Why employers need to act with conviction

Knockin’ about with Martyn Torr

STAGGERING . . . well, at least I thought so when John Crawforth, the chief executive of the Greater Manchester Probation Trust, told me that 30 per cent of adults over 30 in this country have a criminal conviction.

Mr Crawforth, in Oldham for the launch of the GOBOT project also revealed that it costs £37,000 a year to keep someone in chokey.

Given that the Government tells us that us that the prison population is currently 80,000 and rising, and the Justice Minister has just announced plans for a further 7,500 prison places in new jails, hopefully not Chadderton, then the cost of the criminal justice system becomes mind-boggling.

The aforesaid Mr Crawforth was in Oldham, or, to be more precise in the independent republic of Saddleworth at the hugely impressive Talking Point Conference Centre in Scouthead, to help launch an initiative designed to cut into these statistics.

Getting Offenders Back on Track (GOBOT) has been constructed by Highways2Opportnity, an adults’ careers agency based in Brunswick Square which delivers services that help people back into employment.

Their idea is to work with the Probation Service in Oldham — a team of 60 handling around 1,400 offenders and ex-offenders — to create meaningful opportunities.

If we give people a real reason to become part of society then they are more likely to contribute to society is the ethos.

It’s a worthy cause, no doubt, but how do you persuade an employer to take on someone with a criminal record, especially in these days of rising unemployment when the job market is awash with candidates?

That was the question on the lips of most and, during a lively Q and A session at the conclusion of the presentations, some cogent arguments were advanced as to why we all have a responsibility to get on board with this project.

Not all pecuniary — there are social reasons as to why we, as a society, simply cannot wash our hands of that element which finds it easier to offend than positively contribute.

Paul Cavanagh, the Oldham Probation Service district manager, pointed out that, at some point, all offenders stop offending. That is a fact.

The key is to accelerate that process, while tackling the very real fact that as people drop off this scale at one end there is whole raft of new ones following in their wake.

This is not an ever-increasing and self-perpetuating circle.

A great many people want to get into meaningful life situations, and employment plays a huge part.

It is up to all of us to play a part.