In August 2021, Nacro, in partnership with the University of Northampton (UON), was commissioned by Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT) to conduct research into the barriers to identification and uptake of support for ex-service personnel and their families in the criminal justice systems (CJS) of England, Wales, and Scotland.
This research aims to increase knowledge in this area to enable policy makers and service deliverers to better identify and meet the needs of this group, with the intention of reducing the likelihood of ex-service personnel entering the CJS or reoffending.
Previous academic research as well as research produced by FiMT has attempted to establish the number of ex-service personnel in the CJS, as well as the reasons they offend. Most estimates have suggested that ex-service personnel make the most significant, and potentially the largest, occupational subset in prison.
As of October 2023, the Ministry of Justice estimates that, in England and Wales, approximately 3.6% of the prison population that was asked the identifying question had disclosed that they had previously served in the Armed Forces. Office for National Statistics analysed the 2021 Census data to determine that 4.86% of people in prisons in England and Wales are ex-service personnel.
In 2019, the Directory of Social Change estimated that 3.1% of Scotland’s prison population had previously served in the Armed Forces. There is less recent data available on the estimates of ex-service personnel under supervision by the Probation Service in England and Wales and justice social work (JSW) in Scotland. Beyond that, there is little information on how many ex-service personnel are processed by the police in England, Wales and Scotland. The available data therefore provides a limited picture, only considering exservice personnel who choose to disclose their service status.
The current research was therefore commissioned to understand the barriers to identification of ex-service personnel and their families through the different stages of the CJS, as well as any barriers to uptake of support.
The research was conducted in two phases: Phase 1, from August 2021 to April 2022, consisted of substantive interviews with 29 key national stakeholders who work with or are involved in policymaking related to ex-service personnel in the CJS. The second phase (Phase 2) of the research consisted of in-depth primary research across eight local sites which included interviews with 104 ex-service personnel in prison and in the community under supervision, as well as 71 professionals working in different parts of the justice system and other local stakeholders.
These sites were:
- County Durham, Hull, Plymouth, and Staffordshire in England
- Bridgend and Swansea in Wales
- Edinburgh and Perth and Kinross in Scotland, with a supplementary prison visit in Stirling.