§ Mr. George HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many hours were spent in education by prisoners in each financial year since 1987–88; [15986]
(2) what estimates he has made of level of (a) numeracy, (b) literacy and (c) educational and vocational qualifications of prisoners on (i) first reception into prison and (ii) leaving prison; [15971]
(3) how much was paid by the Prison Service to local education authorities for teaching services in each financial year since 1985–86. [15987]
§ Miss WiddecombeResponsibility for these matters 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 Richard Tilt to Mr. George Howarth, dated 20 February 1997:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your three recent questions about education provision in prisons.745WInformation on the number of hours spent in education by prisoners is not available in the form requested. Since the contracting out of prison education in 1993 the number of hours spent in education by prisoners has been collected on a calendar year basis. The total number of prisoner hours spent in education was 9.2 million in 1994, the first full year under the contract arrangements, rising to 9.4 million in 1995. The predicted hours for 1996 are expected to be similar to 1995.Education hours for the financial years before contracting out, as published in the Prison Service Annual Report, are set out in the attached table.The Prison Service has made no specific estimates of the level of numeracy, literacy or educational and vocational qualifications of prisoners on first reception into prison and on leaving prison. Since 1 January this year, all prisoners are invited to take the Basic Skills Screening Test on reception into prison. This will provide comparative data on the level of literacy and numeracy among prisoners at the beginning and end of their sentences.The amounts paid by the Prison Service to local education authorities for teaching services are set out in the attached table. Expenditure for 1993–94 onwards covers all education providers contracted to supply teaching services to prison establishments, not just local education authorities.
Education hours as published in the prison service annual report 1987–1993 Hours 1987–88 5.56 million 1988–89 6.84 million 1989–90 7.75 million 1990–91 1Not available 1991–92 7.55 million 1992–93 7.57 million April to December 1993 2Not available 1 No figure published because the disturbances of that year made returns unreliable and incomplete. 2 Developing and implementing the contracting-out process prevented figures from being collected for this period.
Payments by the prison service to local education authorities for teaching services in each financial year since 1985–86 Financial year £000s 1985–86 10,849 1986–87 13,445 1987–88 14,984 1988–89 17,395 1989–90 20,235 1990–91 22,924 1991–92 26,245 1992–93 28,383 1993–94 27,628 1994–95 33,069 1995–96 33,573