§ Mr. Andrew TurnerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the standards of literacy and numeracy among prisoners; and what information he collects on these subjects. [60829]
§ Hilary BennThe majority of prisoners have serious basic skills needs which must be addressed if we are to help them re-settle effectively into the community on release. In 2001–02 prisoners achieved over 24,000 basic skills qualifications. Almost 16,000 were at level 2—an increase of 30 per cent. over the previous year. The basic skills target for 2002–03 is 28,800 at all levels.
1068WWe collect monthly information on the number of basic skills qualifications gained at establishment level. The Prisoners' Learning and Skills Unit (PLSU), based in the Department for Education and Skills, supports establishments which are falling short of expectations.
We have ensured that prisons are part of national developments in basic skills, and have been piloting new national curriculum materials and tests in seven prisons. Additional capital resources over this year and next from the Capital Modernisation Fund will help us to deliver improvements in basic skills by supporting initial assessment, the integration of basic and key skills into prison workshops and the transformation of Libraries into learning resource centres.
From April 2002, education and training in prisons—including basic skills provision—has been inspected against the criteria set out in the Common Inspection Framework, which covers all post-16 learning. With the support of the PLSU, the majority of prisons have established quality improvement groups to secure better planning and delivery of all their learning provision and to respond to the findings of inspection reports. We expect the remaining prisons to do so shortly.