§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what provision is available for parenting education courses within the prison system. [174789]
§ Paul Goggins[holding answer 21 May 2004]: Most prisons and Young Offender Institutions, and all juvenile establishments, offer courses in family literacy and parenting programmes. These form part of a Social and Life Skills programme which is accredited through the Open College Network. Some establishments also deliver family learning as part of their visits programme.
In addition, many parenting and family relationship courses have been introduced into prisons by voluntary or community-based organisations. We encourage providers to embed literacy and numeracy into these courses so offenders can achieve basic skills qualifications as well as gain important life skills in communications and parenting.