The Prisoners' Earnings Act 1996 (c. 33) is an Act

Act of Parliament

An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...

 of the Parliament of the United Kingdom

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

. The purpose of the Act was to allow the government to apply deductions and levies on the earnings of prison

Prison

A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...

ers in respect of work carried by the prisoner during his period of detention. The Act was not implemented until 2011.

Provisions

Thus when a prisoner carries out any task or duty within the prison, such as catering or cleaning, and receives payment for this, the Government may subject the earnings to deductions for: income tax

Income tax

An income tax is a tax levied on the income of individuals or businesses . Various income tax systems exist, with varying degrees of tax incidence. Income taxation can be progressive, proportional, or regressive. When the tax is levied on the income of companies, it is often called a corporate...

, national insurance

National Insurance

National Insurance in the United Kingdom was initially a contributory system of insurance against illness and unemployment, and later also provided retirement pensions and other benefits...

, court order payments, and child maintenance. The monies raised from the deductions and levies are to be used for: payments to voluntary organsiations concerned with crime support and prevention; payments to the Consolidated Fund to help pay for the cost of prisons; payments to any of the prisoner's dependants; or payments to an investment account on behalf of the prisoner for their benefit on release. The Act only applies in Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 and has no application in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

.

History

The Act was passed in 1996; it received Royal Assent in July of that year, and was expected to be implemented in spring 1997. However, it was not put into force before the 1997 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1997

The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...

. In 2000 the Home Office

Home Office

The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...

 reported it was studying implementing the Act, whilst in 2008 the Ministry of Justice announced that the complicated nature of the Act suggested it would cost an unreasonable amount to administer.

The Conservative Party

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 stated their intention to implement the Act in their manifesto for the 2010 general election, and secured an agreement with the Liberal Democrats

Liberal Democrats

The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...

 to make it part of their joint coalition agreement

Conservative – Liberal Democrat Coalition Agreement

The Conservative – Liberal Democrat Coalition Agreement was a policy document drawn up following the 2010 general election in the United Kingdom...

. A statutory instrument dated 5 July specified 26 September 2011 as the commencement date for the Act.

As implemented September 2011, the Act will result in a 40% pay cut for 500 prisoners, and is expected to raise up to £1m a year.