§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what businesses have employment links with prisons; and what role the Government plays in cultivating these links. [66649]
§ Hilary Benn[holding answer 4 July 2002]The Prison Service has employment links with a wide range of businesses and other organisations. These include commercial contracts to supply goods and services, and providing employment for prisoners whilst in custody, including in engineering, woodwork, clothing, laundries and light assembly, which can lead to continued employment for prisoners on release. In addition, with our support and involvement the Prison Service is developing its wider links with employers, the Confederation of British Industry, other employer and industry organisations, and Sector Skills Councils to help increase the number of prisoners getting jobs after release. In particular, its Custody to Work initiative is focusing on sectors in which existing or developing prison work and training activity overlap with feasible job opportunities for released prisoners. These include construction, catering, industrial cleaning, warehousing and distribution, and call centres.
§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what education and training facilities are available in prisons; and what assistance is given to prisoners in getting a job on release. [66648]
§ Hilary Benn[holding answer 4 July 2002]Our aim is to provide learning opportunities for prisoners which will enhance their chances of getting a job on release and help them resettle back in the community. All prisons have to provide a core curriculum of basic skills, social and life skills, information technology and preparation for work and are expected to meet basic skills targets. We have recently widened these targets to enable prisons to be more responsive to the range of prisoners' needs.
Prisoners also have access to a range of vocational training courses, including construction, catering, industrial cleaning, motor mechanics, engineering and hairdressing. We are investing £20 million over the next two years to develop and modernise education and training so that it better fits the needs of the individual prisoner and the external employment market.
Many establishments provide services to help prisoners find employment on release, often in partnership with Jobcentre Plus, the National Probation Service or voluntary sector organisations. These include jobsearch training and support, and the piloting in eight prisons from Summer 2002 of new technology giving access to Jobcentre Plus information on employment vacancies across the country. The Prison Service Custody to Work initiative, with £30 million earmarked for 2001–04, is geared towards increasing employment and training outcomes for released prisoners through the development of such resettlement activity.
741WIn a survey in November and December 2001, 24 per cent. of sentenced prisoners nearing release said they had a job to go to on release and six per cent. a training place. A copy of Home Office Research Findings 173—"Jobs and homes: a survey of prisoners nearing release" is in the Library. These findings suggest we have discharged the commitment we made in Autumn 2000 to double the proportion of prisoners getting jobs on release against the 10 per cent. baseline suggested by previous research. We have now set the Prison Service a target of increasing by 1,700 by April 2003—from an estimated 26,500 to 28,200 a year—the number of prisoners getting jobs or education or training places after release.
§ Mr. StinchcombeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners received university degrees in each of the last 10 years. [66238]
§ Hilary Benn133 prisoners have completed university degrees whilst in custody since 1991, and the numbers are broken down by year in this table.
1991–2001 Number of prisoners received university degrees in prisons 1991–92 15 1992–93 10 1993–94 9 1994–95 17 1995–96 14 1996–97 17 1997–98 17 1998–99 14 1999–2000 5 2000–01 15
§ Mr. StinchcombeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time spent by prison staff on training was during 2001–02. [66231]
§ Hilary BennStaff in prisons spent an average of 6.65 days each in staff training during 2001–02.
§ Mr. StinchcombeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time out of cell was in 2001–02 in each prison establishment in England and Wales. [66234]
§ Hilary BennThe average time out of cell on weekdays and at weekends in each prison establishment in England and Wales during 2001–02 is given in the table.
742W
Prison name Average weekday time out of cell 2001–02 Average weekend time out of cell 2001–02 Acklington 10.3 8.8 Albany 9.3 7.5 Altcourse 10.1 10.1 Ashfield 12.0 12.0 Ashwell 15.5 15.5 Askham Grange 16.0 16.0 Aylesbury 8.0 5.9 Bedford 8.1 6.8 Belmarsh 5.8 4.1 Birmingham 7.9 7.2 Blakenhurst 10.1 9.4 Blantyre House 15.3 15.3 Blundeston 10.1 7.7 Brinsford 8.3 6.5 Bristol 7.8 6.2 Brixton 7.9 6.3 743W
Prison name Average weekday time out of cell 2001–02 Average weekend time out of cell 2001–02 Brockhill 8.2 7.3 Buckley Hall 13.4 13.1 Bullingdon 8.9 6.7 Bullwood Hall 11.5 8.8 Camp Hill 10.3 10.3 Canterbury 8.5 7.7 Cardiff 8.9 5.9 Castington 10.0 9.2 Channings Wood 10.8 7.1 Chelmsford 9.7 8.3 Coldingley 12.3 10.2 Cookham Wood 10.5 8.5 Dartmoor 7.9 6.2 Deerbolt 8.0 5.4 Doncaster 11.4 11.4 Dorchester 11.3 11.2 Dovegate 0.0 0.0 Dover 8.4 7.6 Downview 10.8 10.4 Drake Hall 24.0 24.0 Durham 7.0 4.0 East Sutton Park 17.2 17.2 Eastwood Park 10.0 8.5 Elmley 8.1 7.9 Erlestoke 11.1 10.4 Everthorpe 11.0 7.9 Exeter 8.5 7.5 Featherstone 8.8 10.1 Feltham 8.0 7.5 Ford 13.3 13.3 Forest Bank 11.4 11.5 Foston Hall 10.3 9.1 Frankland 9.4 7.3 Full Sutton 9.5 7.5 Garth 10.0 7.5 Gartree 10.1 7.3 Glen Parva 5.8 3.5 Gloucester 8.7 5.0 Grendon 15.4 14.1 Guys Marsh 8.7 7.4 Haslar 11.2 10.8 Hatfield 13.5 13.5 Haverigg 11.8 11.8 Hewell Grange 24.0 24.0 High Down 8.3 5.9 Highpoint 8.8 8.8 Hindley 7.2 4.4 Hollesley Bay 0.0 0.0 Holloway 6.0 6.11 Holme House 5.7 5.1 Hull 7.6 5.7 Huntercombe 9.8 8.1 Kingston 11.8 7.7 Kirkham 13.5 13.0 Kirklevington 19.0 19.0 Lancaster 10.1 7.2 Lancaster Farms 7.8 5.1 Latchmere House 19.0 19.0 Leeds 8.6 7.7 Leicester 10.4 8.1 Lewes 9.2 6.6 Leyhill 23.3 23.3 Lincoln 10.5 9.0 Lindholme 11.7 9.6 Littlehey 9.3 8.4 Liverpool 6.9 4.1 Long Lartin 9.2 9.2 Low Newton 11.0 10.0 Lowdham Grange 12.4 12.4 Maidstone 10.4 8.0 Manchester 10.5 8.5 Moorland 9.0 5.7
Prison name Average weekday time out of cell 2001–02 Average weekend time out of cell 2001–02 Morton Hall 15.0 15.5 Mount 7.8 7.0 New Hall 9.6 7.7 North Sea Camp 19.5 19.5 Northallerton 7.8 5.5 Norwich 8.6 7.6 Nottingham 9.1 5.0 Onley 8.9 6.8 Parc 9.7 9.9 Parkhurst 9.7 8.6 Pentonville 4.6 3.5 Portland 9.8 5.7 Preston 8.4 5.0 Ranby 13.4 12.5 Reading 8.3 7.1 Risley 11.0 10.5 Rochester 9.6 7.5 Rye Hill 0.0 0.0 Send 12.7 12.8 Shepton Mallet 10.5 9.0 Shrewsbury 10.0 10.5 Stafford 8.9 7.7 Standford Hill 24.0 24.0 Stocken 11.4 11.4 Stoke Heath 10.2 10.0 Styal 11.6 11.4 Sudbury 24.0 24.0 Swaleside 9.7 7.4 Swansea 9.3 8.2 Swinfen Hall 10.3 6.8 Thorn Cross 12.5 12.5 Usk 13.6 11.9 Verne 16.0 16.0 Wakefield 8.8 6.8 Wandsworth 7.2 7.6 Wayland 9.5 8.5 Wealstun 12.5 12.4 Weare 10.1 9.4 Wellingborough 10.0 7.8 Werrington 9.8 9.8 Wetherby 9.9 5.5 Whatton 12.8 12.5 Whitemoor 9.9 7.5 Winchester 8.6 6.4 Wolds 8.8 9.0 Woodhill 10.2 8.5 Wormwood Scrubs 8.5 6.9 Wymott 10.0 10.0
§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on recent developments in the field of prison education. [74643]
§ Hilary BennThe Government is making progress on its commitment to improve the quality and quantity of prison education by investing in the Prison Service's capacity to deliver, and by bringing prison education into line with mainstream initiatives.
We have set targets in basic and work-related skills and are on course to achieve them this year. We are investing £20 million in capital projects which will support improvements in education and training. We are also improving quality by implementing national standards through inspection and through support for establishments in planning. We are also introducing new approaches to learning: in basic skills and citizenship and through Learndirect.
744WYounger offenders we have introduced a new national specification for learning and skills which will significantly enhance provision for them both in custody and the community, and teaching and learning is now supported in the classroom by learning support assistants.