On Tuesday 8 May Clinks, an organisation that supports voluntary organisations working with offenders and their families, launched its third and final trackTR report into the voluntary sector in Transforming Rehabilitation.

YSS, a charity working across the whole of West Mercia to support some of the most marginalised people in society, was chosen as one of six national organisations to take part in the report as a case study.

Since 2015 Clinks has led the tracktr partnership that has been researching the voluntary sector’s experience of the changes to probation services brought about by the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms. The report assesses the impact this has had on organisations, like YSS, including the services they deliver and the people they support.

The final report confirms that charities are underrepresented in the government’s £900m Transforming Rehabilitation programme. The voluntary sector’s services are under pressure and under resourced, and charitable funds are being used to deliver the quality of services needed from probation services. The majority of the 132 voluntary organisations Clinks heard from, including YSS, believe that their service users are suffering as a result.

YSS Chief Executive Lorraine Preece was extensively interviewed about the impact of Transforming Rehabilitation on YSS, and her response forms part of the report which will be launched at a special event, ‘Under represented, under pressure, under resourced’, held in London.

As Lorraine is unable to attend the event, YSS Trustee who is the lead for criminal justice, David Chantler, attended on behalf of YSS and discussed the case study in further detail. Chair of Trustees Lady Susanna McFarlene also attended the event, which presented 11 practical recommendations to help make a difference and understand what the next generation of probation services could look like.

David Chantler commented: “We are pleased to have been chosen to take part in this important report and it was great to attend the event.

“Our case study, coming from West Mercia, an area which many people said had predated TR, with full participation by the voluntary sector alongside the PCC, Police, Youth Offending Service and Probation, sadly confirms the findings of the report. With no argument with the basic tenants of TR, apart from the split in probation which has itself been disastrous, our concern has been the way in which it has been implemented which has frustrated so many of the promises made at the time. The losers have been service users, victims and the general public."

To find out more about YSS or any of the services it delivers, please go to yss.org.uk or follow @OfficialYSS on Facebook and Twitter.