Inmates in UK to Be Involved in Construction of Prisons - Justice Secretary

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Inmates in the United Kingdom will start building prisons as part of the government plan to curb re-offending and increase the number of places of imprisonment across the country, UK Secretary of State for Justice Alex Chalk said on Friday.

"For example, there are prisoners who are literally going to be building the concrete foundations for other prison house blocks ... We think that there is a certain justice about that. Those people who have offended against society should be building the foundations of the custodial estate," Chalk was quoted by UK media as saying.

Inmates at HMP Fosse Way, a newly opened jail in the county of Leicestershire, will learn to drive construction vehicles using a simulator, the newspaper reported, adding that the offenders would be payed from 12.5 to 15 pounds ($15.7- $19) per week for their work at construction sites.

"And yes, in the course of that they get a qualification which they can use on the outside to go straight. But it means that society is benefiting," Chalk stated.

In 2020, the UK government announced its intention to create 18,000 prison places across the country by the mid-2020s to resolve the issue of overcrowded prisons, but in 2021, the number was increased to 20,000 prison places, with around 4 billion pounds allocated for that purpose. As of June 2023, the government has already build around 5,200 out of the 20,000 prison places within the program.