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An official website of the Velocity Interoperability Network

Rehabilitation

The Corrections Department of the Velocity Interoperability Network is charged with returning those it holds to the community less likely to offend than when they arrived. Custody alone does not achieve this. The Department therefore gives every sentenced person a plan for their sentence, and provides the education, work and programmes through which the plan is carried out.

Rehabilitation begins on the day of reception and does not end at the gate. The same staff who assess a person at the start of their sentence plan their release, and the plan continues in the community under supervision for as long as the sentence requires. Those on remand are not required to take part but may attend education and take a work placement if they wish.

The sentence plan. The steps below apply to every sentenced person in the Department's custody.

  1. Step 1: Reception and induction

    Within three working days of reception the person completes an induction and is allocated a personal officer, who remains their point of contact for the whole of their time at the establishment.

  2. Step 2: Assessment

    Within ten working days the person's education and skills, health, substance use, family circumstances, accommodation and the factors connected with their offending are assessed by resettlement staff, with the person's own account taken first.

  3. Step 3: Sentence plan agreed

    The person and their personal officer agree a written plan that sets out the programmes, education and work the person will undertake, the order in which they will do so and what each is intended to achieve. The person keeps a copy.

  4. Step 4: Programmes and reviews

    The plan is put into effect through the placements described below. It is reviewed at least every six months, or sooner on transfer, on a change of circumstances or at the person's request, and progress is recorded at each review.

  5. Step 5: Pre-release planning

    Not less than twelve weeks before release the plan is converted into a resettlement plan covering accommodation, income, identification, healthcare and, where the sentence requires it, the conditions of supervision on licence.

  6. Step 6: Release and supervision

    On release the person is met, where the plan provides for it, by their supervising officer, and the resettlement plan continues under supervision in the community for the period the sentence requires.

Programmes. Seven programmes are available across the Department's establishments. Not every programme is delivered at every establishment; where a programme the plan requires is not available where the person is held, they may be transferred to an establishment where it is.

Education
Literacy, numeracy, secondary certificates, the language of the Network and digital skills, taught in classes of no more than twelve. Classes begin on 14 September 2026 in every establishment.
Vocational training
Training towards a recognised certificate in joinery, catering, horticulture, industrial cleaning and textiles, delivered alongside productive work in the establishment's workshops and units.
Work
Placements in the kitchens, laundries, gardens, workshops and maintenance of each establishment, paid weekly. Workshop and horticulture placements open on 21 September 2026 and offer 640 places each week.
Thinking skills
A group programme of 20 sessions for those whose offending is linked to impulsive decision-making, poor problem-solving or difficulty in seeing the consequences of their actions for others. Groups begin on 28 September 2026.
Substance misuse treatment
Clinical treatment, including prescribing, provided under arrangements with the Health Department of the Network, together with a group programme of 24 sessions and individual support from a recovery worker throughout the sentence.
Violence reduction
A group programme of 30 sessions for those convicted of offences of violence, addressing the management of anger, the use of violence in relationships and the situations in which the person is most at risk of using it again.
Family ties
Parenting classes, extended family visits and supported telephone contact for those with children, and mediation where relationships have broken down during the sentence and the person wishes to restore them.

Capacity. The figures below record the capacity the Department has established for its first months of operation.

1,180
Education places each week across the five establishments
640
Workshop and horticulture placements each week from 21 September 2026
10
Maximum group size on an offending behaviour programme
6 months
Longest interval between reviews of a sentence plan

Attendance at education, work and programmes is paid at a common weekly rate, so that no one loses income by choosing to learn or to attend a programme rather than to work. Part of each week's pay may be saved in a release account, which is paid to the person on the day of their release.

The timetable of classes and placements is set out on the Education and Work page, and the arrangements for the end of the sentence on the Release and Resettlement page. Completion rates for each programme are reported on the Statistics page. Enquiries may be sent to contact@corrections.gov.vin.