James Timpson – 2024 Speech to the Prison Governors Association

The speech made by James Timpson, the Prisons Minister, on 8 October 2024.

Thank you for that introduction, Graham, and for the invitation to speak – it’s great to be here.

Thanks to everyone involved for putting this event together.

Let me start by saying just how grateful I am for the PGA’s work.

You speak up for change, where change is needed…

You push Government, where it needs to be pushed…

And you do it not just for those you represent, but in the interests of public safety too.

Your voice is valued, and we thank you for it… even when you say things we don’t necessarily want to hear.

I know it’s your first annual conference since becoming PGA President, Tom – congratulations again on your appointment.

Let me also congratulate your new Vice-Chairs, Mark, and Carl, on their appointments too.

I’ve known Tom for a while now – we once even shadowed each other a few years ago, when he was Governor at HMP Wakefield, and I headed up the Timpson Group.

I took Tom to visit some of our shops – one branch was in Uttoxeter Tesco, as I recall – while I found out what it’s like to lead one of our toughest prisons.

I know who has it harder…!

And now I’m wearing a new hat, I did ask Tom if he fancied another job swap – but for some reason he wasn’t up for it.

I can’t think why…

I realise that the CEO of a business and prison governor are very different roles – but there are similarities, too.

Both manage complex organisations. Both need a strategic brain, excellent management skills, the ability to communicate, inspire and motivate.

But the main difference is this: most people know what a CEO does, what their job entails.

You, on the other hand, are largely hidden from view. Even when prisons are plastered all over our TV screens, as they are right now.

The average person would have little idea about your day-to-day – what it really means to lead a prison in 2024, as Tom has set out so starkly just now.

Working every hour, under extraordinary pressure, to run safe and secure regimes.

Dealing with self-harm, deaths and the scourge of drugs on a daily basis.

Supporting your teams and trying to nurture them in an environment more stressful than most could imagine.

Every challenge amplified, because our prisons are full to bursting.

These are the realities you face every day.

Now, prisons have always fascinated me – since I was a young boy, and my Mum, Alex, would take the babies she’d fostered into HMP Styal, so their mothers could see them.

I’d sit outside in the car and wonder what was going on inside…

What had these women done that was so terrible, that they couldn’t be with their babies?

It was the start of a life-long interest.

And as you may know, around 10 percent of people who work for Timpson are ex-offenders.

It all started by chance 22 years ago, when, as a new CEO, I visited a local prison and met Matt – who got into a fight after his A-levels, and instead of going to university, went to jail.

Matt showed me around the wing, and I immediately liked him. He was bright, enthusiastic, and I thought he was just the sort of person we wanted in the business.

So I told him – “when you get out, I’ll give you a job.”

And the rest is history.

Matt went on to be one of our most successful branch managers – in a branch just a stone’s throw from the prison he served time in.

He’s still there today. And while he hasn’t gone far physically, he’s travelled lightyears in terms of what he’s achieved…

Because he had the will to turn his life around, and that extra support to get into work.

I knew there must be more great people like Matt in our prisons, and from then on, we decided to proactively recruit ex-offenders.

Later, working with you, we set up prison training academies…

Then to create Employment Advisory Boards, building those vital links between prisons and local employers.

And, in 2016, I was honoured to become Chair of the Prison Reform Trust.

So I’ve been behind the scenes.

And in that time, one constant has been your outstanding leadership, in the most challenging circumstances.

It has been a privilege to get to know you, and to see the incredible work you do.

Thank you.

You have our deepest respect, and our gratitude.

Over the years there has been much debate about what prison is primarily for – be it punishment, public protection or deterrence.

Of course, it’s all of these things.

It’s right that dangerous people are taken off our streets – and that people who destroy lives and wreck our communities face the consequences.

But if we cut to the core of it, prison should also be about reducing offending. That’s the only way we are genuinely going to protect the public.

I say ‘should’, here, because it’s something we haven’t always been very good at in this country. I know you’d agree.

Serious criminals should see the inside of a jail cell – and the most dangerous should stay there.

But what happens next to the many offenders who will someday be let out really matters.

For the vast majority of offenders, being locked up is a fork in the road.

One way on that road can lead them to turn their lives around…

The other will take them straight back to prison.

Too often, it’s the latter. And I’ve no doubt how deeply frustrating it must be for you to see the same faces at your gates again and again.

The numbers are clear – 80 percent of offending in this country is reoffending. That is too high by any measure.

But I know just how determined you are to turn that around.

We all know what the answers are. I know that you know what needs to be done. My job is to help you realise those ambitions.

Having worked in the family business since I was 14, I hope I’ve learnt a few things about leadership and responsibility along the way. There are plenty of philosophies out there.

I found that a strong culture and high standards – rooted in trust, and kindness – was what worked for us.

And I firmly believe that strong leaders – you – are the single most important element in a good prison.

You set the culture…

You set those high standards for your teams to follow, and for the prisoners you rehabilitate.

And I can’t stress enough how important high standards are in our prisons.

Put it this way – I’ve never known a great organisation to have poor standards.

That starts with the basics – a clean, tidy, environment, where prisoners and staff respect the rules.

When I was a CEO, I’d check the Timpson head office car park for weeds and litter…

Small things, I know. But they really matter…

Those first impressions for people arriving really matter…

And as leaders, it’s our job to lead by example.

And in over 20 years of being involved with prisons, I can’t think of a time when your job has been tougher.

For too long, you’ve been doing your best in very challenging circumstances.

People don’t turn up to work to get beaten up, they turn up to inspire people, and to and turn lives around.

Yet our crammed prisons are breeding violence – which threatens everyone’s safety, staff and prisoners alike…

Staff shortages – and a lack of experienced staff – stretch your ability to run the kind of regimes you want to run.

While so many of your prisons are dilapidated, in desperate need of repair…

I’m grateful to Charlie Taylor – who is up next – for HMIP’s unflinching focus on these issues.

And I know it hasn’t been easy, trying to rehabilitate offenders in a system teetering on the edge of disaster.

A system that, when we came into government, had been run at 99 percent capacity for months.

I should emphasise – none of this is your doing – in fact, the PGA has been sounding the alarm loud and clear.

That’s why we had to take the tough decision to bring in changes to automatic release to ease the pressure on our prisons.

It was, quite literally, a rescue effort.

If we hadn’t acted, the justice system would have ground to a halt:

Courts would have been unable to hold trials and police unable to make arrests.

We would have faced the total breakdown of law and order.

We only have to look at the recent disorder on our streets to see how close to catastrophe we came…

Because we could deliver justice swiftly, we brought the violence to an end.

But, in the process, we came dangerously close to running out of prison space entirely.

We had no choice but to introduce emergency measures in the first few days of this new Government.

It was only thanks to the heroic efforts of prison and probation staff, that we pulled through.

We didn’t want to do this. But we were left with no choice…

To attempt to delay any further, would have allowed our justice system to collapse.

We could never have allowed that:

This Government will always put the safety of the public – first.

Throughout all of this you have been under immense pressure.

Offender management units, in particular, have borne the brunt of several emergency measures…

While more broadly the estate has coped with higher numbers of late arrivals and redirections.

It’s in times like these that strong leadership matters most. We couldn’t have managed this crisis without you.

And while there is still work to be done ahead of the next releases later this month, I want to thank you, again, for everything you’ve done to get us to this point.

So, our changes have bought us some time. Time for the system to catch its breath.

But these challenges haven’t just disappeared, and the crisis isn’t over.

If things don’t change, we’ll end up in the same position all over again… Sooner than we care to mention.

I want us to get a point where you can run your prisons how you want to run them…

That is why the Justice Secretary has been clear that getting prisons built is a priority for her.

That is why we will take control of the planning process, and deem prison development of national importance.

And we also need decent regimes, that help offenders turn their backs on crime for good.

I know there is brilliant, innovative work going on, and I want to encourage more of it.

But innovating is difficult – impossible, even – when you’re so full that you can’t let prisoners out of their cells.

That’s why it is essential we resolve this capacity crisis…

So we can support and empower you to go even further to reduce reoffending.

And, if we create the right conditions for you to do your jobs as you’d want to do them – I hope to see more of you staying in post for longer, too.

Stability at the top is crucial.

Because our prisons are on a journey, and there’s a long road ahead.

Culture change doesn’t happen overnight.

In my experience, it can take anywhere from three to five years to really move an organisation on.

Much of our success will be down to you, our prison leaders.

So I want to see more of you staying on that road for longer – and I want you to tell me how we can support you to do that.

Great prisons need great leaders. But second, they need hardworking dedicated staff, like the officers in your teams.

Fundamentally, prisons are a people business – like any company.

As a CEO, I found that the happier people are in their jobs, the better they work. If they feel valued, trusted and cared for, they are going to perform well for you.

And in your teams, people are working under such intense pressure day in, day out.

The relationships – between you, and your staff… and your staff and your prisoners – go right to the core of safe, decent prisons.

If we invest in officer training – in their well-being, and development – we empower them to do much more than simply maintain order.

We empower them to become agents of change – to help people turn their lives around.

I’ve met plenty of men and women who say that a prison officer transformed their life.

Officers who took the time to mentor them – who really got to know the people on their wing.

Who knew if their mum wasn’t well, or when their kids were starting school.

But to be a prison officer requires a unique set of skills – quite unlike any other job.

That ‘jailcraft’ equips officers for the challenges they will face every day. It takes time, and continual learning.

Before joining the Government, I had the privilege of leading a review of prison officer training – speaking to hundreds of officers across the estate.

It’s clear we have some decent foundations – but we can do so much more.

I want to see more in-depth training that fully prepares officers for the realities of the role, right from the start.

Greater consistency – with a strong curriculum and clear standards…

More local ownership of training…

Clear channels of accountability…

And a culture of ongoing learning throughout an officer’s career…

One that rightly builds pride in this absolutely critical role.

I want to push forward with these changes, and I’ll say more about this as soon as I can.

The third element of a good prison is, of course, purposeful activity.

Prison education and training has a huge influence on the path offenders choose to take.

It’s crucial that we get this right if we are to release better citizens, not better criminals.

Yet I’ve seen people leave prison not even knowing how to use a computer.

When we spend so much of our lives – and jobs – online, how are they supposed to get on in the modern world?

That’s just one example. There are many others.

But the point is clear: when you don’t have the right skills to get a job, slipping back into old habits is all too easy.

And the lure of easy cash might feel like the only way to put money in your pocket.

So, it might not come as a surprise that I’m passionate about prison education and training.

Training that opens doors – that gives prisoners pride – and real skills that today’s employers want.

I’m clear that prison is a punishment. But that’s no reason to stop the one in four working-age people in the UK who have criminal records from getting jobs.

We know that prison leavers are less likely to reoffend if they have a job within a year of release.

So, getting them into work doesn’t just cut crime, it boosts our economy too.

That’s a win-win we can’t ignore.

But for many, the process of applying for jobs can be daunting.

That’s why I’m pleased to see a new partnership – between the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development Trust and the New Futures Network.

It will embed HR professionals in EABs…

Ensure that prison leavers can access HR advice to support them into work…

Provide mentoring for Prison Employment Leads…

And help us to create even closer links between prisons and local employers.

And, I can testify, former prisoners make great colleagues.

In my experience, they work hard, they turn up on time, and they are trustworthy – because they are so hungry to prove themselves.

The amount they can achieve – starting from rock bottom – is nothing short of extraordinary.

It’s no exaggeration to say that some of the most accomplished people I know were once in prison.

They want to grasp that second chance with both hands.

Together – let’s make sure they get it.

Our fourth route to reducing reoffending is by tackling the scourge of drugs in our prisons.

As you know so well, drugs undermine rehabilitation, fuel violence, debt, and are a sure path back into crime.

Nearly half of prisoners have a history of drug misuse.

Many will have addictions when they turn up at your gates, but too many who were clean on the outside are drawn into drugs on the inside.

That flies in the face of what we want our prisons to achieve.

The answer is clear.

First, we need to stop drugs getting into prison. We can hardly expect prisoners to kick the habit if our jails are a sweetshop for drugs.

We know what you are up against. Not least the growing use of drones to smuggle drugs – and the phones that power the illicit market – over your walls…

And the increasing threat of synthetic opioids…

We have to adapt rapidly if we are to protect our staff and prisoners.

Second, we need prisons to drive demand for drugs down, not up.

Purposeful activity is so important here. If prisoners have meaningful ways to spend their time, they’re less likely to turn to drugs through boredom, or distress.

Staff training is crucial too. Your teams have to understand drugs, and addiction, so they can make sure prisoners get the right support, and are helped to recover.

Third, prisoners with an addiction need treatment.

There is good evidence to show this reduces reoffending – but we also need to make sure they stay in treatment after release. That groundwork starts in prison.

And fourth – where it’s safe and appropriate – we should be driving more people with a drug problem away from prison and into treatment.

That could include greater use of drug and alcohol treatment requirements attached to community sentences, for example.

There are no easy solutions, but I want to work with you to create a system where people leave custody prepared to lead productive, drug-free lives.

I know there is innovative work going on out there – and I want to explore how we can replicate that work elsewhere.

As I come to a close, let me say again – this is the beginning of a new journey for our prisons.

This Government will rebuild and reform the system.

We’ll accelerate the prison building programme, to make sure we have the cells we need.

We’ll soon publish our ten-year capacity strategy, setting out how we will acquire new land for prisons, and reform the planning process.

And, as you’re aware, we will carry out a review of sentencing – with a focus on how it both protects the public and reduces reoffending.

We’ll soon be in a position to share the terms of reference of that independent review and announce its chair – and I know the PGA will play its full part once it is underway.

As I’ve said, change takes time. It also takes stamina. The last Government hardly led by example – 14 Prison Ministers in as many years isn’t a record to be proud of.

So I can assure you – it’s very much my intention to stay the course.

I want you to judge me on my actions. When I’m back here next year, and the year after that, let’s see where we’ve got to.

I’m fortunate to have started this job with a good working knowledge of prisons, but it’s been humbling to visit some of you recently, and be reminded of the complex and challenging work you do every day.

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to talk to me so far –

Aled at Holme House…

Pete at Five Wells…

Amy at Downview…

Andy at Wandsworth…

Emily at High Down…

Dan at Preston…

And many, many more…

I should say that getting out into the estate is another of my top priorities…

So you can tell me straight – what’s really going on in the system, what you’re up against, and how, together, we can make it better.

I hear the last Minister to go to Isle of Wight prison was Ann Widdecombe. So, Dougie, you’ve been forewarned. I’ll be coming down!

Let me finish by saying thank you, again…

To you, to your teams, and every single person who keeps the system running – the teachers, nurses, psychologists, and non-operational staff.

As leaders, your role goes far beyond managing institutions.

You are protecting communities…

You are shaping lives…

And ultimately, you are strengthening our society.

Thank you.