§ Mr. George HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the minimum education provisions per prisoner per week in(a) Prison Service and (b) privately run prisons; what safeguards exist to ensure that these provisions are met; and if he will make it his policy not to reduce the minimum education provision during (i) 1995 and (ii) 1996 in respect of (1) the Prison Service and (2) privately run prisons. [6029]
§ Miss WiddecombeResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the temporary Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange a reply to be given.
Letter from Richard Tilt to Mr. George Howarth, dated 20 December 1995:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about education provisions in Prison Service and privately run prisons.Statutory minima for education (which apply both to directly and privately managed establishments) are set out in Rule 35(2) of the Young Offender Institution Rules 1988, which states that young 1201W offenders under seventeen years old are required to attend classes for at least fifteen hours within the normal working week, and Rule 29(2) of the Prison Rules 1964, which states that evening classes must he provided.The Prison Service Code of Operating Standards stipulate that establishments should provide an education programme, including vocational training courses, based on a needs assessment and that classes should, subject to local needs, be provided in the morning and afternoon, five days a week for fifty weeks in the year, and in the evenings five days a week for forty two weeks of the year. A system of standards audit has recently been put in place to monitor compliance with the code of operating standards, including those relating to education.Within this framework governors are responsible for determining the level and nature of provision, having regard to the relevant Service-wide plans and policies, and to the resources available.The Service's strategic plan for 1995–98 includes a strategic priority of improving the quality, relevance, and delivery of regime activities and to this end the 1995–96 business plan includes a commitment to implement a core education curriculum which will be common to all establishments.Delivery of adequate education programmes is assured through the normal line management process of the Prison Service, supported by standards audit and specialist advice from the central education and training advisory service. In the case of privately operated prisons, and of Manchester prison, which operates under a service level agreement, this is underpinned by specific requirements in the contracts and service level agreement.