Michael Mills, the governor of HMP Hatfield, needs no encouragement. Describing his category D “open” prison as a “finishing school” for offenders, he currently has 88 inmates working in the community in logistics, construction and food catering, as well as a further 15 working in the prison’s farm shop, Thyme Served, and the Recycling Lines warehouse, where they dismantle old televisions for recycling, earning £50 to £70 a week.
Those on external incomes pay 40 per cent of all earnings back to victims until they are released from custody under a special levy set up by Lord Clarke of Nottingham, one of Mr Raab’s predecessors.
The prison has teamed up with Tempus Novo, a charity set up in 2014 by Steve Freer and Val Wawrosz, two former prison officers at HMP Leeds, to identify the offenders committed to transforming their lives and linking them up with local businesses. Since last June, they have had only one prisoner drop out of employment and the charity overall boasts a recidivism rate of just six per cent after six months.
Clipper Logistics, a £650 million logistics company with 55 sites across Europe, has taken 258 ex-offenders, but “would take hundreds more”, according to Tony Mannix, its chief executive.
“When Brexit kicked in, forget the politics of it all. We realised that as a business we would run out of staff,” he says.
Admitting that they were initially worried about employing convicts, he adds: “We were worried about insurance. We were worried what our other employees would think. But we soon realised all those fears were rubbish.
“The simple reality is what we’ve got is talent. Unfortunately, a lot of people who come through this system will not have had the best start in life, and not that well educated. But actually, none of the kids we get out of school understand the supply chain either.”
Stressing that the inmates are always punctual, well-motivated and take fewer sick days, he declares: “It’s become a great source of employment.”
Little wonder, then, that major companies including Coca Cola, Mercedes and John Lewis have expressed an interest in what Tempus Novo have been doing.
Saving the taxpayer in more ways than one
As Mr Freer points out, their scheme is not only helping hard-pressed firms find reliable staff but also saving the taxpayers millions.
“We’ve calculated that overall the Treasury is better off by £7 million over three years, and that’s a conservative estimate because it’s based on MoJ stats suggesting that half wouldn’t re-offend without intervention. Just 27 of the 595 we have helped have returned to custody within two years; that’s 4.5 per cent.
“The offenders we help have never had a chance, let alone a second chance. I know guys who have left prison and put in 200 applications and never got a response because of their criminal record. They want to contribute to society. They want to pay tax. They just need a leg up.”
David King is an inmate who has been working at Clippers’ Sheffield warehouse for a month now. The 40-year-old father of two, who was sentenced to six years and four months for theft and fraud in November 2019, says he now walks up to 24 miles per shift.
“It’s hard work, but I’m just glad to be earning again. You cost your family a lot when you’re in prison. I’m now able to contribute and take a bit of the financial pressure off my wife. My daughter’s just started gymnastics, so I can pay something towards that. It’s good to be able to provide again.”
