Service Performance: Output Class 6- Inmate Employment

Prisoner employment contributes to reducing re-offending by providing prisoners and remandees with the opportunity to gain work experience and improve their work habits and skills. Prisoners are also provided with the opportunity to undertake training toward gaining recognised qualifications and work experience that improve the chances of obtaining sustainable post-release employment, which reduces the likelihood of re-offending.

Over time, prisoner employment aims to provide all prisoners eligible and available for work with 1,410 hours of employment per year. In the 2004/05 financial year a total of 4.7 million hours of prisoner employment was achieved.

OUTPUT CLASS STATEMENT: INMATE EMPLOYMENT
For the Year Ended 30 June 2005

The Inmate Employment output class was expected to be over appropriation mainly due to difficulties in some markets with volatile commodity prices. As a result of significant vacancies and prisoners tracking below the Ministry of Justice’s forecast, the Department was able to transfer the funds from the Custodial Services output class to cover this cost pressure.

OUTPUT 6.1 Land-Based Activities

This output relates to the provision of employment hours and qualifications to prisoners who work in farming, forestry, horticulture and other land-based activities.

Comment

The 2004/05 plan levels assumed minimal garden-based prisoner employment following a planned decision to close most garden ventures. Subsequently, a decision was made to continue with a greater volume of gardening ventures (albeit on a reduced scale) because the benefits of continuing were believed to outweigh the potential savings. This resulted in gardenbased activities providing an additional 63,000 employment hours in the financial year. In other land-based activities, prisoners worked longer hours than anticipated in 2004/05 and compared with the 2003/04 year, which also increased delivery of employment hours.

The Department provided employment in land-based activities to an average number of 412 prisoners in the 2004/05 financial year, with a total of 1,944 New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) standards obtained by prisoners engaged in land-based activities, which equates essentially to five unit standards for every prisoner employed. The significant number of unit standards received reflects the delivery of many short course units (for example, first aid, safety in the workplace) to the large number of prisoners who pass through the various activities.

Notwithstanding, the existing performance measure does not satisfactorily reflect the quality of unit standard related training delivered. Accordingly, this performance measure has been removed and replaced in the Department’s 2005/06 Statement of Intent with a more robust and meaningful measure.

OUTPUT 6.2 Manufacturing Activities

This output relates to the provision of employment hours and qualifications to prisoners who work in manufacturing, construction and labour-only services.

Comment

The full year over-delivery can largely be attributed to both higher than anticipated demand from the Regional Prisons Development Project for panels from the pre-cast concrete operation in Auckland Prison, and activity additional to that planned in the timber joinery operations, partially off-set by lower than anticipated delivery in textiles, craft and timber processing operations.

The Department provided employment in manufacturing activities to an average number of 510 prisoners in the 2004/05 financial year, with a total of 486 NZQA standards obtained by prisoners engaged in manufacturing activities, which equates essentially to one unit standard for every prisoner employed. The number of unit standards received reflects the delivery of many short course units (for example, first aid, safety in the workplace) to the large number of prisoners who pass through the various activities.

Notwithstanding, the existing performance measure does not satisfactorily reflect the quality of unit standard related training delivered. Accordingly, this performance measure has been removed and replaced in the Department’s 2 005/06 Statement of Intent with a more robust and meaningful measure.

OUTPUT 6.3 Internal Service Self-Sufficiency Activities

This output relates to the provision of employment hours and qualifications to prisoners who work in internal self-sufficiency activities including:

• kitchens and laundry
• cleaning
• prison asset maintenance.

Comment

Internal service self-sufficiency activities are deliverable by both Corrections Inmate Employment and the Public Prisons Service, with the over-delivery in the year continuing the trend established in the 2003/04 financial year.

The over-delivery is primarily attributable to the Public Prisons Service, reflecting the continuing emphasis on unit cleaning and hygiene and as a means of minimising the impact of the reduction in other prisoner employment opportunities available at certain locations and for prisoners of particular security classifications.

The Department provided employment in internal service self-sufficiency activities to an average number of 533 prisoners in Corrections Inmate Employment and 2,276 prisoners in the Public Prisons Service in the 2004/05 financial year, with a total of 1,213 NZQA standards obtained by prisoners engaged in Corrections Inmate Employment internal service activities, which equates essentially to two unit standards for every prisoner employed by Corrections Inmate Employment. The significant number of unit standards received reflects the delivery of many short course units (for example, first aid, safety in the workplace) to the large number of prisoners who pass through the various activities.

Notwithstanding, the existing performance measure does not satisfactorily reflect the quality of unit standard related training delivered. Accordingly, this performance measure has been removed and replaced in the Department’s 2005/06 Statement of Intent with a more robust and meaningful measure.

OUTPUT 6.4 Release to Work

This output entails employment undertaken by minimum security prisoners outside the prison boundaries. These are prisoners nearing release who are on release to work.

This output relates to the provision of employment hours completed by prisoners participating in the release-to-work programme. This programme allows prisoners nearing their release date and who meet certain eligibility criteria to be temporarily released during the day to work.

Comment

The under-delivery in hours reflects the fact that over the 2004/05 year an average of 15 prisoners have been available for release-to-work activities, compared with the 40 prisoners planned. This reduced level was primarily attributable to insufficient numbers of prisoners being available in the particular locations and with the appropriate security classifications. Factors that constrained the availability of prisoners for release-to-work activities included:

• prisoner behaviour, for example, identified drug user status, a history of escapes or breaches of temporary release conditions
• a high risk of re-offending
• prisoner eligibility for back-end home detention
• programme attendance requirements – especially toward the end of a sentence, for example, Kia Marama and Te Piriti
• lower risk prisoners being too close to full release to benefit from release-to-work, linked to the usual requirements for prisoners to have been on minimum security for three or six months and, where applicable, to have had a New Zealand Parole Board hearing
• medical complaints limiting the type of employment
• the requirement for a prisoner to be on segregation, for example, because of offence type
• in the case of prisoners on life sentences and preventive detention, there is no recommendation from the New Zealand Parole Board for release-to-work
• time taken to approve identified eligible prisoners.

Corrections Inmate Employment and the Public Prisons Service have been, and are currently, addressing this issue with a view to identifying appropriate options to increase delivery of this activity. A full review of the release- to-work regime is scheduled to be completed by 30 September 2005, in order to identify opportunities to increase the available pool of prisoners without compromising public safety.

OUTPUT 6.5 Vocational Training Services

This output provides training activities to prisoners that relate directly to the acquisition of employment-related skills, and includes courses to assist in obtaining driver licences and computer skills.

Comment

The results for the year continued the trends established in 2003/04, with delivery in excess of planned levels, particularly in the Waikato/Central and Midland regions of the Public Prisons Service, which accounted for 67 percent of the volumes achieved.

The Public Prisons Service has consistently exceeded the target in respect of prisoners attending vocational training activities, reflecting the fact that many of the courses offered are generally of short duration and thus attractive to prisoners. The attraction of these short courses is also reflected in the relatively high completion rates and thus the numbers of prisoners receiving externally recognised qualifications.

OUTPUT 6.6 Community Services

This output relates to the provision of employment hours by prisoners undertaking community services. Prisoners nearing their release date and who meet eligibility criteria can work outside of the prison during the day in supervised work parties benefiting local communities.

Comment

Staffing levels and muster pressures, particularly those associated with the increased throughput of remand and short-serving prisoners, impacted on the ability of some Public Prisons Service regions to meet community service requirements. Consequently, both deliverable hours and numbers of prisoners employed were significantly below planned levels. Notwithstanding, where operational requirements permitted, emphasis continued to be placed on community service activities, to identify and take advantage of all available opportunities.

The Department’s existing data capture systems were unable to facilitate the provision of work certificates to prisoners engaged on community service activities. In addition, it is considered that this performance measure does not satisfactorily reflect the quality of employment delivered. Accordingly, this performance measure has been removed from the Department’s 2005/06 Statement of Intent.

1 An externally recognised qualification is a NZQA unit standard or, where no unit standard exists, one that is a recognised equivalent standard. A recogised equivalent standard is a document that attests that a prisoner has passed either all components of a defined course of study, or a module or unit associated with the partial completion of that course of study. The percentage of inmates who receive an externally recognised qualification is calculated as the number of unit standards passed against the number of full-time equivalent positions during the year.

2  An externally recognised qualification is a NZQA unit standard or, where no unit standard exists, one that is a recognised equivalent standard. A recogised equivalent standard is a document that attests that a prisoner has passed either all components of a defined course of study, or a module or unit associated with the partial completion of that course of study.

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