The Offenders’ Learning and Skills Service (OLASS) in England

The development of a new Offenders’ Learning and Skills Service (OLASS) began in January 2004 following the creation of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) to commission services for offenders on a regional basis. After regional trials the Service was rolled out across all nine English regions on 31 July 2006. It was intended that OLASS should be underpinned by better assessment and planning; a broader, richer curriculum offer; the availability of accurate and up-to-date data; mainstreamed delivery of offender learning; alliances forming at regional level; progressive development of the offender learning and correctional services workforces; and strengthened and refocused external inspection arrangements.

The Government consulted on the overall direction of its offender learning policy through the 2005 Green Paper, “Reducing Re-offending Through Skills and Employment”. This contained strong support for the proposal to develop a Campus Model, which will be initially trialled and developed for two years in the West Midlands and the East of England regions. This is part of the “Next Steps” document, launched on the 13th December 2006, setting out the Government’s plans to implement the Green Paper. It is expected that the Campus Model, after evaluation, will be ready for adoption nationally after July 2009 when the current OLASS contracts expire.

The overall aims are to:

  • increase the quality and effectiveness of learning and skills delivered to offenders
  • improve their skills in prison and when released.

Next Steps sets out how OLASS will work with the regional trials to advance these aims and develop and implement a range of proposals, which build on the work already being developed in prisons and probation. These include:

  • improving the delivery of skills and employment through the use of ICT
    helping offenders to develop their skills in preparation for them to start their own business
  • establishing baseline data from which to measure the impact of the Green Paper proposals
  • providing more intensive support to those who commit to skills programmes designed to tackle their barriers to employment and end their offending behaviour;
  • commissioning regimes in custody that meet the skills and employability needs of the offender population.