Inmates idle says National

National claims figures on inmate employment prove the Government has given up on making prisoners work.

National's law and order spokesman, Simon Power, issued figures yesterday which he said showed the number of prisoner employment hours had dropped 11 per cent since 2001.

Prisoners now worked an average of 12.9 hours a week compared with 18.1 in 2002 and the total number of hours of work by prisoners on Corrections Inmate Employment (CIE) had dropped 15 per cent - from 3.3 million in 2002 to 2.8 million.

Only 20 per cent of prisoners were on CIE, down from 26 per cent in 2004. The hours of employment in prison market gardens had been cut by 75 per cent since 2001, from 263,000 to 67,000, and the average number of prisoners employed in gardens had been cut from 85 in 2004 to 30 last year.

"These figures prove that this Government has given up on work schemes for prisoners," he said.

Previous figures showed the Government was allowing up to 100 remand and sentenced prisoners to refuse to take part in any employment activity at all, he said.

"Letting them get away with not working just cements the perception that prison is a soft option for many of them. Work is exactly the sort of therapy these people need, rather than sitting around in their cells doing nothing."

Mr Power said funding for work programmes had slipped from a budget of $46.5 million in 2001/02 to $30.5 million this year and called on Corrections Minister Damien O'Connor to explain the situation.

"Prisoners should be doing meaningful work, training or study while they are in prison."

- NZPA