§ Lord Hyltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they are making provision for work-experience for previously unemployed convicted offenders and for those leaving penal institutions without jobs to go to:
and, if so, how. [HL1225]
- (a) in the public sector; and
- (b) in the private sector;
§ Lord RookerThe Prison Service and National Probation Service (NPS) are committed to improving the employment and employability of offenders. Previous research suggests that 90 per cent of prisoners are likely to face unemployment on release from 37WA custody. The Prison Service has a target of doubling the number of prisoners getting jobs on release by April 2004 and is investing £30 million in a custody to work programme to achieve this.
A key element is improving the basic skills of offenders. The Prison Service has stringent targets to improve the educational and vocational qualifications of offenders with 18,000 completions of level 2 basic and key skills awards in 2001–02. The NPS has targets of 6,000 completions of level 2 basic skills awards in 2002–03 and 12,000 completions in 2003–04.
The Prison Service and NPS are working together to develop strategies which will address resettlement issues and strengthen joint working partnerships. A NPS employment pathfinder is being developed to pilot the effectiveness of tools and inter-agency arrangements for assessing offenders' employment needs and managing interventions accordingly. In addition, a joint Prison and Probation Service resettlement pathfinder has been established to tackle practical resettlement issues such as finding and retaining appropriate employment and making sure this work develops seamlessly from custody to the community.