Death sentence for jails’ work-programme expansion

An expansion of employer-led work programmes in prisons has been quietly ditched after a million-pound procurement proved “poor value for taxpayer money”.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) launched a £1 million tender two years ago searching for employers to deliver HMP Academies in 17 prisons over a four-year period.

But Freedom of Information data reveals just one academy was set up since the contract was procured.

The MoJ will now abandon the expansion as the procurement process was said to “no longer represent good value for the taxpayer”.

Under the HMP Academy model, employers deliver training in-house to serving prisoners. Participants are guaranteed a job interview for a live vacancy on completion and receive formal qualifications if employers deem it necessary.

Before the attempted expansion into 17 prisons, a handful of HMP Academies existed backed by employers such as Timpson and Halfords.

The only additional HMP Academy to open following the procurement was in HMP Wealstun, near Wetherby in West Yorkshire, where Leeds-based facilities management company SBFM set up a cleaning academy in January 2025.

An SBFM spokesperson told FE Week that 31 offenders participated in the academy with an average attendance rate of 84 per cent, which includes prisoners who dropped out.

The MoJ refused to detail the completion rates at the academy and how many participants were offered a job interview on data protection grounds, but claimed it was a “high proportion”.

SBFM said it “honoured” the commitment to offer job interviews to course completers.

FOI data revealed that five or fewer programme completers progressed into employment within six months of release.

An SBFM spokesperson said the company was “proud to be operating the only established HMP Academy”, adding that it worked “closely with the MoJ and HMP Wealstun to deliver meaningful employment opportunities for participants”.

The MoJ said it would “take forward learnings from the pilot including how we improve future procurement processes for work and education services”.

A spokesperson added: “This government is committed to delivering punishment that cuts crime. That is why every prison provides the education and training needed to reduce reoffending, and we are strengthening partnerships between governors and local employers so more people can find work on release.”

Con-demned

Jon Collins, chief executive of Prisoners’ Education Trust (PET), said it was “deeply disappointing” the MoJ had failed to create more academies.

“The HMP Academies programme was a chance to build on these pockets of success and it’s deeply disappointing that the programme has not been able to deliver on its original aims,” he said.

In March 2023, the MoJ sought private companies to pilot the launch of specialist training centres in open prisons to boost employment prospects when offenders were released.

Twelve suppliers were awarded contracts, including City & Guilds and SBFM. No payments have since been made to the suppliers aside from SBFM, the MoJ said.

The aim was to build on existing employment partnerships with retail and hospitality companies.

Halfords started its first training programme in men’s prison HMP Onley in 2014. It now runs an academy in women’s prison HMP Drake Hall, set up in 2017.

The MoJ does not collect attendance data in legacy academies, such as in HMP Drake Hall, but claimed levels remained “consistently strong”.

At least a dozen of these partnerships exist between prisons and private companies.

Pub chain Greene King has opened four training academies since 2019, supporting over 350 prison leavers into work. Learners enrol in 12-week programmes in barista, catering, front of house and back of house roles, later earning a City & Guilds level 1 hospitality qualification and the chance to interview for relevant positions at Greene King pubs once they are released.

Offenders can also view job vacancies and receive help with applications in employment hubs available in 93 prisons.

Prisons can access help from businesses through employment advisory boards and regional employment councils to support prison leavers.

Collins told FE Week the HMP Academies expansion was an attempt to provide prisoners with skills and qualifications that employers are looking for, but pointed out that core education provision had been cut by 25 per cent in prisons this year.

“It shows how difficult it is to deliver innovative programmes in a prison system that is underfunded, understaffed and overcrowded,” he added.