Debbie joins G4S in early January after a career in offender resettlement and rehabilitation, most recently as Director of Justice Services at Working Links, the organisation which helps thousands of ex-offenders and the socially excluded to reintegrate into society and find work.

At Working Links she also developed and managed the Bad Boys Bakery, a prison work scheme piloted in Brixton Prison.

Before Working Links, Debbie spent 20 years in public service, including a variety of managerial roles within the Prison Service. As its Director of Corporate Services she worked on PS Plus! the largest offender employability programme across Europe. She also spent eight years working for the Home Office, delivering police training.

Debbie is a leading authority on employment programmes in prisons, and has published two leading works on the subject: Made in Prison, and Prejudged: Tagged for Life. Debbie reveals it was partly G4S’ own work in promotion the Working Prisons agenda that attracted her to her new employer.

“I am very excited to be joining G4S at such an interesting time in offender management. The Government has signalled a major shift in the way it intends to deliver rehabilitation services for offenders, and my role at G4S will be to help them shape and refine the services they already provide, moving away from ‘outsourcing’ to focusing more on improving the offender journey from custody through to successful reintegration into their communities.

“I have been very impressed by the work G4S have has done to promote and implement the Working Prisons initiative across its estate of six prisons and I believe we can and should do more to promote this more widely across the whole prison estate,” said Debbie.

"As well as their G4S’s industry-leading work in employment, I am also keen to help them develop and transfer more widely the cutting-edge work the company has demonstrated through its Transitional Support Services (TSS) to offenders in Wales.

“Both are examples of the sort of schemes which will be essential as we seek to provide better support to offenders to ensure their journey away from crime is permanent.”

David Morgan, Interim Managing Director of G4S Care & Justice Services, welcomed Debbie’s appointment:

"The Rehabilitation Revolution will require G4S and our partners to deliver proven end to end services that reduce reoffending. Debbie’s excellent knowledge and expertise will be a tremendous asset to G4S, and she will be a key addition to G4S’ market leading rehabilitation and resettlement services team.”

Debbie, 43, is married with five children and lives in Warrington.