§ Lord Brockwayasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether it is the case that prisoners working for civilian employers under the Scottish Office are paid less than £50 for a 40-hour week, and whether this is considerably less than is paid in England and Wales.
§ The Earl of MansfieldUnder the prison Training for Freedom (TFF) scheme in Scotland wages earned by prisoners are paid to the prison authorities. The prisoners receive a standard personal cash allowance and a fixed amount is paid into their personal funds as compulsory savings. In addition, prisoners receive a proportion of any overtime payments they earn.
1368WAThe actual wage rates for individual prisoners are negotiated directly between the prisons concerned and the employers, but the guiding principle is that payment by the employer for the prisoner's services is at the rate applicable to an ordinary employee for the same work. There arc difficulties at present in finding TFF employment for prisoners and there are vacancies in each of our three hostels.
For certain TFF prisoners currently engaged in unskilled work the weekly basic rate for a 40-hour week is less than £50. For other employment it can be considerably more.
The Scottish TFF arrangements differ in many ways from the pre-release employment scheme (PRES) that the Home Office operates in England and Wales and it is difficult to make a true comparison between wages in the two schemes. I understand, however, that PRES wage rates in England and Wales vary very considerably according to circumstances and geographical area.