Novus To Support Offenders Into Jobs Through Flagship Connect To Work Programme

Novus Transforming Lives will deliver the major new employment programme in Sheffield, focusing on helping prison leavers to find work and thrive

Prison leavers returning to Sheffield after their release are to be offered specialist support to help them find work and remain in employment with the aim of reducing reoffending in the city, thanks to a pioneering new programme.

Novus Transforming Lives has won a contract to deliver employment support to offenders and ex-offenders in Sheffield, as part of the Government’s new Connect to Work programme. This national scheme, launched under the Government’s Get Britain Working Strategy, is designed to help people with complex barriers to employment get into and remain in work. In 2026-2027, Connect to Work funding is planned to support around 100,000 people across England and Wales who face complex barriers to employment.

The Chance2: Sheffield programme, which commences on Wednesday 1st April, will be delivered according to the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model of supported employment, which was originally tested and proven to be highly effective in a mental health setting and is now being expanded to support wider groups facing significant barriers to work. This contract, designed by Sheffield City Council to complement local services and priorities while helping people find work and fulfil their potential, offers a unique opportunity to establish the effectiveness of a full fidelity IPS model in meeting the complex needs of people who have been released from prison.

Public sector provider Novus – of which Novus Transforming Lives is a subsidiary – has supported Sheffield offender resettlement for more than 20 years and currently delivers education in public prisons across the North of England. The Connect to Work programme in Sheffield has the support of the governors of prisons across Yorkshire, and Novus can build on more than 150 established hiring relationships with offender-friendly employers in the region. The programme will be based in the city centre and delivered in partnership with Sheffield City Council, prisons across Yorkshire and His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service.

Skills to succeed in the workplace

Novus Transforming Lives will work with prison leavers facing a range of issues, such as finding accommodation, arranging their own transport and getting a mobile phone and bank account. As well as sourcing work opportunities with local businesses, expert staff will help individuals navigate challenges such as complying with probation and licence requirements such as curfews, and developing the soft skills they need to succeed in the workplace. Support will be delivered in prisons, workplaces and community outreach facilities, as well as by phone and online.

By working closely with Novus’ prison education teams in the run up to release, Chance2: Sheffield will enable prison-to-community continuity, with individuals’ backgrounds, potential barriers to employment and career ambitions identified before they even leave prison. This will allow the Novus Transforming Lives team to have an immediate impact from ‘day one’ in enabling job entry and sustained employment. The reoffending rate among former prisoners who go on to find work within a year of release is as much as 9 percentage points lower than among those who remain unemployed. By shortening post-release worklessness, the Sheffield programme has the potential to reduce a key driver of reoffending.

Peter Cox, Director of Novus Transforming Lives, said: “Finding and keeping a job after leaving prison is a game changer. It gives people a second chance, reduces reoffending, builds stronger communities and delivers a significant saving to the taxpayers.

“Having worked in resettling prison leavers in Sheffield for more than two decades, we believe Chance2: Sheffield offers an exciting opportunity to positively impact the life chances of a group of people who face some of the most difficult barriers to employment, and it can play a key role in delivering the Sheffield Employment and Skills Strategy.

“Former offenders have a huge amount to offer in the workplace, and we will be collaborating with employers across South Yorkshire who can tap into this under-utilised group of people to address their own skills gaps. We look forward to working with colleagues at Sheffield City Council, prisons and the probation service to allow this pioneering project to achieve its potential.”

‘Novus have been an outstanding partner’

Mick Mills OBE, governor at HMP Hatfield in South Yorkshire, said: "I am really pleased to see the launch of the Novus Transforming Lives contract in Sheffield, a city that is close to both our location and our hearts.

"At HMP Hatfield we have successfully partnered with Novus to deliver the best outcomes across the whole of the prison estate, with an unprecedented eight out of 10 of our prison leavers securing employment six months after release. Novus have been an outstanding partner, helping us to secure employment for so many prison leavers in South Yorkshire, so to see their service grow can only add more value to Sheffield and the region as a whole."

Lynne Kennedy, Social Mobility Manager at national pub retailer and brewer Greene King, said: "As an employer working in partnership with Novus, we have seen first-hand their ability to prepare prison leavers for work and to engage employers in a way that is practical, supportive, and responsive to business needs.

“Their approach helps individuals overcome barriers to employment while providing employers with confident, work-ready candidates and ongoing, tailored in-work support that supports retention. We believe Novus Transforming Lives has the experience, partnerships, and employer-focused approach required to deliver positive outcomes through Connect to Work."

Novus has already pioneered the ‘Yorkshire Model’ of linking education and training behind bars with employment opportunities in the community. As a result of this approach, which was praised in a report by the Centre for Social Justice thinktank, the number of prisoners moving into work or training upon completing their sentence increased by 65% across Yorkshire and Humber over a three-year period.