Prisons minister having ‘conversations’ about public sector hiring more ex-prisoners
Prisons minister Lord James Timpson has told Sky News that he is having “a conversation” with parliament and the public sector about hiring more ex-convicts.
Lord Timpson pushed for ex-offenders to get employment at his family’s Timpson chain while CEO – with around 10% of employees being former convicts – and previously chaired the Prison Reform Trust.
He stepped down from both roles when he became a minister and peer after the last election.
Speaking to the Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge, Lord Timpson was asked if parliament should “lead the way” by hiring more ex-offenders.
Lord Timpson said it was “a conversation” he was having across the whole public sector.
He said that some departments – like the Ministry of Justice – already hired “people with prison experience” in specific roles.
But he said that some job roles are “not really right for those kinds of people” – adding that in his 20 years in the private sector, hiring former prisoners “hasn’t always gone right”.
He added: “Over time, we learnt that when you find the right people at the right time in their life, they can make really good colleagues and turn their life around.”
Lord Timpson was also asked by Sophy Ridge about Reform UK MP James McMurdock, who was jailed 18 years ago for repeatedly kicking his girlfriend, according to court documents.
The minister said that while he did not know about Mr McMurdock’s case in particular, “what I do know is that when prisons work well, they can rehabilitate people”.
He added: “It’s not just about what the prison can do, it’s what the offenders can do themselves.
“And the number of people who leave prison and go on to have fantastic lives – they form loving relationships, they have jobs, they’re colleagues of yours, probably, and mine.
“But there are too many people who are just re-offending and over and over again.”
You can watch the full interview with Lord Timpson on the Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge on Sky News from 7pm.