§ Mr. MichaelTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will list the non-teaching functions which will be paid for in respect of Cardiff prison in a full year under the contract awarded to Bristol university and the number of staff hours under each heading in a full year, together with the total number of non-teaching hours allowed for;
(2) if he will list the non-teaching functions paid for in respect of Cardiff prison in each of the past five years and the number of staff hours under each heading in each year, together with the total number of non-teaching hours in each year;
(3) if he will list the subjects taught by the prison education service at Cardiff prison in each of the past five years and the total number of teacher hours provided in each subject in each year and the total number of teaching hours provided in each year at the prison;
(4) if he will list the subjects that will be taught at Cardiff prison under the contract awarded to Bristol university, the number of teaching hours he estimates will be provided in respect of each subject in a full year and the total number of teaching hours that will be available at the prison in a full year;
(5) what is the total cost of the prison education system for Cardiff prison under the contract awarded to Bristol university, and the proportion that will go to direct payment for teaching hours;
(6) if he will give for each of the last five years the total cost of the prison education service at Cardiff prison, and the proportion in each year of direct teaching hours.
§ Mr. Peter LloydResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the director general of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Alun Michael, dated May 1993:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the provision of education services at HM Prison Cardiff. Not all of the information which you have sought is held by the Prison Service in the form requested. The information that is available is set out below and in the enclosed tables.
Table A provides an outline of the non-teaching duties previously required at the prison and which will initially be required of the new contractor. These are only indicative since requirements change, depending on the needs of the prison population. The Prison Service requires that these duties are undertaken but does not specify the number of hours allocated to them.
Previously Local Education Authorities were reimbursed for the actual cost of providing teachers together with an additional 5 per cent. towards the cost of administration. The new contract prices will be based on teaching time (teacher contract hours). This unit of price includes all other costs.
208WDetails of proportional costs are not held but it is estimated that over the past five years some 25 per cent. of the cost of providing teachers has been for non-teaching duties.
An indication of the subjects required at HM Prison Cardiff in 1993–94 year is set out in Table B, together with the teaching hours for each subject. The details may be subject to change during the course of the year dependent upon the on-going requirements of the prison. Subjects provided in the last five years are shown at Table C together with average teaching hours. The cost of that provision and annual teaching hours in each year are shown in Table D. The cost for 1993–94 under the new contract will be the product of the total number of teaching hours required (estimated to be 6,776) and the teacher contract hour price agreed with the contractor. The contract price will be determined in negotiations with the successful tenderer, in the light of the outcome of the appeal against the High Court judgment of 24 March in the case of Kenny and Woodroffe v. South Manchester College.
- Table A
- Non-teaching duties undertaken by education staff
- Library management
- Conducting inmate interviews
- Preparing inmate records and reports
- Curriculum development
- Organising external courses
- Examination administration
- Marketing education
- Administering education competitions—Koestler awards, etc
- Maintaining up-to-date inmate class lists
- Attending establishment management meetings
- Maintaining staff attendance records and preparing payment sheets
- Equipment purchase
- Preparing inmate earnings
- Undertaking extra curriculum activities
Table B Subjects to be taught at Cardiff prison—financial year 1993–94 Subject Teaching hours Basic Education and Social Life Skills 1,472 Computers 460 Health Education 644 Cookery 368 First Aid 152 Art 1,104 Chess 92 Craft 460 Drama 184 Music 368 Photography 92 Woodwork 184 Welsh 92 General Education 920 Pottery 184 Total 6,776 209W
Table C Subjects taught at Cardiff prison during last five years Subjects Years taught Average teaching hours 1. Basic education and social life skills 1988—present 1,472 2. Art 1988—present 825 3. Basketry 1988–1991 92 4. Calligraphy 1988–1990 92 5. Chess 1991—present 92 6. Computers 1988—present 552 7. Cookery 1990—present 460 8. Craft 1988—present 460 9. Current affairs 1988–1991 92 10. Drama 1988—present 92
Subjects Years taught Average teaching hours 11. First aid 1988—present 184 12. General education 1988—present 552 13. Geography 1988–1990 184 14. Health education 1988—present 368 15. History 1988–1990 92 16. Music appreciation 1988–1990 92 17. Music practical 1988—present 368 18. Photography 1988—present 92 19. Plastering theory 1988–1990 92 20. Pottery 1988—present 184 21. Religious education 1988–1991 184 22. Welsh 1988—present 92 23. Woodwork 1988—present 276
Table D Cost of education at Cardiff prison during last five years Financial Year £ 1988–89 127,179 1989–90 144,189 1990–91 151,000 1991–92 164,400 1992–93 166,700
Teaching hours provided in each of the last five years Academic Year Hours 1988–89 6,437 1989–90 6,196 1990–91 14,303 1991–92 6,449 1992–93 6,544 1 Disturbances at the prison resulted in a temporary reduction in population and a resulting reduction in teaching hours required.