§ Lord Renwickasked Her Majesty's Government:
What steps have been taken to introduce a payments scheme which provides pay levels for those engaged in the prison education service, commensurate to those earned elsewhere in prison as recommended in the reports of the inquiry into prison disturbances submitted by Lord Justice Woolf and Judge Stephen Tumim.
Earl FerrersA new prisoners' pay scheme is to be introduced in December 1992 at increased levels of pay for prisoners who are actively engaged in useful activities, including education. It will be for the governor of each prison establishment to structure the rates of pay locally, in the light of local needs and the statement in the White PaperCustody, Care and Justice, the Way Ahead for the Prison Service in England and Wales that,
remuneration for those undertaking education should not be set at levels which discourage prisoners from receiving the 14WA education they need…But the Government would wish to provide higher payments to those who work to reward productivity, particularly where it may generate extra revenue or savings to offset the higher pay".It will also be open to governors to pay a bonus in the form of a lump sum payment to prisoners who obtain approved qualifications.