Imagine a prison where prisoners spent most of the working day not locked in their cells, but outside in the community in regular jobs and training. One in 10 staff at Timpson are ex-prisoners, many of whom began working for the company while on temporary release from prison. In a recent speech on prison reform, David Gauke made a commitment to look at the availability and use of ROTL. The Prisoners’ Earnings Act enables prison governors to impose a victims levy of up to 40% on wages over £20 per week (after tax, national insurance, any court ordered payments) of prisoners working outside of the prison on temporary licence. This means that most prisoners in resettlement prisons are denied the opportunity to benefit from ROTL before their release.

Source: Huffington Post May 13, 2018 20:08 UTC