Lord Chancellor visits Unlocked Graduates’ Summer Institute

Unlocked Graduates were honoured to welcome the Lord Chancellor, Rt Hon Alex Chalk KC MP to our 2023 Summer Institute as part of Returners Week.

The Rt Hon Alex Chalk thanked Unlocked Graduates participants for their hard work on the frontline of prisons in a keynote speech and Q&A session with new and returning cohorts. The Lord Chancellor acknowledges how their impact on the criminal justice system will help to protect the public and drive down the £18 billion a year cost of reoffending.

During the visit, the Lord Chancellor hosted a lunch with participants, Mentoring Prison Officers (MPOs) and Associate Trainers, as well as observing prison officer training and scenario sessions.

Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Alex Chalk KC, said:    

“Becoming a prison officer is a hugely important and rewarding career, protecting the public and changing lives for the better.

It is encouraging to see so much talent joining our prison service, and we will build on this by continuing to improve pay and by launching our largest-ever recruitment drive.”

Natasha Porter OBE, Founder and CEO of Unlocked Graduates, said:   

“Since 2017, Unlocked Graduates has recruited, trained and supported over 750 high-flying graduates to become prison officers relentlessly focused on reducing reoffending.

High-quality prisons with excellent prison officers make our streets and society safer. We want to make sure the best people join the prison service. Through our graduate programme, top talent can develop incredible leadership skills while working to reduce crime. It’s fantastic to see so many people are competing for a place on Unlocked Graduates, and I continue to be very excited about the impact the incredible people who join our programme are able to have.”

We can only achieve this level of success thanks to the support of the Ministry of Justice, and we are hugely grateful to the Lord Chancellor for visiting our training programme.

You can see more about the Lord Chancellor’s visit here.