How do we make prisons places of work and learning?

UK policy makers are seeking to improve the vocational skills of offenders to help reduce re-offending. The author of this ‘think piece’ draws upon his experience of evaluating pre-release vocational training schemes to highlight some of the challenges that will have to be met if prisons are to be transformed into places of work and learning. He argues that policy makers must significantly reduce the prison population; implement a major programme of ‘justice reinvestment’ to staunch the flow of offenders from our most deprived communities; and introduce small community-based prisons to better facilitate the resettlement of inmates.