Prisoners are to be trained in networking and cable installation to help tackle a skills shortage for suitably-skilled IT professionals.

Prisons minister David Hanson and skills minister David Lammy launched the new vocational learning academy at Wandsworth prison in London.

According to Cisco, one of the co-founders of the initiative, demand for data and network cabling experts outstrips supply by 20 per cent in the UK – equivalent to 61,000 jobs.

Criminals who complete the training will be interviewed by BeOnsite, a not-for-profit training company owned by scheme co-founder Bovis Lend Lease, and successful candidates will be employed when they are released from prison.

“Reforming offenders so they can positively contribute to society as well as being punished for their crimes by denying them their freedom is what prison is about and what both communities and businesses demand,” said Hanson.

“Initiatives like the academy at HMP Wandsworth are an inspiring example of how we can use the expertise and knowledge of both the private and public sectors to improve employment opportunities for prisoners on release so they don’t return to a life of offending.”

The initiative will help tackle the UK’s IT skills shortage, said Cisco UK public sector director Scot Gardner.

“The academy at HMP Wandsworth will develop real-world, in-demand skills helping to prepare inmates for the workplace and therefore reducing re-offending.”

The academy is a public/private partnership developed by Working Ventures UK and the London Employer Accord in partnership with Cisco, Panduit, Bovis Lend Lease and HM Prison Service (HMPS). It will be delivered by Cisco and HMPS Regime Services.