Careers Information, Advice and Guidance (CIAG) is part of the government’s Prison Education Service (PES) in England.
The vision of PES is that everyone of working age and able to work should leave prison prepared for employment or further education and training.
Career Connect’s Achieve team delivers the Ministry of Justice Prison Careers Information Advice and Guidance (CIAG) service in Lancashire and Cumbria Prisons.
We have held CIAG contracts with Lancashire and Cumbria Prisons since 2020, and in April 2025 we began a new contract including an extra prison.
We entered into the new contact having previously achieved participant employment rates in Lancashire and Cumbria of almost 1.7 times the national average within six weeks post-release.
Work on our previous contract with Lancashire and Cumbria prisons was also award-winning, with one of our Employment Advisers at HMP Haverigg winning Partner of the Year award at the 2023 HMPPS awards.
Face to face delivery
In Lancashire and Cumbria, our professional CIAG advisers work with offenders in custody from the start of their sentence, up to preparing for release, with the aim of helping to prevent cycles of re-offending.
Our advisers help those in custody to set education, skills, and work-related goals, develop employability skills, and search for and apply for jobs as they prepare to transition back into the community. They also work with employers to help offenders increase their knowledge of the labour market and promote more sustained employment outcomes.
Working with employers
Our delivery also includes a highly successful employer brokerage service.
Our Employer Engagement Lead works with businesses and organisations that are interested in recruiting ex-offenders. Their role is to help employers to understand the pre-release activities undertaken by participants to achieve work-readiness. They also spend time to understand employer requirements, link employers up with suitable candidates, and help facilitate the process.
Contact us: Lancashire and Cumbria Prison Careers Information, Advice and Guidance Service
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