A pioneering offender rehabilitation centre will be based in Gravesend.

The Kent, Surrey and Sussex Community Rehabilitation Company (KSS CRC), which supervises low and medium risk criminals, announced today the research unit to test, trial and evaluate innovative approaches to reoffending will open in Joynes House, New Road.

It will be the only one of its kind in the UK and will see serving probation officers work in the community with former academics to research what is and isn't working.

Staffed by a senior lecturer in criminology at the University of Portsmouth, who will take up her appointment in summer, and a former trainer of probation officers across the country, the unit will also provide KSS CRC employees with the latest examples of national and international best practice.

The first focus will be to analyse which community sentences are the most effective at breaking cycles of crime and preventing an escalation of offending.

KSS CRC began supervising low and medium risk offenders — of which there around 9,100 at any time, half of which are in Kent — in 2015. This new investment is part of the company’s aim to create an evidence-based approach to rehabilitation.

At the end of last year, KSS CRC was just one of two of the 21 private probation companies to be judged by national inspectors as having a “purposeful strategy” to developing in-house training and skills and one of just three assessed as “performing well” overall.

CEO Suki Binning said: “This unit will allow us to test, trial and evaluate new interventions to help us cut re-offending and improve safety for communities.

“At a time of spending constraint in the public sector, this kind of investment is unprecedented in my 22-year career as a probation officer and is a mark of our long-term commitment to developing a rigorous, evidence-based approach to help offenders turn away from crime. We look forward to sharing the research and analysis we develop in the region with partners across the UK and internationally.”

Probation practice researcher for KSS CRC and senior lecturer in criminology at the University of Portsmouth, Kerry Ellis-Devitt, said: “This is a very different approach to policy and research in this area and I am delighted to be part of KSS CRC’s efforts to learn and continuously improve the service. I am looking forward to working with people under supervision, probation workers and partners to ensure the programmes in place are sustainable long-term and have a positive impact for people at different stages of the justice system.”

Responsibility for managing low and medium risk offenders in the community was handed to privately owned and managed community rehabilitation companies as part of the Government’s 'Transforming Rehabilitation' reform agenda. KSS CRC is owned by Seetec, an Essex-based company, which works across the UK.