U.K. to Make Prisoners Work, Paying Victims

By AINSLEY THOMSON And LAURENCE NORMAN

BIRMINGHAM, England—In a move designed to appeal to the U.K. Conservative Party's grass-roots members, Justice Secretary Ken Clarke is expected Tuesday to announce plans to force prisoners to work 40-hour weeks, with a part of the money earmarked for compensating crime victims.

The new policy will involve private companies employing prisoners inside jails to do work such as sorting recycled trash and basic data entry.

Speaking at the Conservatives' annual conference in Birmingham—the first since the party took power in a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats—Mr. Clarke is scheduled to say that in order to raise funds to provide compensation for crime victims, the coalition government will instill a "regime of hard work" in U.K. jails.

"Most prisoners lead a life of enforced, bored idleness, where getting out of bed is optional," Mr. Clarke will say, according to extracts of his speech.

Ministry of Justice figures show that 85,495 people were imprisoned in the U.K. as of Oct. 1. Most prisoners don't currently work during their sentence.

Mr. Clarke—who earlier this year broke with years of Conservative orthodoxy by questioning whether prison always works and by saying that budget cuts mean the government should try to reduce the numbers of prisoners—is likely to win favor with many Conservative Party supporters with who favor a tough stance on law and order.

A person familiar with the policy said the prisoners employed by private companies would be paid the minimum wage of £5.93 ($9.39) per hour and about a fifth of that amount would be paid to victims. Compensation for victims is expected to total more than £100 million each year, according to Conservative Party estimates.

Mr. Clarke is also due to outline plans to introduce legislation to make sure victims receive compensation from all prisoner wages. Under current laws, victims receive a portion of prisoners' wages only if the work is done outside the prison, which means only around £1 million is generated each year by prisoners in open jails who are able to hold outside jobs.

The government will also explore a trial of a large-scale working prison and will consult with the private sector about how they might be prompted to pay higher wages to prisoners, which would subsequently mean victims receive more compensation.

Mr. Clarke is to highlight some companies—such U.K. shoe-repair and key-cutting chain Timpson, utility National Grid PLC and U.S. networking company Cisco Systems Inc.—that already work with prisons to offer training and the prospect of a job after prisoners are released from jail.

"We have to try to get those people who have the backbone, to go straight," Mr. Clarke will say.


Write to Ainsley Thomson at ainsley.thomson@dowjones.com and Laurence Norman at laurence.norman@dowjones.com