§ Mr. RuaneTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many full-time equivalent teacher/lecturer posts there were in the Prison Service(a) in total and (b) per thousand prisoners in each of the past 20 years; and if he will make a statement. [144353]
§ Mr. BoatengSince 1993, education in prisons has been provided by contractors, mostly further education colleges. Prior to this it was provided by local education authorities. Information on the number of teachers employed by education providers to deliver education in prisons over the last 20 years is not held centrally.
§ Mr. RuaneTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the education budget was for the Prison Service in each of the past 20 years; and if he will make a statement. [144348]
§ Mr. BoatengExpenditure on prison education is set out in the table. It does not include expenditure on education in contractually managed prisons.
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Expenditure on prison education £ Year Payments to education providers Payments for libraries Educational materials Total 1979–80 5,747,106 112,637 550,630 6,410,373 1980–81 7,839,615 131,813 542,408 8,513,836 1981–82 7,760,310 129,656 571,714 8,461,680 1982–83 8,836,640 156,300 760,410 9,753,350 1983–84 9,854,906 158,822 832,363 10,846,091 1984–85 10,429,129 3,547 1,156,009 11,588,685 1985–86 10,849,085 258,251 1,068,983 12,176,319 1986–87 13,445,382 362,591 1,316,690 15,124,663 1987–88 14,984,168 319,560 1,615,321 16,919,049 1988–89 17,394,787 334,702 1,757,317 19,486,806 1989–90 20,235,312 360,514 2,287,548 22,883,374 1990–91 22,906,556 524,832 2,213,519 25,644,907 1991–92 26,098,455 474,457 2,799,836 29,372,748 1992–93 28,383,039 550,376 2,293,757 31,227,172 1993–94 28,006,230 564,583 2,518,220 31,089,033 1994–95 33,043,804 985,738 2,727,418 36,756,960 1995–96 33,547,723 1,014,943 2,393,421 36,956,087 1996–97 31,206,539 1,029,010 2,271,829 34,507,378 1997–98 32,212,505 1,349,089 2,612,726 36,174,320 1998–99 34,812,737 1,673,773 2,563,365 39,049,875 1999–2000 42,223,514 1,784,587 3,437,844 47,445,945 Note:
Figures may not all be on like for like basis. For example, the spend in 1996–97, 1997–98 and 1998–99 is net of VAT whereas for earlier years and for 1999–2000 it includes VAT payments, where applicable.
§ Mr. RuaneTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many(a) GCSEs, (b) A levels, (c) NVQs, (d) ordinary degrees, (e) Master's degrees and (f) doctorates were gained by prisoners in each of the last 20 years; how many prisoners per 1,000 each category represents; and if he will make a statement. [144352]
§ Mr. BoatengThe information requested is not available.
§ Mr. RuaneTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average recidivism rate was for(a) all prisoners and (b) those prisoners who have attained a degree in prison in each of the last 20 years; and if he will make a statement. [144351]
§ Mr. BoatengTwo-year reconviction rates for standard list offences following release from prison are shown in the table. The rates are based on a sample of discharges from prison each year. Rates for 1978 and 1979 exclude prisoners discharged from sentences of three months or less. Figures for 1987 onwards are not directly comparable with those for earlier years owing to a change in methodology used to calculate the statistics; if the old methodology were used it is estimated that these reconviction rates would be five to six percentage points lower. A change in the coverage of standard list offences has resulted in an increase in the reconviction rates for 1994 onwards by between one and two percentage points. The 1997 rate is based on a sample of discharges during the first quarter of the year.
Data are not collected centrally to enable reconviction rates for prisoners that have attained a degree while in prison to be calculated.
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Prisoners reconvicted for standard list offences by year of discharge within two years of discharge from prison Year of discharge Percentage reconvicted 19781 58 19791 58 1980 59 1981 58 1982 59 1983 56 1984 54 1985 52 1986 50 19872 57 19882 55 19892 53 19902 52 19912 53 19922 51 19932 53 19942,3 56 19952,3 58 19962,3 57 19972,3,4 57 1Rates for 1978 and 1979 excludes those discharged from sentences of three months or less 2Rates for 1987 and after are not directly comparable with those for earlier years owing to a change in methodology. If the old methodology had been followed the rates would have been about five to six percentage points lower. 3A change in the coverage of standard list offences has resulted in an increase in the reconviction rates from 1994 onwards by between one and two percentage points. 4The 1997 rate is based on a sample of discharges between January and March 1997
§ Mr. RuaneTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many hours were spent per week on average in education by prisoners in each of the last 20 years; and if he will make a statement. [144350]
§ Mr. BoatengThe total number of student hours for each year since 1995 is set out in the table. Information relating to earlier years is not available. This information relates only to teaching provided by education providers in public sector prisons and does not include private study, distance learning or vocational training. It is therefore not possible to provide a meaningful figure for the number of hours spent in education by prisoners.
Year Total number of student hours 1995 9,413,457 1996 8,947,305 1997 8,879,747 1998 9,483,889 1999–2000 9,668,535