With the appointment of James Timpson as prisons minister, the government has made prison reform a top priority, with rehabilitation a central focus. This represents a challenge and an opportunity for colleges to be part of a moral as well as economic transformation.
Every FE College can talk about local skills shortages. Great initiatives are in place across the sector to help tackle these, often in partnership with employers, with the dual aim of providing students with access to great employment and career opportunities.
This includes Local Skills Improvement Plans, which aim to support job creation within a region, enabling businesses, and ultimately the economy, to thrive.
Along with other education providers, colleges have a central role in the development and delivery of such plans. FE institutions know and understand the needs of their communities well, giving everyone the chance to achieve their career goals, regardless of background, ability or previous education experience.
This is a unique position to be in. It gives colleges the opportunity to take a leading role within LSIPs (and other local partnerships) and increase the positive impact being delivered across our regions.
However, we know that if we are to genuinely achieve this greater impact, we need to think more innovatively about how to address the ever-increasing skills gaps. Crucially, we need to help our employer partners and stakeholders do the same.
So, we have accessed funding through Innovate UK to develop ways to encourage employers to think differently about their workforce development strategies. Our aim is to increase the talent pool for employers by giving opportunities to the people who find accessing employment the most challenging.
Challenging preconceptions is never easy, but the rewards can be immense
Our starting point has been to identify three of these ‘harder to reach’ groups: people with convictions (of which there are over 12 million in the UK), veterans and people with SEND, all of whom we know have the motivation to secure and sustain meaningful jobs.
Of these groups, returning citizens struggle the most to get back into the workforce. More than two-thirds (68 per cent) of people who are unemployed in Essex have convictions – equating to thousands of people.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, 75 per cent of employers will not hire someone with a conviction. And yet, we know that nearly one-fifth of people leaving prison without a job quickly re-offend.
At a time when our region is struggling with skills shortages, particularly in construction, digital and health and social care, there surely has to be an understanding of the opportunity that lies here, in a moral and a practical sense.
Working with our local prison and probation service, we are already running training progammes for people with upcoming release dates. Our main challenge has been immediately clear though: changing the mindset of employers.
Of course, concerns around trust are valid, as are worries relating to the amount of time needed to support new members of staff. But these barriers can be overcome with support and awareness of the many benefits of workforce diversification.
These benefits can be significant. Research we have conducted with employers revealed that 92 per cent of inclusive employers say diverse recruitment has enhanced their reputation, helping them to win contracts and awards. According to the Social Value Portal, a company can generate over £24,000 in social value by hiring just one person with a conviction.
It is also essential that we understand the needs and interests of the people seeking employment. Being pigeonholed in a specific sector will not lead to meaningful and sustainable employment for anyone.
Despite being in the early stages of this initiative, we are already making progress. Equipping people in prison with their CSCS cards, for example, immediately makes them more employable when they are released, benefiting the whole community.
Encouraging businesses to think differently about their workforce requires input from many different stakeholders, all sharing an ambition to improve people’s lives and those of the wider community. Challenging preconceptions is never easy, but the rewards can be immense.
Colleges can’t do this alone, but we can step up to influence, lead and support local skills partnerships to make a difference in people’s lives – as this is after all, what FE colleges are experts at.
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