People in our communities who are convicted of a crime and are released from custody or starting a court order have a reoffending rate of 30.9%. It’s 53.9% for adults released from custody with a sentence of 12 months or less!
Our prisons are struggling to turn these people’s lives around in a sustainable way, in readiness to be a positive contributor to society. Because they will be released. Whether victims or society want that or not. They used be released after only serving half their sentence but thank goodness the government stopped this for some of the most serious offences.
So victims feel anxious and worried, and certainly the last thing they want to hear is that the person who carried out life changing crimes on them will likely be able to do it again.
So the five Conservative Police and Crime Commissioners in the South West region (Alison Hernandez, Devon and Cornwall, Mark Shelford, Avon & Somerset, Chris Nelson, Gloucestershire, Philip Wilkinson, Wiltshire and David Sidwick, Dorset) have stepped into this space and led the most transformative project we believe has ever been achieved. Prisoners being skilled up to build the homes we most desperately need. They are modular so can be built in factories with prisoners on day release and are net zero so are affordable and sustainable.
We can offer a turnkey solution to local authorities which means they don’t have capital costs to buy the houses. It fits with best value guidance to offer around a 7 year lease and one of our contractors will run it as a rental fleet for that period.
My office in Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly funded through tax payers the first proof of concept build in Torquay of £130k to show it could work. Built in Leyhill Prison and on-site with Probation client help.
The scheme now not only has sites across the South West beginning to be built but factories across the country. We have won a national award for collaboration on unlocking land to deliver affordable housing while reducing reoffending from the Government Property Award last year.
Prisoners are paid minimum wage and that money is secured for their release to use to help support them with their own housing. So even less chance of them being released homeless. They also get used to legitimate paid work. The prisoners have been so keen and committed that they are easy to employ upon release.
One of our contractors now supports 100 prisoners being employed and this will continue to grow. The myth that such hand holding to get them into legit work does not bear out with this project.
The latest data on those employed 6 weeks after custody is a woeful 19.4% and still only 30.4% 6 months after release.
Keeping people busy in purposeful employ is the success to all of us whether an ex-prisoner or not.
But the ultimate measure of success is that our reoffending reduces, victims and our communities are safer, oh and our homeless families have homes!
This is just one of the successful projects we’ve achieved as Police and Crime Commissioners working together as a team of Conservatives in the South West.
Our first homes delivered using our prison workshop are now occupied in Cullompton.
Watch my office's video to see more and if you have sites that could be developed please do get in touch.
If re-elected on the 2nd May I will:
- Work with the four Police and Crime Commissioners to deliver our shared plan for 82 homes built across the South West in 2024/5
- Expand the scheme nationally and build homes across the country.
- Aim to have a home building workshop in every prison possible.
