Ministry of Justice and Industry: Deep dive into how transforming prison estate can reduce reoffending

Authors: Gareth Jones, Head of Modern Methods of Construction & Technical Services, Ministry of Justice and Nour Sidawi, Commercial Lead for Prison Capacity Portfolio, Ministry of Justice.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) were delighted to take part in the Construction Innovation Hub’s recent Construction Innovation Day. The mixture of organisations participating on the day gave a broad spectrum of views, discussion points and thoughts on how we can maximise the use and adoption of Platforms and unlock the value and outcomes they can achieve.

The Ministry of Justice is investing in the prison estate to create additional capacity and improve existing facilities. It has been applying and seeing the benefit of Platform principles on projects delivered in its programmes. The work the Construction Innovation Hub is doing to bring structure and rules to developing and deploying platforms will be of huge benefit to the MoJ and wider industry. We look forward to continuing this journey developing Platform approaches that can be used across both the MoJ’s portfolio and wider Government estate.

The MoJ places value on transforming lives positively at the heart of its programmes. In its construction projects, the department is trying to increase employment opportunities for people who have left prison. Suppliers are a vital part of realising this ambition. It was uplifting to see many interested in supporting this approach and helping reduce reoffending by providing jobs to prison leavers. Opportunities to utilise and support this work by the development of platforms is something we will continue to develop further.

A common theme on the day was the need for greater collaboration. The MoJ will continue to engage with the supply chain to innovate and build on the benefits that Platform and Platform principles have and can deliver for the department.