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Work in Prisons

NCJ Number
140899
Date Published
1990
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This briefing outlines prison rules in Great Britain that pertain to inmate work and describes prison service industries and farms, the cost of work in prisons, prisoners' earnings, opportunities for work, and alternatives to work.
Abstract
Prison rules state that sentenced prisoners are required to work and remand prisoners may choose to work. Regarding prison service industries and farms, on March 31, 1989, there were 15,990 employment positions; 12,713 were in industrial workshops, and 3,817 were in farming and gardening. On average, 10,366 places were filled during 1988-89. Thirty-four establishments have major farms that provide produce for prison kitchens. In addition to work in prison service industries and farms, inmates also perform catering work, building maintenance and cleaning, and domestic and stores duties. In 1988-89, approximately 2,500 employment places were provided in the catering service, and an average of 3,800 inmates were employed in building maintenance. The average working week in industrial workshops was 20.8 hours (net) and 25 hours (gross) on farms and gardens. A table shows the number of workshop places by type of industrial activity. In 1988-89, the cost of providing industrial employment for inmates was approximately 20 million pounds. The cost per workshop place was 1,643 pounds, and the cost for each inmate employed was 2,553 pounds. The total value of farms and gardens production during 1988-89 was 25 million pounds, with a net profit of 2.3 million pounds. The cost of inmates' pay in 1988-89 was 6.27 million pounds, and the average weekly wage was 2.46 pounds. Rates of pay were increased in 1989-90 to 2.65 pounds. There are three primary earnings schemes available for adult inmates and inmates in young offender institutions: the flat rate scheme, the standard piece rate scheme, and the modified piecework scheme (jobs are graded into one of four grades according to skill, responsibility, and trust. The opportunities for work in prison have decreased since the early 1970's, particularly in local prisons (jails), which can only offer work to a minority of inmates. The Chief Inspector has criticized some prisons for failure to seek alternative occupations when conventional work is not available; education programs have been suggested. Ethnic monitoring within the prison system includes a breakdown of the allocation of inmates to work, training, education, and prerelease employment schemes within each institution. 3 tables