§ Mr. George HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what mechanisms exist for(a) part-time and (b) full-time teaching staff (i) to promote new educational services for prisoners and (ii) to propose improvements in prison education. [398]
§ Miss WiddecombeResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the temporary Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
296WLetter from Richard Tilt to Mr. George Howarth, dated 23 November 1995:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about what mechanisms exist for (a) part-time and (b) full-time teaching staff (i) to promote new educational services for prisoners and (ii) to propose improvements in prison education.In accordance with paragraph 5.3 of the General Terms and Conditions of Contract covering the delivery of education services. the contractor is required to keep the specifications for courses. curriculum and the overall programme of courses at each establishment under continuous review. The way in which full-time and part-time teaching staff can be involved in this process is best determined and managed by the education contractor. Each governor is responsible for determining which courses will run at the establishment concerned and does this by placing orders with the education provider. The governor may obtain advice from an education and training adviser. If the governor agrees to a proposal from the education provider to change the education programme, an amendment to the orders will be issued. Proposals will usually be made known to the governor by the contractor's on-site representative, the education co-ordinator.In 1994 the Prison Service awarded a contract to the National Prison Education Consortium to undertake a consultancy to develop a national curriculum framework for prison education. The Consortium consulted widely within and outside the Prison Service, and representatives of the education providers were involved in this process. The final report and recommendations of the consultancy have been accepted by the Prisons Board and disseminated to governors, education providers and chief librarians of public library authorities providing a service to prisons.The steering committee which has been established to oversee implementation includes representatives of education contractors.
§ Mr. HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what safeguards exist to ensure that part-time Prison Service teaching staff have qualifications of the same calibre as full-time teaching Prison Service staff. [396]
§ Miss WiddecombeResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the temporary Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Richard Tilt to Mr. George Howarth, dated 23 November 1995:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about what safeguards exist to ensure that part-time Prison Service teaching staff have qualifications of the same calibre as full-time teaching Prison Service staff.The teaching qualifications required of education contractors' staff teaching in prisons depend upon the nature of the subject and the level to which it is taught rather than the employment status of the teacher. In accordance with paragraph 7.1 of the General Terms and Conditions of Contract covering education services, contractors are responsible for recruiting teaching staff who hold qualifications consistent with those held by staff teaching equivalent subjects at colleges of further education or institutes of adult education. Paragraph 7.2 of the General Terms and Conditions of Contract enables a representative of the Prison Service to attend recruitment panels for teachers whom a contractor wishes to use at a prison establishment. Paragraph 7.4 of the General Terms and Conditions requires that a contractor will, if requested by an authorised Prison Service representative, provide details of the qualifications (including copies of certificates if requested) and experience of any person employed by the contractor for the delivery of education services to the establishment.