Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to support employment opportunities for ex-offenders.

We know that finding employment after release reduces the chance of reoffending significantly, by up to nine percentage points. That is why the Government’s manifesto commits to break the cycle of reoffending by better supporting prisons to link up with employers and the voluntary sector to get more people with convictions into work.

Key employment roles are in place across all 93 resettlement prisons to prepare prisoners for work on release, match them to jobs and provide critical ID documents to secure work and a home.

We have launched regional Employment Councils which, for the first time, brings businesses together with prisons, probation and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to support offenders leaving prison. This builds on the work of Employment Advisory Boards linking prisons with business leaders to ensure prisoners have the skills and training employers need to meet labour market demand.

In addition, HM Prison and Probation Service’s Creating Future Opportunities programme offers tailored support for ex-offenders - particularly those who are furthest from the labour market - to secure employment, training and education opportunities for release.

Supporting further, the criminal records regime is designed to strike a balance providing employers with the information they need to make safer recruitment decisions and enabling ex-offenders to rebuild their lives. We also work closely with DWP to ensure support is in place for ex-offenders in the community, for example through co-location of services.