An evaluation of the impact of three arts-based initiatives has concluded that the arts play an important role in the criminal justice system, reducing crime and saving taxpayers’ money. The analysis was based on the experiences of women who graduated from Clean Break’s theatre education programme, members of London-based charity Only Connect who have been released from prison, and young people at high risk of offending who enrolled in Summer Arts Colleges run by national charity Unitas. Involvement in all three initiatives was found to bring benefits. Reoffending costs the government between £9.5bn and £13bn a year, with two in five adults reoffending within a year of release, but in the Only Connect project, while 58% were predicted to reoffend without the charity, only 26% who had its support did so. The report, ‘Unlocking Value’, was commissioned by the Arts Alliance, produced by charity think tank and consultancy New Philanthropy Capital and funded by Arts Council England. Report author David Pritchard commented: “Arts organisations are under increasing pressure to show the value of what they do. This report is a step in the right direction but we need to see more charities collecting data to show the impact they have”.
