Prison Industries

Prison Industries is a Headquarters Unit within the NOMS Employment, Skills and Services Group that provides an overall strategic and policy framework for prison industries. The Statement of Purpose is:

"The aim of the Prison Industries is to occupy prisoners in out of cell activity and wherever possible to help them gain skills, qualifications and work experience to improve their employment prospects upon release. The management of industries must weigh the true costs and benefits to the organisation and constantly strive for greater efficiency in providing developmental opportunities for prisoners."

Prisons provide prisoners with the chance to learn the skills they need to get a job upon release. Employment is known to be a key factor in helping to reduce re-offending. The Government's aim therefore is to provide more prisoners with the skills and motivation to turn away from crime, improve their employability, and become productive members of society.

Prison Industries provides a supporting role to public sector prison establishments, for the management of their industrial workshops. It facilitates and coordinates the in-house production and supply of essential clothing and goods for internal consumption, providing essential employment for prisoners and opportunities for them to gain skills, qualifications and work experience to improve their employability prospects upon release.

There are over 300 workshops employing around 10,000 prisoners each week day in a range of disciplines including producing goods for the internal market, including complex and challenging production tasks such as clothing, window frames, woodwork, office furniture manufacturing, plastic injection moulding, printing, light engineering and laundries.

Aside from producing a wide range of goods and services for prisons Prison Industry workshops also provide goods for consumption within the wider National Offender Management Service (NOMS) and Ministry of Justice (MoJ) including office furniture and printing services. In summary, the main purpose of providing work for prisoners whilst in custody is therefore to:

• provide goods and services as efficiently and effectively as possible – this reduces the cost of imprisonment, has an element of restitution and promotes the idea of active regimes rather than having prisoners unoccupied;
• aid good order and control by employing significant numbers of prisoners;
• aid resettlement through skills and qualifications; and where possible
• raise a financial contribution to offset the high cost of imprisonment.

Work is also undertaken for commercial customers ranging from simple tasks such as filling mail-shot envelopes to assembling electrical components – this is known as ‘contract services' work.

In recent years the Prison Service has taken significant steps to modernise – for example closing outdated industries (such as weaving) and introducing in their place modern printing workshops. But changing specific industries to meet market employment shortages is both expensive and risky. Where the Prison Service can do so in partnership with the private sector it will do and is always looking for such partnerships.

Prison Industries has implemented a quality assurance system into ten major manufacturing facilities which are now registered to the international standards ISO 9001:2000 and FSC-STD-40-004 Chain of Custody version 1.

A major new function is employer engagement. Prison Industries is generating partnerships with commercial and voluntary organisations to reduce re-offending by developing employment opportunities for prisoners who have gained skills, experience and qualifications whilst working in Prison Industry workshops.

For further information on Prison Industries please contact:

Bill Davie on 0207 217 1870 or bill.davie@hmps.gsi.gov.uk

Mike Harris on 0207 217 1741 or mike.harris@hmps.gsi.gov.uk

Norma Mcloughlin on 020 7217 1722 or norma.mcloughlin@hmps.gsi.gov.uk

For specific information about how your organisation can provide work (including contract services) for Prison Industries please contact Kevin Verner on 020 7217 2137 or e-mail kevin.verner@hmps.gsi.gov.uk.

For employer engagement enquiries please contact Lance Harris on 020 7217 1730 e-mail lance.harris@hmps.gsi.gov.uk.