Helping People in Prison Manage Their Finances

• The Growth Company's (GC) Finance, Benefit, and Debt service (FBD) aims to help people in prison manage their finances.
• The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) programme was commissioned by HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) and is delivered across eight prisons in Yorkshire and the Humber.
• Find out how it helped James and Michael at HMP Hatfield.

A new programme is successfully helping people in prison to manage their money.

A Ministry of Justice contract – commissioned by HM Prison and Probation Service and delivered by the Growth Company – the Finance, Benefit, and Debt service aims to support people in prisons across Yorkshire and the Humber with a range of financial issues.

Our FBD team works at eight prisons: HMP Doncaster; HMP Hatfield; HMP Lindholme; HMP Moorland; HMP Hull; HMP Humber; HMP Leeds; and HMP Wealstun.

The team provides people in prison with information, advice, and guidance on benefits, budgeting, debt, banking, and access to post-sentence financial support. They do so through one-to-one coaching and the development of personalised action plans, with a view to improving participants’ financial literacy and stability – and, ultimately, reducing reoffending rates.

Michael and James are just two people at HMP Hatfield who have benefited from this approach.  

Michael’s Story

When Michael began serving his sentence, he was soon faced with a series of difficult financial circumstances.

“I had money, I had cars, I had all the security you think you’ve got. And then, to cut a long story short, they took my flat off me. They took everything from me. Everything’s gone. I now have nothing. I’m homeless.”

After hearing about the FBD service, Michael sought support and was matched with an adviser.

“Lauren was the first person I met, and she’s been absolutely fantastic,” Michael recalled. The number of issues that Michael had to think about and resolve was daunting, but Lauren explained the various options: “When I first met her, she was saying it’s [about sorting] a bank account … [a] birth certificate … it’s to help you with work, when you get out.”

With the assistance of the FBD service, Michael now feels more confident that he can make progress: “Any sort of problem I get, I know I can go to Lauren, and Lauren will always, always help me.”

James’ Story

James has been a resident of several prisons, including HMP Hull, HMP Lindholme, HMP Humber, and HMP Hatfield.

Upon arrival at the latter, he was informed about the FBD service: “They asked me if I had any outstanding debts and whether I needed help with any ID or bank accounts. I asked them to refer me. I got referred to them, and within five working days, I was seen by an adviser.”

James had a specific issue with which he needed help: “Because I was born in Botswana, I had no birth certificate, so they’ve managed to get me [the] birth certificate. I’ve been trying to get that … for the last four years. I think it took them [less than] a month from start to finish, which I was very impressed with.”

In the end, James said that he has benefitted from engaging with the FBD team: “It’s taken a lot of stress off me, knowing that I’ve got everything now. It’s something I’ve been worrying about for a number of years, to be fair. I’d definitely advise [using the service].”

Working Together at HMP Hatfield

Stephen Laud, the Head of Reducing Reoffending at HMP Hatfield, emphasised the importance of providing people in prisons with support to manage their finances: “A prisoner can’t secure a sustainable release around employment and accommodation if they’ve got debt issues. It needs to be tackled early and it needs to be addressed … so they can look at securing a bank account, employment, and a house – all the things that set them up for release.

“Setting up a completely new service, even in a place like HMP Hatfield, is not an easy thing. [The FBD service] has put the right people in at the right time, and those individuals, along with the management team behind them, have set up a really good and really effective system.”

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The Growth Company is an award-winning social enterprise with a mission to generate growth, create jobs, and improve lives. We provide employment services across Greater Manchester, the Liverpool City Region, Lancashire, Cheshire, and Yorkshire and Humber.

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