Are we ready to include them?
June 25, 2026Posted by:
More than 50,000 people will leave prison this year. At its first session, the Justice Recruitment Advocacy Group asked employers and communities a harder question than whether to hire: whether we are ready to include them.
Grown out of the Social Recruitment Advocacy Group for organisations that want to open employment to people with convictions and do it well, the Justice Recruitment Advocacy Group (JRAG) brought employers, training providers, HMPPS representatives and partners together to ask not whether to hire someone with a conviction, but whether we are ready to.
Why now
As the Sentencing Act 2026 is brought into force, most people will serve shorter time in custody, with significant changes to release due from September. New Futures Network told the group that more than 50,000 people are expected to leave prison this year. Employment within twelve months of release makes someone around six to nine percentage points less likely to reoffend, which means this work reaches well beyond the people directly involved.
What employers heard
Charlotte Durnin of Sodexo described Starting Fresh, its commitment to fill five per cent of vacancies with people who have convictions, and the lesson behind it. Outcomes improve when employment is joined up with pre-release planning, so the things that derail a new job, from housing to travel, are resolved before someone leaves custody.
Catt Henderson of New Futures Network, the employment team within HMPPS, set out the practical routes in: training and workshops inside prisons, release on temporary licence and apprenticeships, and recruiting people on release, all through a single point of contact. A referral process with PeoplePlus is already live, with a pilot underway with CTRG.
Jen Pemberton of ANTZ made the commercial case. With social value embedded in public contracts through the Procurement Act, this is now central to winning work, not optional. Her advice was to start small and build. "It doesn't need to be 100 people, it could be one."
Joni Emery of Clinks, who spoke from her own experience of the justice system, put it most plainly. A job, she said, is "the fundamental trigger to everything else being able to fall into place", and she has found people with convictions among the strongest and most reliable employees she has worked with.
The harder question
Emma Yorke and Sheirra Matthewson-Davies of PeoplePlus Justice closed by widening the frame. Traditional rehabilitation prepares the person for release. Demand-side rehabilitation asks whether employers and communities are ready to receive them. "Are you saying you're ready to make a difference," Emma asked, "or are you really ready?" People moving beyond a criminal conviction, whether custody based or not, Sheirra added, need something to move towards, and a job rarely holds without stable housing and a sense of belonging.
Next steps
JRAG is in its early days. Founding members including Sodexo, Mitie, Mitie Foundation and Timpson Group have joined, and the group is building its membership across employers, training providers, prisons and partners.
The conversation continues this month with two lunch and learn sessions. "Life behind the gate" on 1 July looks at the day-to-day reality of a prison regime and what comes next for people leaving it, and a session later in July turns to probation and the opportunities it opens for employers. PeoplePlus can also arrange prison visits for members who want to see this work at first hand.
Organisations interested in this work, or in joining SRAG or JRAG, can get in touch at [email protected].
June 25, 2026Posted by:
