§ Mr. Martyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he has set a minimum standard of education for prisoners to reach before leaving prison; and if he will make a statement;
(2) if he will make a statement on the curriculum for prison education for specified prisoners throughout the prison system; and if he will make a statement;
(3) if he will make a policy statement on standards of prison education;
(4) what is (a) the target and (b) average actual number of education hours per week for prisoners in England and Wales; and if he will make a statement.
§ 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 front A. J. Butler to Mr. Martyn Jones, dated 3 February 1994:
The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions about the provision of education in penal establishments in England and Wales.
The policies and standards for prison education are set out in the White Paper "Custody, Care and Justice" (Cm 1647), in Prison and Young Offender Institution Rules, in Prison Standing Orders and in supplementary guidance.
Education programmes should enable prisoners to learn effectively, should particularly identify and provide help for those prisoners who have difficulty reading or writing and who are unable to do simple arithmetic, and should provide appropriate help to those prisoners who have inadequate social skills. Over and above fulfilling these basic needs, programmes aim to develop a broad based educational experience for people in custody.
Education in prison is provided under contract by Further Education Colleges and other direct education providers in the community and to comparable standards. The curriculum at any individual prison establishment is agreed between the governor and the education provider and will take account of the assessed learning needs of the inmate population. The capabilities and needs of individual prisoners vary, but programmes encourage prisoners to acquire not only worthwhile qualifications but also wider exposure to the arts and handicrafts. Education, other than for young offenders under the age of 17, is not compulsory and setting a minimum educational standard for all prisoners to reach before release would not be appropriate.
876WThe Prison Service sets overall targets for the number of hours each prisoner should spend on a range of purposeful activities, including work, education and training, but not for individual regime activities. The number of hours that prisoners are engaged in education has, however, increased in recent years from 5.56 million in 1987–88 to 7.57 million in 1992–93.