Should companies employ more ex-offenders?

Simon Ward, senior editor, MSN Money, 04/10/2011

The government announces plans to increase the number of working inmates as business leaders call for more ex-offenders to be given jobs.

A host of business leaders, including Sir Richard Branson, have backed government plans to introduce real work into prisons.

Justice Secretary Ken Clarke unveiled the plans at the Conservative party conference, with the ultimate aim of having 20,000 inmates working in prisons by 2020. The money they raise from this work will be used to compensate victims and cut reoffending rates.

Call for more jobs for ex-offenders
In a letter to the Financial Times, Sir Richard, Marks & Spencer chief executive Marc Bolland and other company bosses also called for more jobs to be given to "potential superstars" who are currently in prison.

They wrote: "Our experience shows that people from prison, if properly selected, will prove to be just as reliable as recruits from elsewhere. It is their personality that matters the most."

Some prison work schemes have already been set up, including a sheet metal factory in Altcourse Prison near Liverpool, while inmates at other prisons work for the likes of courier company DHL and Timpson. As well as earning money, they achieve skills and qualifications with the aim of helping them gain employment on the outside.

Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Virgin Active are among the companies who employ ex-offenders.

The government has cited reoffending rates of 22% for people who go into full-time work after leaving prison, compared with 70% overall.

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Working prisoners to raise £9.9m in tax

Government plans to introduce real work in prison could raise £9.9m for the public purse as well as £17m per year for victims’ funds, a Howard League report has today (Tuesday 24th May) revealed. Not only will introducing real work into prisons bring financial gain to the country, but polling has revealed popular support for both the broad policy and elements of how prisoners’ pay is spent.

Market research company ICM has polled 1,000 respondents on the government’s proposals to introduce real work into prisons.

51 per cent of the public support the government’s plans to make it easier to bring private companies into jails to employ prisoners in regular nine-to-five jobs. While only a quarter opposed it, 19% neither supporting nor opposing the policy and 4% recorded as ‘don’t knows’.

But digging further down into public opinion reveals that:

· 87% agree that if such a proposal were adopted, prisoners employed by private companies should pay tax and national insurance on their earnings;

· 82% agree that prisoners employed by private companies should contribute a proportion of their wages to a fund for victims;

· 74% agree that prisoners employed by private companies should contribute a proportion of their wages to their families on the outside;

· 79% agree that prisoners employed by private companies should put aside a proportion of their wages to save towards their return to the community;

· 74% agree that prisoners employed by private companies should be paid the national minimum wage to avoid the prison workforce undercutting the local labour workforce.

The Howard League has given the report, Business Behind Bars: Making real work in prison work, to senior officials in government who are keen to implement some of the ideas. The coalition government is committed to cutting the prison population through fewer shorter sentences and improving the rehabilitation of offenders through better training.

The report explains that if implemented properly, real work in prison could result in up to 11 prisons hosting work and over 12,000 prisoners working and being given the chance to contribute to society.



On the assumption that prisoners would be paid the national minimum wage and that half of the eligible prison population (i.e., 6,293 prisoners or half of 12,587 prisoners) ended up in employment, the government could expect the following annual returns from real work in prison:

Funds for government raised from taxation £6.1 million

(6,293 x £971.88)

Funds for government raised from NI £3.8 million

(6,293 x £612.72)

Funds for victims £17 million (6,293 x £2,688)

Click here to head the full article: http://www.howardleague.org/realwork/