U.K Arbeit Macht Frei - BBC: Prisoners 'should work 40 hours' a week

--BBC.co.uk, Oct 5 2010

Ken Clarke wants prisoners to prepare for life outside of jail by establishing a work habit

Prisoners in England and Wales should work a 40-hour week, Justice Secretary Ken Clarke is expected to say.

Mr Clarke is set to make the announcement to the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham on Tuesday.

He will say the government will begin a major expansion of prison industries to get more inmates working.

The Prison Reform Trust said there were questions about what would happen to disabled prisoners but welcomed the idea of people gaining work skills.
'Working prison'

BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw says it is understood discussions have already begun with a large number of private companies about increasing the number of job opportunities in prisons.

Ministers are also considering building a large-scale "working prison" on the site of a factory, possibly a recycling plant.

Mr Clarke's aim is for inmates in publicly-run prisons to work a 40-hour week, for which they would be paid the minimum wage, with part of their earnings going to victims.
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oo often, I'm, afraid, we are just warehousing prisoners, often making them worse not better”

End Quote Nick Herbert Justice minister

But officials are aware that any move to provide prisoners with work must not be at the expense of local jobs and businesses.

In his speech Mr Clarke will say jail is a place of "sluggishness and boredom" for many prisoners, where getting up in the morning is "optional".

He wants offenders to prepare for life on the outside by establishing the habit of "routine hard work".

Justice minister Nick Herbert told the BBC that often prisoners were left locked in their cells for too long with little to do and needed "purposeful activity and work" to help address mental health and drugs issues and prepare them for work: "Too often, I'm, afraid, we are just warehousing prisoners, often making them worse not better."

He said there could be industries in prisons - where there is space - but said the "lion's share" of prisoners' wages would go to victims' organisations.
'Right direction'

The director of the Prison Reform Trust, Juliet Lyon, said there were questions about whether there would be enough work, and whether disabled and elderly inmates would have to take part.

But she added: "In principle, the direction is absolutely the right one. If prisoners do gain skills for work, we know that people who leave prison with work to go to - that's only about a third of people at the moment - are far less likely to reoffend, dramatically less likely, than people who go out homeless, jobless and unfortunately all too ready to get into trouble again."

Earlier this week prisons minister Crispin Blunt said he wanted "tens of thousands" of prisoners to take "meaningful" work to help cut reoffending rates.

Part of their wages would go to their victims, their families and upkeep.

But any move must be handled carefully to avoid it looking as if "legitimate" jobs were being stolen, he told a Tory conference fringe meeting.

The coalition government is committed to cutting the prison population through fewer shorter sentences and improving the rehabilitation of offenders through better training.

The Ministry of Justice plans to enact dormant legislation, the 1996 Prisons Earnings Act, which would allow prisoners to be paid more than the average of £8 a week those that work currently receive but for deductions to be made from their wages.

At the moment they do not pay taxes and are paid in cash.

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