Change and Transformation in the Public Sector
A pioneering EY and Catch22 partnership delivering safer, life‑changing outcomes in London’s prisons
The London Prison Violence Reduction (PVR) Service is a first-of-its-kind transformation programme tackling one of the public sector’s most entrenched challenges: escalating violence within London’s prisons.
Commissioned by the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) between 2024 and 2026, and delivered by charity Catch22, which specialises in designing and delivering public services, the initiative brought together specialist partners to support over 1,000 individuals in HMP Wandsworth, HMP Pentonville and HMP Feltham B. The service introduced a structured, trauma-informed and evidence-based model, redefining what safer, rehabilitative custodial environments can become.
EY Studio+ was central in codesigning the model, while EY Outreach drove culture change through purposeful activity that built confidence and prosocial behaviour.
Informed by strategic needs analysis, the PVR Service united practitioners, lived experience specialists and service designers to tackle root causes including trauma, exploitation, debt and fractured staff-resident relationships.
Publicly available evidence shows HMP Wandsworth recorded measurable reductions in violence between April 2025 and early 2026, with these improvements published on 6 March 2026. During this period, prisoner on prisoner violence fell to 267 incidents (down 70 year-on-year), assaults on staff reduced to 151 (down 99), and self-harm incidents decreased to 373 (down 78).
The programme’s impact was further highlighted during a visit from HRH Princess Anne, who was visibly moved by the transformation underway. Service users echoed this shift: “No one has ever given us an opportunity like this… you see how we can be different.”
Together, this partnership has delivered measurable and meaningful transformation within one of the UK’s most complex public service environments.
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