Devon Prisons roll out scheme to tackle re-offending
It's hoped helping inmates to gain employability skills will keep streets safer
It's hoped a new scheme to tackle re-offending rates at three of Devon's prisons will help to make streets safer.
Dartmoor, Channings Wood and Exeter will host "The Clink" kitchen training schemes by the end of the summer.
The charity project teaches inmates the skills to work in professional kitchens, as well as providing industry qualifications.
Prisons Minister Alex Chalk MP says the programme has already been run in other jails, and gives inmates hope:
"Hope is such a precious commodity in a prison, they wanted to be a role-model to their children. Those who are selected because they've got the commitment and they've got the right mindset will have this opportunity.
"The course is rigorous, it will take over 400 hours, but critically it will give those qualifications that will enable that individual, when they leave custody, to have a much better chance of getting into employment.
"We know that those who get a job are 32% less likely to reoffend, so this is vital for them, and it's also good for the community as well."
The Clink has already helped over 2,500 offenders into stable and secure jobs since launching just over a decade ago through their training initiatives, with the expansion announced today expected to support a further 2,000 prisoners into employment.
In 2019 alone, The Clink trained up over 440 prisoners – a total of 330,000 training hours – with over 280 employers across the country taking on Clink graduates upon release from prison.
The charity's chief executive, Christopher Moore, said: "The roll-out of The Clink Kitchens project over the next three years to 70 prisons in England and Wales, will enable us to continue to repair society and support the hospitality industry that has a major skills shortage.
"Social mobility is at the heart of many companies’ recruitment agenda and employing a highly trained Clink graduate not only is a benefit to their business but increases the diversity of their workforce."
It's estimated that re-offending costs society £18 billion every year. Alex Chalk MP added: "That's before you count the cost of the pain and the misery and the suffering that crime causes. If we can drive down re-offending by getting more prisoners into work, that's good for the individual, good for society, and good for the taxpayer too."