Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Former Offenders: Employment Support

Tuesday 9 November 2021 · 5 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 4 Not answered 0

Key points

  • The Department will invest 200 million annually by 2024-25 in initiatives to reduce reoffending, including employment support for prison leavers.
  • The Secretary of State hosted an employers' summit with 600 organizations to improve employment rates for prison leavers.
  • The Department is investing 4 billion in new prison construction, including facilities at Glen Parva, to support rehabilitation and employment opportunities.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Alexander Stafford
Justice & Courts Employment
Context

The question addresses steps being taken to help former offenders integrate into employment.

Question

What steps his Department is taking to help support former offenders into employment.

Answer from Dominic Raab

We will invest £200 million a year by 2024-25 in initiatives to reduce reoffending, including supporting prison leavers into employment.

Answered
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Q2 Lee Anderson Reform Ashfield
Justice & Courts Employment
Context

The question discusses the role of employers in helping fill labour shortages by employing former offenders.

Question

Does my right hon. Friend agree that prisoners and ex-offenders out on licence should help fill the labour shortage, that on release all prisoners, including some ex-Labour MPs, should be ready for work and that starting work should be a condition of their licence?

Answer from Dominic Raab

One of the first things I did as Secretary of State was host an employers' summit attended by 600 organisations last month, where we committed to working together to improve employment rates for prison leavers. I have seen how that works at Ford prison and at HMP High Down, whether we are talking about HGV training or call centres. We know that if we give offenders the skills, and if they have the attitude to take a second chance, getting into work significantly reduces the risk of reoffending and that protects the public.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Condition of licence for employment not specifically addressed.

How: Changed Subject

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Q3 Alexander Stafford
Justice & Courts Employment
Context

The question is about additional support for prisoners to seize employment opportunities.

Question

Does my right hon. Friend agree that giving offenders the chance of employment is key in driving down reoffending rates? What additional support is his Department providing to prisons to ensure that offenders are seizing the employment opportunities available to them?

Answer from Dominic Raab

In addition to the spending review settlement and the employers' summit, we are making sure that we design prisons the right way. I visited Glen Parva, one of the new state-of-the-art prisons that we are building with our £4 billion investment programme. It had in-cell technology to ensure that inmates can learn skills, particularly numeracy and literacy, and state-of-the-art workshops, so that not only can they get skills, but we can get employers in to get inmates into meaningful, purposeful work.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific initiatives for seizing employment opportunities not detailed.

How: Changed Subject

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Q4 Stuart McDonald SNP
Justice & Courts Employment
Context

The question highlights the negative impact of short prison sentences on employment prospects.

Question

I absolutely welcome the recognition that employment is pivotal to rehabilitation, but why then the obsession with short prison sentences? What is the point of locking somebody up for one or two months, which achieves absolutely nothing but will often cost somebody a job and a chance of rehabilitation?

Answer from Dominic Raab

We think that justice must be served; punishment is important. The short sentences are often for those who have systematically flouted and breached community sentences. To cut crime, the answer is to make sure justice is served. As well as incarceration where that is required for the purposes of punishment, we work on drug rehabilitation, skills and employment so that those offenders who want to take a second chance to turn themselves around—not all of them will—have the opportunity to grasp it.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific alternatives or mitigation strategies not provided for short prison sentences.

How: Changed Subject

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Q5 Matthew Hancock Con
Justice & Courts Education Employment
Context

The question addresses the importance of screening and training for dyslexic offenders.

Question

I welcome the Secretary of State's focus on helping offenders into employment. Given estimates that more than half of offenders may be dyslexic and given the impact of dyslexia and illiteracy on the ability to work after a sentence, what is he doing to make sure that screening is available to ensure that prisoners can get the right training, especially on literacy if they are dyslexic, to help them into more successful work afterwards?

Answer from Dominic Raab

One issue we have discussed—I will be hosting prison governors at a roundtable shortly—is making sure that there is an immediate diagnosis within days of an offender getting into prison, so that we know two things: their numeracy and literacy levels, which will of course bring in other special educational needs, to which my right hon. Friend rightly refers; and what the next qualification is that they may—or may not—be able to achieve, so that we have a decent plan that gives them the chance to improve their skills, get into work and avoid a life of crime.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Immediate diagnosis timeline and specifics on qualifications not fully addressed.

How: Changed Subject

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