less than 30 hours a week. This excludes apprenticeships, as they are a separate category.
Part-time employed	An individual runs their own business for less than 30 hours per week and takes responsibility for its success or failure. This can include self-employed contractors.
Recall	An individual that was released on licence or parole and who has broken the rules of their probation can be returned to prison. This is known as recall.
Release on temporary licence (ROTL)	Release on Temporary Licence (RoTL) allows prisoners to be released temporarily into the community for specific purposes, such as to engage in employment, to maintain family ties or to receive medical treatment. Not every prisoner is eligible to be released on temporary licence and some, such as those posing the highest security threat, are barred altogether.
Retired (not receiving a pension)	An individual who has stopped working and has no intention of working again in the future. They are not currently in receipt of payments from a pension (state or otherwise). In general, this should not be used for individuals younger than the State Pension age unless there is evidence to support the retired status.
Retired (seeking a pension)	An individual who has stopped working and has no intention of working again in the future. They are currently in receipt of payments from a pension (state or otherwise).
Temporary or casual work	Employment with no expectation of secure ongoing work, such as temporary or seasonal work, or an employee starting with a contract lasting less than 3 months.
Unavailable for work because of Foreign National Offender restrictions	An individual who is a foreign national and does not meet the eligibility criteria to work in the UK.
Unavailable for work because of work capability assessment	An individual who has undergone a Work Capability Assessment which has concluded that they are not expected to seek employment.
Unemployed and not on benefit	An individual who is not employed, in education, retired or having any of the other employment statuses and is not in receipt of any state benefits. This includes stay-at-home parents for children over the age of 5.
Unemployed and on benefit	An individual who meets the Department for Work and Pensions’ definition of unemployment and qualifies for Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA).
Unpaid work requirement	Unpaid work, or community payback, is one of the 13 requirements available to add to community orders and suspended sentence orders. An individual can be sentenced to do between 40 hours and 300 hours of unpaid work to be completed within 12 months, to help the community, for example, removing graffiti.
Volunteering	Working for an organisation with no entitlement to monetary payments other than expenses and/or provision for subsistence.
Zero-hours contract	A contract of employment with no minimum number of contractual hours each week specified.

5.2 Symbols and conventions

The following symbols have been used throughout the tables in this publication:

Symbol	Description
[x]	Not available
0	Value less than 3
[z]	Not applicable or unreliable (less than 30 observations)
[p]	Provisional data
[r]	Revised data

5.3 Future publications

Our statisticians regularly review the content of publications. Development of new and improved statistical outputs is usually dependent on reallocating existing resources. As part of our continual review and prioritisation, we welcome user feedback on existing outputs including content, breadth, frequency, and methodology.

Please send any comments you have about this publication including suggestions for further developments or reductions in content to [email protected]

5.4 Official Statistics status

Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR).

OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality, and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.

You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards, by emailing [email protected]

Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing [email protected] or via the OSR website.

5.5 Contact

Press enquiries should be directed to the Ministry of Justice press office:
Tel: 020 3334 3536
Email: [email protected]

Other enquiries about these statistics should be directed to E Stradling:
[email protected]

General enquiries about the statistical work of the Ministry of Justice can be emailed to:
[email protected]

Alternative formats are available on request from:
[email protected]

View more information in our collection page for Offender Employment Outcomes