30 October 2025
Working Wales prison support shows promise but faces delivery challenges
The Welsh Government’s October 2025 evaluation of the Working Wales service in prisons highlights the impact of careers and employability support for prisoners, along with important challenges.
Between April 2021 and March 2024, Working Wales delivered 4,500 one-to-one interactions in Welsh prisons, with a 76% year-on-year increase in activity. Satisfaction rates were very high, with 100% positive feedback.
However, advisers cited limited IT access, lack of private spaces and security restrictions as major challenges. Large caseloads and inconsistent referral pathways across prisons also affected service consistency. Young prisoners and those with sexual convictions were identified as harder to engage, while women received less frequent support.
The report acknowledges that the inconsistencies with data sets and post-prison reporting makes it difficult to make meaningful conclusions about the impact of the support.
The report calls for reviewing adviser resources, improving prison infrastructure, strengthening partnerships with programmes like ReAct+ and PLA, and developing tailored strategies for harder-to-reach groups.
Read the full evaluation of Working Wales’ work in prisons.
Between April 2021 and March 2024, Working Wales delivered 4,500 one-to-one interactions in Welsh prisons, with a 76% year-on-year increase in activity. Satisfaction rates were very high, with 100% positive feedback.
However, advisers cited limited IT access, lack of private spaces and security restrictions as major challenges. Large caseloads and inconsistent referral pathways across prisons also affected service consistency. Young prisoners and those with sexual convictions were identified as harder to engage, while women received less frequent support.
The report acknowledges that the inconsistencies with data sets and post-prison reporting makes it difficult to make meaningful conclusions about the impact of the support.
The report calls for reviewing adviser resources, improving prison infrastructure, strengthening partnerships with programmes like ReAct+ and PLA, and developing tailored strategies for harder-to-reach groups.
Read the full evaluation of Working Wales’ work in prisons.
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