Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government which pilot schemes they plan to encourage in prisons in order (1) to reduce recidivism, and (2) to increase future employment opportunities for prisoners.

As set out in the Prisons Strategy White Paper, we are driving down reoffending through investing in getting offenders into skills training, work and stable accommodation.

We know that employment reduces the chance of reoffending significantly, by up to nine percentage points. Earlier this month we launched the Employability Innovation Fund to enable prison governors to work with more employers and training providers to repurpose workshops, deliver sector specific skills training to meet the changing needs of the economy and smooth the path from prison to employment.

The Future Skills Programme and HMP Academies strands of the Fund will pilot innovative approaches to upskilling prisoners, invite employers into prisons to run training academies and create pathways into employment on release. This will cut crime by reducing reoffending while helping businesses to fill labour shortages and grow.