Page 100 - Social Enterprise A New Business Paradigm for Thailand

referred to as “through-the-gate” and “post-release support.” Their services encompassed
housing assistance, health and medical care, family support, welfare services, financial guidance,

skills training, and employment assistance. Meanwhile, YMCA and SOVA provided long-term
general support to ex-offenders. Participation in the program was entirely voluntary. Over the
five-year implementation period, approximately 2,000 male prisoners participated in the project.

The Social Impact Bond (SIB) is a financial instrument that operates on a payment-by-results
model. This means that investors receive a return on their investment, along with the repayment
of their principal, only if the project meets its predefined outcomes. If the project fails to achieve
its targets, investors do not receive a return on their investment. At the time the project began,
the recidivism rate for released offenders was approximately 60%. With funding support from The

Big Lottery Fund, the UK Ministry of Justice set a target to reduce recidivism by 7.5%. The project
ultimately exceeded this goal, achieving a 9% reduction in repeat offenses. As a result, investors
received full repayment of their capital plus a 3% annual return.

The Peterborough Social Impact Bond is widely recognized as the first SIB initiative in the UK and
the world’s first operational SIB. Its success led to widespread adoption of the model in other
countries. SIBs are seen as a financial tool that enables innovative approaches to solving social
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problems, while also shifting financial risk from the public sector to private investors. The
Peterborough SIB was also notable for targeting a group, male prisoners serving sentences of less

than 12 months, who, at the time, had no legal entitlement to post-release support. According to
an independent evaluation by RAND Europe, supported by the UK Ministry of Justice, the project
successfully achieved its intended objectives. These included developing and delivering a new
type of support service tailored to short-term offenders, utilizing capital from social investors,
allowing operational flexibility to adapt services to local conditions, and forging partnerships with
key agencies involved in offender rehabilitation. This pioneering approach demonstrated the
potential of SIBs as a mechanism for delivering results-oriented social services with measurable
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outcomes.

However, the Peterborough SIB project was terminated earlier than initially planned. Though it
had successfully provided services to 2,000 former inmates over a 5-year period, the original
intention had been to run the project for 7 years, targeting three cohorts of 1,000 prisoners each
(totaling 3,000 individuals). The early termination occurred because the government shifted its
policy focus by launching a new initiative titled “Transforming Rehabilitation,” which aimed to
reform the probation services system. Specifically, for low- to medium-risk offenders, a group that

43 David Ainsworth, Peterborough social impact bond investors repaid in full, Source:
https://www.civilsociety.co.uk/ news/peterborough-social-impact-bond-investors-repaid-in-full.html, 27 July 2017.
44 Rand Europe, The payment by results Social Impact Bond pilot at HMP Peterborough: final proves evaluation
report, Ministry of Justice Analytical Series, 2015.
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