New briefing from ICPR on prison work in the UK

The law and practice of prison work provision in England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland are explained in a new publication from the Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research

In this briefing paper, "Working prisoners in the UK: laws, policies and practical realities", Ben Jarman and Helen Fair start by describing some key features of the UK prison system and prison population, contextualising the detailed discussion of prison work which follows. They then set out the legal and policy framework relating to prison work and the rights of working prisoners, discussing the UK’s international obligations under forced labour conventions and human rights instruments, as well as domestic laws and policies. A summary is then provided of all the available data on the types of work done by UK prisoners and the numbers of prisoners reported to have been engaged in work in custody in recent years.

This is the first in a series of briefings on prison work across the UK, the USA and Brazil, the three countries under research in ICPR’s comparative project, "Unlocking potential: towards effective, sustainable and ethical provision of work opportunities for prisoners and prison leavers." More information on the project as well as its other publications can be found here

‘Working prisoners in the UK: laws, policies and practical realities’ can be accessed here