Former offenders face "cliff edge" in support when leaving prison

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Failure of rehabilitation or reoffending prevention

The Government's own assessment of the prison system is that it fails to rehabilitate criminals or prevent them from reoffending, and the cost to the taxpayer of reoffending stands at around £15 billion per year in the criminal justice system alone.

Ministers admitted in evidence to the Committee that there is no one person in Government who has responsibility for helping prison leavers into work, and the Committee says there is no clear strategy for how different agencies, in different prisons, should work together to achieve the common goal of getting ex-offenders into work.

Job-ready ex-offenders potentially dismissed by JCP as hard cases

Early reports on the Government's new "Through the Gate" service paint a disappointing picture: in researching resettlement services for short-term prisoners HM Inspectorate of Probation and HM Inspectorate of Prisons did not encounter a single prisoner who had been helped into employment by Through the Gate provision.

Following the end of day one mandation to the Work Programme, an increasing number of ex-offenders will rely on Jobcentre Plus (JCP) Work Coaches for employment support, and the Committee is concerned at evidence that even ex-offenders who are job-ready and keen to work may be dismissed by JCPs as hard cases.

Committee recommendations

The Committee says:

• all prisons be required to demonstrate strong links with employers, including local businesses
• all prisons should be required to offer workshop courses, apprenticeships or similar employment opportunities with real employers
• all Jobcentres should have a specified person who specialises in helping ex-offenders into employment

The move to allow payment of Jobseeker's Allowance on day one of a prisoner's release is welcome:  DWP has offered no explanation why claims for Employment Support Allowance and Universal Credit cannot also be made in prison and paid on day one of release, and the Committee says they should be.

One in two employers wouldn't consider hiring an ex-offender

The Committee applauds the efforts of employers like Timpson and Virgin Trains who recognise the benefits of employing and supporting ex-offenders, but 50% of employers would not even consider offering any ex-offender a job. Employers need to be encouraged to change their recruitment practices, and incentivised to do so.

The Committee says Government should pilot a reduction in National Insurance contributions for those employers who actively employ ex-offenders. DWP should develop practical guidance to help employers recruit ex-offenders. This should include information on spent and unspent convictions and should challenge misconceptions regarding employing ex-offenders.

"Ban the box" should be extended to all public bodies

The Committee welcomes moves to "ban the box" - to remove the initial criminal record disclosure section on job applications - for the majority of civil service roles and says it should be extended to all public bodies, with exclusions only for roles where it would not be appropriate. Ban the Box does not oblige employers to hire ex-offenders but it increases the chance that they will consider them. The Government should also consider a statutory "ban the box" for all employers.

Chair's comment

Rt Hon Frank Field MP, Chair of the Committee, said:

"It seems to us that former prisoners trying to make a new life for themselves walk over a cliff edge when they walk out the prison door. We have known for decades that finding a home and finding a job are absolutely central to preventing re-offending, which costs the criminal justice system alone £15 billion a year. That is without even beginning to factor in the costs of benefits, healthcare and the human cost of people struggling to reintegrate into society and going back to a life a crime. Yet Members of this Committee have assisted constituents with first-hand experience of failures in rehabilitation: individuals leaving prison with a no fixed accommodation, no financial support and no prospect of finding work. Turned out often literally onto the street with a £46 resettlement payment, weeks to wait for most benefits and little meaningful help in or out of prison to make the transition into work, it is no wonder people who have served their time and want to make a new start are reduced to desperation, and feel no alternative but to return to crime. 

Government has announced it will publish a new strategy in early 2017 for getting more ex-offenders into employment and this marks welcome progress. Former offenders who have served their sentence and want to change their lives deserve a second chance. Prisons, the Government and employers all have a responsibility, and an interest, to help them take it."

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