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If prisoners are to help with the UK’s labour shortages, they must not be exploited
By Frances Crook
Food manufacturers have called on ministers to alleviate labour shortages by allowing them to employ prisoners. This comes as other firms, from transportation companies to supermarkets, are also finding themselves short of workers for reasons relating to Brexit and the pandemic. Prisoners could indeed help out, if they are given the opportunity to do real work for a real wage – but a lot would need to change to make this happen, not least the prisons.
Very few prisoners have the opportunity to do real work, and many would jump at the chance to get out of their cells and do something useful and social that would give them money to support their families and buy little luxuries like soap, some extra food and even enrol in education programmes.
There are two groups of prisoners who can come to the aid of business. The first and easiest to get working are the 3,000 men and women in England and Wales held in open prisons who have been assessed as low-risk and who are coming to the end of their sentence. Some are already employed outside through the “release on temporary licence” (ROTL) system, which is an important part of the process for the resettlement and rehabilitation of prisoners. It is a key element for the preparation of their safe release as it gives them the chance to organise work, housing and re-establish relationships with families and their communities. The second group are the 40,000 men, and a handful of women, serving long sentences, many of whom will simply idle for years and years unless progress is made.
If prisoners are to be employed to work for private companies, then they should have workers’ rights, be paid the same rate for the job as anyone else, and pay tax and national insurance. They must not be exploited as cheap labour to take on the roles for which companies do not want to raise wages. Public acceptance of such endeavours will depend on prisoners competing fairly with people in the community and not being used to undercut or undermine working conditions.
The barrier to expanding opportunities also lies with the extremely risk-averse attitude in the Prison Service. Currently, prisons are restricted as to how many people may apply for work in the community, but this could easily be expanded. Prisons would need to focus on getting people work-ready, which means providing practical things such as showers, breakfast, transport and encouragement. Companies would prosper, but so would the wider community, as we all know that having a job – along with having somewhere to live and someone to care for you – provides the best hope for successful reintegration after release.
For those serving long sentences, the work available in prisons is dull, demeaning and poorly remunerated. There is perhaps the chance to do a bit of cleaning prison wings for pocket money, but little else. It leads nowhere and, compared with crime, lacks excitement. If we offer the opportunity to long-termers to be gainfully employed during their sentence, they can save for release, pay tax and national insurance and contribute to a pension scheme. They would be citizens, but behind bars.
This can only be done if prisons allow businesses to run independently inside. There are lots of low-security prisons with huge, barely used workshops that could be turned over to manufacturing, packing and processing companies to employ prisoners inside the jail directly. Prisons cannot run businesses, so outside firms must move in. The state should be responsible for security and safety, but there is no reason that private enterprise could not do exactly as it does in the community.
(Adapted from https://www.theguardian.com)
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