§ Mr. ButlerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has on the proportion of the prison population with literacy or numeracy problems.
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§ Mr. Douglas HoggThe prison department does not have information on the proportion of the prison population with serious literacy or numeracy problems.
However, a recent survey showed that of those adult inmates who were tested, 6.2 per cent. were found to have a reading age of eight years or less, and 9.4 per cent. one of 10 years or less. The figures for youth custody centre trainees were 5.9 per cent. and 11.3 per cent., and for detention centre trainees, 5.3 per cent. and 2.8 per cent., respectively.