Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent progress he has made on supporting offenders into employment following their release from prison.

We are delivering on our commitments in the recent Prisons Strategy White Paper to improve employment outcomes for prison leavers:

1. Creating a presumption in favour of enabling vetted and appropriate inmates, and offenders released on licence, to take up work opportunities;
2. Introducing new Resettlement Passports, bringing together all of the essentials that prison leavers need to lead crime-free lives on release into one place, such as ID that demonstrates a prisoner’s right to work and a bank account;
3. Putting a dedicated Employment Advisor in every resettlement prison;
4. Developing a digital candidate matching system to match prisoners to roles on release;
5. Establishing Employment Hubs, a ‘job-centre in a prison’ where prisoners can get support and find opportunities;
6. Establishing Employment Boards, which link prisons with local business networks to provide advice and challenge so that prisons deliver the skills that employers need.