§ Mr. George HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of Prison Service education facilities is provided by private contractors. [394]
§ Miss WiddecombeResponsibility for this matter has been delegated to the temporary Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Richard Tilt to Mr. George Howarth, dated 24 November 1995:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about what proportion of Prison Service education facilities is provided by private contractors.There are currently separate contracts for the provision of education services at 123 Prison Service establishments and these are held by 46 different organisations. The great majority of these are colleges of further education, together with one university and three local authority education departments. Four contractors are constituted as private companies. These are Dartington Tech, Direct Training Services Ltd, Mill Wharf Education Services and Secure Education and Training (which is a wholly owned subsidiary of North Oxfordshire College). In addition, two of the four privately-managed prisons have private sector organisations providing the education services.