Prisoners could be serving you Greggs under new offender work scheme
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The new prisons minister has previously said that two-thirds of offenders should not be in prisons. More offenders will be able to serve their sentences while at work under new Labour laws announced by minister James Timpson. The businessman, who was appointed prisons minister in July, says the plan will help reduce reoffending rates.
![[Prisons minister Lord James Timpson]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/10/14/james-t.jpg)
Household UK brands like Co-op, Greggs and Iceland have all signed up to the scheme, and will be amongst members on several new regional Employment Councils – also partnered with the DWP – to support offenders into work placements. The move builds on work done by Lord Timpson out of office during his time as boss of the Timpson Group. The company is well-known for its policy of employing ex-convicts, making up ten per cent of its workforce, alongside a strong record on employment rights.
Lord Timpson, said: “Getting former offenders into stable work is a sure way of cutting crime and making our streets safer. That’s why partnering with businesses to get more former offenders into work is a win-win. “The Employment Advisory Boards I spear-headed have made huge progress and now these Employment Councils will expand that success to steer even more offenders away from crime as part of our Plan for Change.”.
The prisons minister said before his appointment that he believes around two thirds of the prison population “probably shouldn’t be there,” and that the UK is “addicted to sentencing and punishment.”. Pressed on this view more recently, Lord Timpson said: “I’m really clear what my view is, that we need to lock up people who’ve done really bad things, for people who are dangerous and people where the courts, where the judges say they need to go to prison.
