Data on Inmates Enrolled in Employment Preparation Scheme, Granted Leave and Secured Employment upon Release

Assoc Prof Razwana Begum Abdul Rahim asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) to date, how many inmates have been enrolled in the Employment Preparation Scheme; and (b) of which, what is the number of such inmates who were granted (i) weekend home leave and (ii) long home leave and (iii) secured permanent employment upon release from detention.

The Minister of State for Home Affairs (Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim) (for the Minister for Home Affairs): Mr Speaker, Sir, 339 inmates have been emplaced on the Employment Preparation Scheme since it was introduced in September 2022.

Inmates emplaced on the scheme are required to serve the tail-end of their sentence in a work release centre administered by Singapore Prison Service. Those who are doing well and have support from their family, may be allowed to go on weekend home leave or long home leave. As at 31 January 2024, 71 of the 339 inmates had gone or are currently allowed to go on weekend home leave. Another 35 had gone through or are currently on long home leave. And 204 of the 339 inmates have been released. Among them, 196 had secured employment at the point of release.

Mr Speaker: Assoc Prof Razwana, any supplementary questions?

Assoc Prof Razwana Begum Abdul Rahim (Nominated Member): I would like to thank the Minister of State for highlighting this. Basically, I wanted to check if we can do more to increase the numbers and whether there is any form of case management given, in view of the recent data that was released to highlight that recidivism rate has gone up for certain population of inmates.

Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim: Sir, I thank the Member for the questions. In fact, what we have seen, has been encouraging, where not only the inmates are having the opportunity, but the employers are coming, quite strongly, to support this scheme.

And we are also very happy that the social service agencies (SSAs) are also coming on board, working together with our specialists, to make sure that not only do we provide that employment, training opportunity, but looking at a throughcare rehabilitation and re-integration process.

So, I want to assure the Member, wherever possible, we will do more. We are also looking at how we want not only to support the inmates, but also their families. So, this would involve much coordinated work with SSAs, economic agencies as well as companies, to see how we can support the inmates and their families holistically.