UKFT Education Partner HM Prison & Probation Service sheds light on its 70 textile workshops, which not only produce clothing, bedding and workwear but also equip prisoners with real-world skills, fostering purpose, rehabilitation and future employment opportunities. 

The aim of Prison Industries is to give prisoners life skills, a sense of purpose, work experience, and team working skills to prepare them for healthy lifestyles and employment on release. By providing high quality goods and services to HM Government, Prison Industries enables individuals to live decent lives in custody and in the community and make a valuable contribution to society. Prison Industries has approximately 280 work areas around the prison estate employing 7000 prisoners who are trained by 1390 instructors to manufacture items such as camouflage nets, clothing, bedding and leather products. Other items include signs, conservatories, windows, pallets and hi-vis vests for probation.  The custodial market is critical for safe and decent conditions and reducing costs for the taxpayer.  

Prison Industries Textiles has approximately 70 workshops, across 50 prisons with employment places for 2000 prisoners. All workshops are self-sufficient which allows them to cut, sew, inspect and pack goods for both prisons, and other government departments. The industry has an annual demand to manufacture over 2,000,000 items of clothing, bedding and leather items for the internal market, along with over 1,000,000 items for the MOD and 50,000 items for probation.  

The textiles workshop instructors are required to hold a minimum of a Level 3 apprenticeship in their specialism allowing them to train prisoners.  

CPD training for instructors includes Garment Manufacture for staff who have no formal qualifications within the industry. This is a bespoke course delivered at two training colleges, giving staff an overview of the products we manufacture across the estate. In addition to this all staff are trained on laying fabric, and the safe use and basic maintenance of an 8” cutting machine. 

There is currently one sewing machine repair workshop that offers a national service to the workshops, training prisoners how to build and repair industrial machinery. Instructors are also offered a basic maintenance course for machinery within their workshops, which includes cutting equipment, reducing the need to send machinery off site for repair. 

Due to the diverse needs of the population, a variety of courses are offered to prisoners, ranging from short weekly courses which including OCN and AQA, as well as City and Guilds course in Performing Manufacturing Operations, for our cohort of longer-term prisoners.  

Prison Industries Textiles has recently introduced the UKFT Production Sewing Machinist Programme, which is being rolled out across the prison estate to instructors, who are in turn delivering the course to prisoners within the workshops.  

To find out more

Contact: Karen Mcwilliams karen.mcwilliams@justice.gov.uk  

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• UKFT delivers Production Sewing Machinist Instructor Training to prison instructors (Click here)
• HMP Yorkshire Region Textiles event for employers (Click here)