Offsite construction factory opens at a prison

Prisoners will be employed as construction workers in an offsite construction factory in Hindley Prison in Greater Manchester.

The eight prisoners are in the final year of their sentences and will be trained to build the external walls, floors and ceilings of panellised homes.

The factory was opened in June by Osco Homes, but has been kept tightly under wraps before being announced in Inside Housing this week. Osco is a subsidiary of Procure Plus, a procurement consortium in the North West of England.

Osco Homes intends to recruit around 24 prisoners in the future.

The prisoners will be paid a salary and have received training. A spokesperson for Osco was unable to confirm the exact amount but said the company would match the level of pay prisoners would usually receive, which will be held in a trust until they are released.

Once the prisoners are released they will be offered construction worker jobs with Osco Homes with the salary of a fully skilled construction worker.

The move follows insurance giant Legal and General’s decision to open a factory in Leeds, which will be operational this summer.

Osco Homes’ first contract with Hindley Prison will deliver eight factory-built bungalows for a site in West Yorkshire, owned by Together Housing Group.  

The company hopes to open similar factories in other prisons in the future. It has invested £500,000 in the prison factory so far and aims to build two homes a week initially.  Within three years it hopes to produce 1000 homes a year.

Mike Brogan, chief executive officer of Procure Plus, said: “One of the hardest things for former prisoners to do on release is find work. By training them with key construction and manufacturing skills, we’re helping prisoners to take an important step in the rehabilitation process.”

He added: “Through the programme, offenders will have a better chance of reintegrating with society and the opportunity to enter a career in a growing sector. By having a guaranteed, secure, sustainable job it significantly reduces their chances of reoffending.”

Original link - http://www.insidehousing.co.uk