Inmates will get laptops to help them go straight

PRISON inmates will be handed laptops and tablets in a rehabilitation revolution, the Justice Secretary said yesterday.

David Gauke vowed to make greater use of technology to help break the cycle of reoffending.

Inmates will be able to sign up for courses and have ‘virtual visits’ to keep in touch with their families using software such as Skype.

Criminals will be risk-assessed before being allowed to use the gadgets and they will not be given access to the internet. Devices must ‘adhere to strict security standards’, the Ministry of Justice said.

In a speech at HMP Isis in Plumstead, south-east London, Mr Gauke said the plan sought to improve prisoners’ skills – increasing job opportunities when they are released and boosting their chances of going straight.

Almost half of offenders commit another crime within a year of release – at a £15billion annual cost to taxpayers. Figures also show that more than half of inmates have the English and maths skills of an 11-year-old.

Under the new strategy, thousands more prisoners could be let out on day release to take up paid jobs in the community as they neared the end of their sentence.

It would see an expansion of the release on temporary licence scheme, which has shrunk following incidents in which criminals offended while on day release.

Mr Gauke said he would consider extending the scheme from Category D open jails to higherrisk inmates in Category C prisons. Acknowledging that the scheme could not be 100 per cent foolproof, he said: ‘There will be times when people offend but, taken as a whole, it is still right to get more people out.’

Ministers are also considering offering one-year national insurance ‘holidays’ to businesses that hire released prisoners.

A scheme is also being drawn up to recruit ex- offenders directly into the civil service.

A laptop scheme has been trialled at HMP Wayland near Thetford, Norfolk, where prisoners can use the devices to choose canteen meals and treats from the shop as well as for training. Inspectors said the scheme helped with dayto-day administration.

Tory MP Philip Hollobone criticised the plan last night. ‘The cushier we make life in prison, the less of a deterrent their sentence is. This crosses the line into luxury. Criminals should be serving their time reflecting on the bad things they have done,’ he said.

Mr Gauke cited figures showing that only 17 per cent of ex-offenders are in tax-paying employment a year after release and only half of bosses say they would consider taking one on.

‘I want employees, from the shop floor to the boardroom, to call out and challenge employers who turn a blind eye to attracting and representing ex-offenders in their workplace,’ he said.

‘The public mood has changed somewhat in recognising that when an offender comes out of prison we, as a society, don’t want them to return to crime and reoffend.

‘As a window on the world of work opens for a prisoner, we often see the door to their criminal past close behind them. I want to make breaking through into that world a more realistic prospect for prisoners.’

A network will be set up to persuade firms to recruit former prisoners, and governors will be given more power to commission education and training programmes.

Peter Dawson, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said the strategy was ‘full to the brim with good intentions’. But he added: ‘Almost none of those good intentions set a date for when they will be delivered. We have heard many of these promises before.’