Blog by Catherine Hickey (Intern)
Rising crime rates, overcrowded prisons, reoffending, unhappy taxpayers…
Is there a way out of this never-ending problem?
Ken Clarke suggests there might be. He wants corporates to take a chance on ex-offenders. He insists it won’t damage their reputation.
Some corporates are already doing something about it. The National Grid’s Young Offenders Programme appears to be effective: it says its reoffending rate is 7% compared with the national rate of 70%. Timpson staff are training inmates in a prison workshop.
But other corporates have cold feet. Fair enough.
Having worked with ex-offenders, I know getting them back into mainstream employment is no easy feat.
Will working with ex-offenders damage corporates’ reputations? Possibly.
But if you ask me, it’s a small risk to take. Consider the huge reputation gain in seriously attempting to tackle one of society’s more ‘unattractive’ problems.
Oh, and one more thing: doesn’t everyone deserve a second chance?