HC Deb 15 April 1993 vol 222 c724W
Mr. Harry Greenway

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to make education in prison compulsory for all offenders under the age of 25 years.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

The Young Offender Institution Rules 1988 currently provide that arrangements shall be made for inmates under the age of 17 to participate in education and training courses for at least 15 hours a week. The Prison Service will be considering, as part of its work on the development of a code of standards, what education facilities and entitlements should generally be available to prisoners.

Not all prisoners under the age of 25 years require education programmes, but they may benefit from opportunities to address their offending behaviour and other needs. The extension of sentence planning is directed to ensuring that prisoners' individual needs are increasingly identified and, where possible, met.

Mr. Harry Greenway

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners in(a) 1990, (b) 1991 and (c) 1992 took public examinations; and what was the pass rate.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the director general. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from Mr. D. Lewis to Mr. Harry Green way, dated 15 April 1993: I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about prisoners taking public examinations. The available information held centrally is as follows:

Academic Year Inmates Entered Pass Rate
Per cent.
Education and vocational training1
1990–91 9,826 87
1991–92 8,977 82
Other Examinations2
1990 3,436 66
1991 4,251 90
1992 4,159 93
1 Organised and supervised by education departments.
2 Construction industry training, Catering, other industrial and farms and gardens qualifications.