CIPD Trust announces partnership with New Futures Network to boost HR representation on prison boards across the UK

The new collaboration will leverage the expertise of the people profession to better support prison leavers

A partnership to engage people professionals within prisons.

The CIPD Trust is delighted to announce a new partnership with New Futures Network, which will ensure that the people profession has a valuable voice and consistent representation on prison boards across the UK.

The CIPD Trust aims to grow the CIPD’s social impact, extending its charitable works and building diversity within the people profession. It is teaming up with New Futures Network, which supports UK employers to work with prisons and recruit prison leavers, to identify and engage senior people professionals to join Employment Advisory Boards (EABs).

HR support for EABs will include practical advice and guidance for people in prisons around recruitment and skills, creating closer links between prisons and local employers, sharing the challenges employers face so there’s a deeper level of understanding within prisons, and mentoring for Prison Employment Leads.

This collaboration builds on the work undertaken by new Prisons and Probation Minister James Timpson, who was instrumental in creating EABs. His vision centred on bringing together business leaders and people in prisons, with the goal of providing employment opportunities and reducing reoffending. Today EABs advise, support and challenge prisons on their training and employment offer to prisoners and prison leavers, helping more people enter sustainable employment.

The partnership comes as the government has introduced emergency measures to ease prison overcrowding, including the early release of some prisoners. Sally Eley, Head of the CIPD Trust, said:

This partnership provides a unique opportunity to build on James Timpson’s excellent work, ensuring HR advice, support and expertise is consistently being provided in prisons across the UK. We are delighted that transforming the existing prison system has been one of the new government’s first priorities and we see the opportunity to have a strategic HR voice at the table within all prisons as a game-changer for the sector.”

Speaking today at the Prison Governors’ Association (PGA) Conference, Prisons and Probation Minister James Timpson said:

We know that prison leavers are less likely to reoffend if they have a job within a year of release. So, getting them into work doesn’t just cut crime, it boosts our economy too. But for many, the process of applying for jobs can be daunting. That’s why I’m pleased to see a new partnership between the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development Trust and the New Futures Network. It will embed HR professionals in employment advisory boards, ensure that prison leavers can access HR advice to support them into work, provide mentoring for Prison Employment Leads and help us to create even closer links between prisons and local employers.”

Peter Cheese, chief executive of the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development, said:

We’re very proud of the work that the CIPD Trust is doing to harness the skills of the people profession to bring about positive change, both on a societal level and for individuals who want to get back into work. This collaboration with New Futures Network is a timely and significant step forward in supporting prison leavers’ return to employment and helping organisations to tackle hard-to-fill vacancies, address skills gaps, and ultimately reduce reoffending.”

The CIPD Trust supports people with convictions as they prepare for life beyond the gates. In April it launched a new guide for organisations on recruiting, employing and retaining people with convictions and is currently delivering a mentoring programme matching people professionals with women at HMP Styal.

The cutting-edge scheme allows mentors to meet with female prisoners as they get ready for release and continue to support them as they transition to life outside and begin to look for work.

People professionals interested in making a real difference by mentoring someone with a conviction or representing the profession within a prison should visit: https://cipdtrust.org/get-involved/volunteer-opportunities/people-with-convictions/

8 October 2024