Minister Damian Hinds for prisons, parole and probation, visited a community payback project on Hayling Island on Thursday, September 21, where offenders took part in the Great British Beach Clean to repay their debts to society while also tangibly benefitting the environment and their local communities.
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00:00 I'm Damien Hines, I'm the Minister for Prisons and Probation.
00:03 Damien, tell us where we are and why you're here.
00:06 We're here at Hailing Island on this fantastic beach.
00:09 And we're here with a group of what's called unpaid work people on community payback.
00:15 And they are cleaning up this beach but doing it in a very systematic way,
00:18 working with the Marine Conservation Society to examine, to track the sorts of things that are coming in from the sea.
00:26 So the Marine Conservation Society can really track what's going on in terms of marine pollution.
00:31 It's a clear benefit for the beach and the environment and as you say the Marine Conservation Society will get valuable information.
00:36 But you're particularly keen on this kind of unpaid work, aren't you? Tell us why.
00:39 Yeah, look, it's really important. These are people on community sentences and it's really important to have an option
00:45 where you don't have to send someone to prison necessarily because that can sometimes make things worse from a very short sentence.
00:51 But a properly punitive community sentence which also really gives something back to communities.
00:56 That's why we call it community payback.
00:59 So community gets a cleaner beach, community gets cleared alleyways, it gets a painted village hall, it gets graffiti, cleared off a subway.
01:07 These are really tangible benefits. And as I say, also it is part of a punitive sentence, people giving back to society.
01:16 You're putting in more than £90 million to expand this scheme. Does that mean more community service orders and less prison?
01:22 It means there'll be more availability of unpaid work. So yeah, the money goes in really to paying, especially for supervisors
01:29 because obviously that's a really important part of this. I think there's lots more we can do with unpaid work.
01:35 I'd really encourage local authorities, parish councils, community groups. You can bid for these jobs to be done.
01:41 There's many different types of things that people on community payback can do.
01:46 Now the Prison Officers Association, as you know, have said that prison budgets have been cut in real terms by about £900 million since 2010.
01:53 They say prisons are overcrowded and it's making it a difficult, dangerous place for them to work. All sorts of pressures.
01:59 Is this part of the reason why you're doing this? Because the prisons are literally full.
02:03 Well, the work that prison officers do is incredibly important for all of our society.
02:07 Actually, since 2010, there were 2,000 fewer prisoners in overcrowded accommodation.
02:13 We've closed down some of those most overcrowded jails. We're investing in new ones.
02:18 Two have just opened, another under construction, three more in the planning process.
02:22 But actually, although you talk about prisons, people think first about buildings, but really it's about the people.
02:28 And that's why the work that prison officers do and other staff that work in prisons is so absolutely crucial to all of our society.
02:35 Are you going to build more prisons?
02:37 We are going to build more prisons. We have, as I say, three currently going through the planning process.
02:42 We've got one already under construction in Yorkshire.
02:46 And we want to make sure we've got a modern prison estate which does the best job it can in terms, yes, of punishing people,
02:53 but also helping to rehabilitate them so that when they come out, we've got a better chance of people not re-offending.
02:59 And that's ultimately what matters to our society.
03:01 Damian, thanks for talking to us today.
03:03 So, Alan, tell me why you're down on Hayling Island today.
03:07 So I'm supporting the government's community payback scheme, which means that local low-level offenders actually do something good in the community,
03:14 such as picking up rubbish on the beach rather than going to prison.
03:17 It is a punitive process, but actually it's also part of their rehabilitation as well.
03:21 So it's positive and they're doing really good work.
03:24 And I'm glad that we're working on Hayling to make sure the environment is protected and clean.
03:27 Why do you feel like it was important for you to attend today?
03:30 Well, I believe in making sure that our beach, which is a blue flag beach, is kept clean.
03:34 The offenders are doing a good job helping our council and other agencies.
03:39 It's also part of the rehabilitative process as well.
03:42 So it's important that offenders actually get re-inspired into the community and they can start that process by doing good work in the community.
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