Construction firms have pitched up in prisons across England and
Wales for the latest major drive to match offenders with jobs in
sectors facing skill shortages and cut crime.
More than 80 ‘Unlocking Construction’ events have been held in
over 60 prisons as part of a two-week campaign – with
scaffolders, crane operatives and building site managers among
those showing offenders the ropes in their industry.
Firms have laid the crucial groundwork for prisoner job hunts,
with guidance on CV building, interview training and hands-on
workshops giving them the chance to secure work ahead of release.
At HMP Wormwood Scrubs, prisoners have also been given an insight
into the scaffolding sector using special virtual reality
technology that simulates working at height on a building site -
helping prisoners to determine if the job is right for them and
increasing the chance that successful applicants stick with it.
Evidence shows that ex-prisoners who have a job to go to are nine
percentage points less likely to go on to re-offend while 90% of
businesses that employ them found reliable, motivated and
trustworthy staff.
Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary, , said:
Campaigns like Unlocking Construction are steering offenders into
work and away from crime, leaving our streets safer.
At the same time, businesses can plug skills gaps with reliable
and motivated staff – so it is good for our economy.
As well as helping cut reoffending, the drive is specifically
geared towards plugging gaps in essential workforces too, getting
prison leavers to contribute to their local economies and boost
growth.
This is the second of four campaigns to run over the year led by
the Prison Service’s New Futures Network. Manufacturing and
retail and logistics drives are earmarked for the coming months.
The construction push builds on the success of Unlocking
Hospitality in October which saw almost 50 prisoners land jobs
and 150 interviews conducted in the campaign fortnight alone.
One ex-offender who landed a job as a chef as a result of the
scheme has since taken on leadership responsibilities in the
kitchen and is working to get more prisoners to follow his path.
National Access & Scaffolding Confederation training manager,
Henry Annafi, said:
If you get a successful candidate, what I can absolutely
guarantee is loyalty – because you’re giving them an opportunity
that very few if any people have given them and they will pay you
back tenfold in that respect.
Plus there are so many diverse experiences and skillsets that
many of these men and women have that it is actually a no-brainer
to give people that chance.
A participating prisoner at Wormwood Scrubs said the day’s event,
and others like it, would help prisoners to “engage their mind”
and offer them “something positive to do on release”.
A lot of prisoners have got skills, but they’re not being
utilised, because we’ve committed a crime, so people don’t want
to give us a second chance,” he added.
But stuff like this enables prisoners to bring out their skillset
and be the best they can be.
Getting prisoners into work is a tried-and-tested way of cutting
crime. The government’s Prisons White Paper sets out a strategy
to reduce reoffending and keep the public safe, with a
laser-focus on helping prisoners develop the skills they need to
find work on release and turn their backs on crime.
The government is also investing to reduce reoffending, which
includes helping prisoners develop the skills they need to find
work on release and turn their backs on crime.
Notes to editors
- Unlocking Construction is running between 23 January and 3
February – the second sector drive that New Futures
Network (part of HMPPS) committed to over the course of
a year, from last October.
- A range of national construction employers including Kier,
O’Neill and Brennan and Willmott Dixon have also taken part. We
also involved local construction companies and employers the
Department for Work and Pensions National Employer &
Partnership Team are working with.
