Bosses from food manufacturer Cook, food retailers Co-op, Greggs and Iceland, infrastructure group Balfour Beatty, pub retailer Greene King and retailer Oliver Bonas have joined the scheme as advisors. They are to work alongside probation staff, job centre staff and representatives of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
The employment councils are intended to connect people with convictions with local businesses, to help them find work while serving their sentence.
“Employment is key to breaking the reoffending cycle – but it’s not the only part of the puzzle,” said Annie Gale, manager of the Ready and Working (RAW) scheme to get people with convictions into work at Cook.
Speaking to HR magazine, she continued: “As employers we need to collaborate with prisons, probation and jobcentres to ensure a well-supported journey from prison into settled work. Employment councils are a great step forward."
Employers getting involved in the councils will prevent reoffending, Gale noted.
She continued: "When people come out of prison, they need somewhere to live; something to do; and someone who cares.
“Without these, options are limited and reoffending is a huge risk. Employment councils will build strong local partnerships, hire well-supported people and ultimately reduce reoffending.”
Read more: How Cook supports people back into work
According to the latest DWP data from December 2022, ex-offenders who were unemployed six weeks after leaving prison were twice as likely to reoffend as those in work.
Around 80% of all crime is reoffending, the DWP said in a statement about the councils on 10 January.
Established by James Timpson, owner of retailer Timpson’s and the minister for probation, prisons and reducing reoffending, the councils are intended to meet the government’s manifesto commitment to cut crime and make streets safer.
The councils built on James Timpson's previous work on employment advisory boards, which he introduced before he became government minister, to bring business leaders into prisons, improve education and improve prisoners’ ability to get work when released.
Timpson described getting ex-offenders into work as a “win-win” for businesses.
Jacob Hill, an ex-prisoner and the founder of Offploy, a social enterprise that supports both employers and people with convictions, said that the biggest benefit of the councils would be regional probation officers understanding employers' needs.
"It's great to see the current employment advisory boards progressing to a regional level," he told HR magazine.
"Involving probation and empowering probation to become more employment aware will be the biggest advantage from these councils, because it means that probation officers and probation services will be able to recognise the needs of employers more by having the voice of employers at their regional level."
Lizzy Jewell, head of communications and engagement at Working Chance, an employment charity for women with convictions, called on the council members to ensure that the initiative is inclusive of all ex-offenders.
Speaking to HR magazine, she said: "The introduction of employment councils is heartening as it bridges the gap between high-profile national employers and people with experience of the criminal justice system.
"As the councils’ remit will reach beyond the immediate locations of prisons, we hope that the work they do will particularly benefit women, as they are sent to prison on average over 60 miles away from home."
Read more: Hiring ex-offenders: new guidance published by CIPD Trust
Employers looking to hire ex-offenders should make reasonable adjustments, Hill suggested, noting there is not currently enough government support for the ongoing needs of ex-convicts when leaving prison and entering employment.
"Take into account reasonable adjustments, as you would for any other social exclusion," he advised. "If [ex offenders] need to attend a probation appointment, if they're on tag and they have certain hours they need to do, let them do that.
"Also consider that not all people with criminal convictions are ex-prisoners. One in four adults in the UK of working age has a criminal conviction; only 8% of people sentenced every year go to prison.
"We need to change employers' perceptions; employers can start by just just giving it a go."
Employers interested in being involved in employment councils should contact the government directly, Gale recommended.
She continued: “For everything you need to know, contact the New Futures Network (the government department responsible for supporting prison-leavers into work): Employing prisoners and ex-offenders - GOV.UK. Register your interest here and someone will be in touch."