Select Committee on Education and Skills Minutes of Evidence


Supplementary memorandum submitted by Paul Goggins, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Correctional Services, Home Office

  Further to the evidence given at the meeting of the Education and Skills Select Committee, I thought it might be helpful to provide some examples of the various pay schemes operating within Prison Service establishments.

  Prison Service policy requires that prisoners receive payment if they participate constructively in the regime of a prison. The pay schemes and rates of pay that operate within establishments are a matter for local management, subject to national criteria.

  Governors and Directors of contracted out prisons must have and publish a local pay structure that:

    —  Reflects Prison Service priorities.

    —  Supports and encourages constructive participation in regime activities.

    —  Does not provide disincentives to participation in constructive activities, which are part of a prisoner's sentence/training plan, or learning plan, intended to reduce the risk of re-offending.

    —  Complies with the parameters of the Prison Service Orders on Prisoners Pay and on Incentives and Earned Privileges policies.

    —  Rewards good performance and penalises poor performance.

    —  Is open, fair, balanced and affordable.

  All Governors and Directors of contracted out prisons must ensure that the prisoner pay structure in their establishment is reviewed annually as part of the business planning process and that information on the pay structure is available to all prisoners.

  Whatever type of scheme an establishment operates, it is essential that it is rational and structured, the requirements of the scheme are clear to both prisoners and staff and it is not applied in an arbitrary or discriminatory way. Prisoners who take part in a prison regime either in work, induction, education, training or offending behaviour programmes will receive at least the national minimum rates of pay.

  There is a common assumption that payment for education is always less than that for employment. In fact the position is more mixed.

  I have attached an annex setting out some of the many examples of pay systems around the country. These illustrate the process of review and the way that pay systems are not only supporting education but can also be seen by both staff and prisoners to be fair and balanced.

EXAMPLES OF PRISON PAY SCHEMES AND REVIEWS UNDERTAKEN

HMP Lindholme

  At HMP Lindholme there is a 5-staged process. At stage 1 all the prisoners are interviewed and during this induction period a learning pathway (sentence plan based on gaining skills) is created and they are paid £7. Stage 2 is an assessment period in either production workshops or education where they are paid £10. Stage 3 is entry to the learning pathway and pay is £12 per week. Stage 4 is continuous learning paid at £15 per week. Stage 5 is qualified status or Peer Partner. £18.50.

HMP Swaleside

  A complete review of the regime is being undertaken. Report due January for implementation from April, with the intention of making learning and skills central to the operation of the establishment. In the meantime the instruction below was put out to incentivise prisoners to get more engaged in basis skills learning.

HMP Standford Hill

  A pay review was conducted during summer 2004 to re-focus education pay. As a result pay was increased from an average of £7 to £8.40 per week. Attendance has remained acceptable but not been much affected. They will be looking at an integrated regime model next year to reward educational attainment.

HMP Canterbury

  Conduct regular reviews of prisoners' pay, most recently in spring 2004. Currently those employed in full-time education receive £8 with bonuses paid for accreditations achieved. Looking at other ways to incentivise education eg by giving greater access to gym. Other current initiative is to deliver "embedded basic skills" within the workshop environment (funded in the short-term by OLSU) by a teacher on 1:1 basis or with small groups. Although very new, this is proving very successful targeting "hard to reach" learners who have shown an aversion to a classroom setting.

HMP Cookham Wood

  Full time education is one of the higher paid jobs and bonuses are given for accredited courses and other educational achievements. Literacy and numeracy attract a £3 bonus (level 1, 2 and entry level). Planned accredited courses and other educational courses attract £1 per course.

Blantyre House

  All prisoners are paid the same wage but all are expected to undertake education on a part-time basis along with a part-time job whilst at Stage 1. All education is needs based.

HMYOI Deerbolt

  HMYOI Deerbolt is currently in the process of reviewing prisoners pay, which currently averages £6.50 per week for all employment except the Laundry and Kitchen, which are paid at a higher rate of £15 per week, this reflects the importance of such work and in the case of the Laundry the unpleasantness of the task.

  Within all education and training courses the pay rate is £6.50, but bonus payments of £5 are made for successful completion of accredited courses and the gaining of nationally recognised qualifications.

HMP Kirklevington

  HMP Kirklevington reviewed pay rates in the summer of 2004 as it does every year. The pay rates were increased and the review team considered the resettlement ethos of the establishment when applying increments, in particular to community work, education and full-time employment.

  The team considered that using a high payment to encourage prisoners onto education was not required at HMP Kirklevington Grange. On entry to the prison the needs of prisoners are identified using a formal system of testing and this together with the sentence planning provides the targets for prisoners with the opportunity to move to full-time external employment being the incentive. The need is for prisoners to qualify, prior to taking on community work or full-time paid employment with the establishment providing the training opportunities.

HMYOI Wetherby

  A recent review conducted by the Governor of HMYOI Wetherby found that the pay for trainees in education compared unfairly with other activities. Trainees working in the kitchen were paid up to £15, with trainees in education getting £7.50. The current system also failed to allow staff to reward trainees' good behaviour but allowed them to apply sanctions by reducing pay for bad behaviour.

  As a result a new system has been developed this includes an element of the pay that allows staff to recommend both increases and reductions in pay for positive or negative behaviour, the system will be introduced shortly. There will be parity of pay across activities, but pay will be decided by behaviour as well as attendance in all areas of the prison.

HMP Leeds

  Is currently reviewing pay. At present HMP Leeds pay prisoners £0.80p per day + £2 per week for a full week's attendance giving a £6 per week basic pay to all prisoners. If a prisoner passes an exam they will receive an extra £2.50.

  In industries the basic pay average is £7.50 per week, however, each workshop is bound by a pay policy that sets rates for training at £4.50.





 
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