§ Lord Hyltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many prisoners in England and Wales have access to (a) work, (b) education and (c) training; for how many hours per week on average; how many have no such access; and whether their figures include remand prisoners. [HL2523]
§ Lord Bassam of BrightonFor all prisoners, including those on remand, the provisional figure for the average number of hours per week spent on purposeful activity in 1999–2000 was 23.2, of which 6.4 hours were in education and training and 10.1 in work. Information on the number of prisoners who do not have access to work, education and training is not available.
In 1999–2000, 8,571 prisoners were employed in prison workshops, while 1,988 were employed in prison farms and gardens. In addition, 8,591 prisoners were employed in other activities such as prison kitchens, maintenance and cleaning. Information on the number of prisoners employed on pre-release schemes outside prison is not held centrally.
In 1999–2000, 23,230 prisoners took part in education, 14,067 took part in physical education and 2,697 undertook vocational training. Two hundred and seventy thousand, eight hundred and thirty-three teaching hours per week were delivered to prisons in 1999–2000.