A coalition of food and drink companies plan to combine resources in a major new industry-wide drive to provide thousands of roles for former offenders within the sector, The Grocer has learned.
The Grocer understands Iceland Foods is playing a leading role in the talks, which propose a formal business-led partnership between retailers and their supply chain to increase the number of job opportunities the sector is able to offer to former offenders, or those close to the end of their sentence, as the UK battles a prison overcrowding crisis.
According to sources with knowledge of the talks, Iceland has approached “half a dozen” businesses including other retailers and logistics companies about joining the coalition, with new members to be invited once it’s formed.
While the full extent of the proposals are still being fleshed out, it would see businesses collaborate to create better employment opportunities for former offenders, or those close to finishing their sentence, in different parts of the grocery supply chain from food retail to distribution centres.
Members of the coalition would be able to access shared knowledge more easily. Having closer ties would also make it easier for businesses to help applicants find roles at other members, if they can’t offer a suitable role within their own business.
The government is scrambling to tackle the UK’s prison population crisis. MOJ stats show people are twice as likely to reoffend if they don’t find a job within the first six weeks of their release.
In January, prisons minister James Timpson announced the launch of 11 new regional employment councils across England and Wales. Building on the work of existing prison advisory boards, the new councils aim to bring together business leaders to work more closely with DWP and probation services to help prison leavers find and stay in employment.
The Grocer understands Iceland’s proposals follow on from the work of the employment councils and will focus primarily on helping businesses within the retail supply chain.
Iceland did not provide a comment.
Rehabilitation schemes face ‘challenges’ due to costs
As one of the UK’s largest employers, the food and drink sector already has a strong track record of providing opportunities for prison leavers, with the likes of Cook, Booths, Greggs and Wagamama all running successful internal rehabilitation schemes.
The head of one programme welcomed the new proposals, but pointed out there was already a strong history of collaboration between retailers across the sector.
They admitted their own internal scheme faced “challenges over the next year” due to the higher employment costs and inflation, meaning they had limited vacancies to offer.
Iceland has employed more than 300 former prisoners in the last two years through its own Second Chances scheme. Iceland director of rehabilitation Paul Cowley has previously set the aim of increasing that number to more than 3,000 in future.
In October, Cowley along with executive chairman Richard Walker met with justice secretary Shabana Mahmood and Timpson to present a “blueprint” of how the scheme could be rolled out further.
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