§ Sir Peter LloydTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what data he has collated on the ability profiles of young offenders. [59077]
§ Mr. George HowarthI have been asked to reply.
The Prison Service collates information on literacy and numeracy standards among prisoners from basic skills 245W screening tests carried out near the beginning of sentences. The tests are not compulsory and not all prisoners are screened. The results of the basic skills assessments in 1997 for juveniles and young offenders are given in the table.
There are no centrally collated statistics across the probation service in England and Wales concerning the ability profiles of young offenders.
Juvenile/young prisoners basic skills assessment tests–1997 Standard (%)1 Test Number tested Below level 1 At level 1 Above level 1 Literacy 8,697 30 38.5 31.5 Numeracy 8,633 43.6 38.8 17.6 1 Standard: Level 1 indicates basic functionality in literacy and/or numeracy, above level 1 is higher while below level 1 indicates a clear deficit in literacy and/or numeracy