Research by the Centre for Government Reform has shown that victims of crime are receiving…
Research by the Centre for Government Reform has shown that victims of crime are receiving a smaller share of the wages prisoners earn in jail, which have soared to a record £24m.
Inmates are paid a total of £23.8m annually for day release jobs, but research has found that victims are being short-changed by a 50 per cent cut in the compensation levy.
Under the Prisoners’ Earnings Act, prisoners released on temporary licence to work for outside employers must pay up to 40 per cent of their earnings (if they earn more than £20 per week) to the charity Victim Support.
But our research has highlighted that the share of income paid to victims has declined from 32.2 per cent of prisoners’ gross earnings in 2011 to 17.3 per cent today.
Our CEO Ameer Kotecha is quoted in the article: “The levy that’s supposed to compensate victims of crime has quietly shrunk by nearly half, as a share of what prisoners take home.
“It cannot be right that as prisoners’ pay increases, the proportion … which goes to the victims of their crimes decreases. Victims deserve to know why the Government is content to let this happen.”
You can read the full article in the Telegraph here.