Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Employment: Ex-offenders

Tuesday 3 June 2025 · 2 questions

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

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Ministerial Questions addressed employment for ex-offenders on 2025-06-03
  • Patrick Hurley highlighted data showing employed ex-offenders have a significantly lower reoffending rate
  • Jim Shannon stressed the importance of training for prisoners and ongoing support upon release to ensure they follow the right path

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Patrick Hurley Lab Southport
Justice & Courts Employment
Context

Data shows that offenders who are employed within six weeks of leaving prison have a reoffending rate around half of those out of work. The regional employment councils aim to support offenders in the community.

Question

Employment is crucial to reducing reoffending, and data shows that offenders who are employed within six weeks of leaving prison have a reoffending rate around half of those out of work. Will the Minister outline how the regional employment councils, including in Southport and the Liverpool city region at large, will help to drive down reoffending?

Answer from The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Sir Nicholas Dakin)

My hon. Friend is absolutely right that securing employment is known to reduce the risk of reoffending significantly. The Minister for prisons in the other place has led a business with a track record of getting offenders into employment, and I understand that National Highways is starting to build strong partnerships as chair of the employment councils in Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The Minister did not provide specific details on how the regional employment councils will help reduce reoffending rates specifically for Southport or Liverpool city region.

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Q2 Jim Shannon DUP Strangford
Policing & Resources Justice & Courts Northern Ireland
Context

Training while in prison is important for offenders to acquire necessary skills, and ongoing support upon release helps ensure they follow the right path.

Question

To help offenders into employment, they need to have the opportunity of training while in prison, and whenever they leave prison to go back into the societies where they live they need someone there to oversee them and ensure they are following the right path. Will the Minister outline how the Government will ensure that that is the case? He is a good Minister, so will he share his ideas with the policing and justice Minister in Northern Ireland, to ensure that the good things that happen here can happen in Northern Ireland as well?

Answer from The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Sir Nicholas Dakin)

I am very happy to share good practice across Northern Ireland and other regions of the UK, so that we can all learn from one another, and officials meet in the five nations group, as the hon. Gentleman well knows. He is right to say that we need to ensure that people are supported as they move into the community. That is why we are investing in probation, onboarding more than 1,000 probation officers this year and another 1,300 next year.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The Minister did not provide specific details on how training opportunities while offenders are in prison will be ensured. He focused mainly on probation support upon release.

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