HC Deb 18 March 2004 vol 419 cc472-3W
Mr. Oaten

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much was spent by prisons in England and Wales on providing(a) basic skills entry level tuition, (b) basic skills level 1 tuition, (c) basic skills level 2 tuition and (d) key work skills tuition in 2002–03. [161720]

Mr. Ivan Lewis

The total spend in 2002–03 on contracted education hours was £52,305,802. We estimate that 37 per cent. of this was spent on the delivery of literacy, numeracy and English as a Second Language (ESOL) in 2002/03, against all other education.

This spend cannot be split into separate basic skills levels because contracted education hours are not disaggregated by the level of basic skills delivered. We fund prisons to give them flexibility to respond to the range of learning needs in their population.

In 2002–03 the funding for vocational training was the responsibility of the Prison Service. However, in April 2003, £12 million per annum was transferred from the Prison Service to DfES for vocational training.

Mr. Oaten

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many prisoners(a) commenced and (b) successfully completed basic skills training in 2002–03; and how many (i) entry level awards, (ii) level 1 awards, (iii) level 2 awards and (iv) key work skills awards there were. [161721]

Mr. Ivan Lewis

We currently collect overall information on participation and achievement at establishment level. We want to put in place an individual level database which will provide us with this sort of information in the future, not just on prisoners but also on offenders under supervision in the community. This will be increasingly important as we implement the National Offender Management Service and move towards greater use of intermittent custody.

In 2002–03 prisoners achieved: (i) 9,120 basic skills awards at entry level, (ii) 17208 at level 1, and (iii) 15,190 at level 2. They also achieved (iv) 89,092 awards in work skills.

£ million
1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04
East Midlands 28.3 34.7 57.7 74.3 145.7 130.9 160.8 188.0
East of England 44.1 48.2 68.4 82.9 193.3 152.4 204.7 281.8
London 80.8 95.8 123.7 142.0 232.6 221.6 310.3 407.5
North East 28.4 34.9 47.6 74.3 111.4 108.2 110.9 168.0
North West and West Merseyside 81.4 94.0 126.9 148.3 270.1 239.4 304.0 368.3
South East 110.2 115.6 133.1 139.6 272.7 226.6 335.9 466.3
South West 59.3 65.6 83.3 97.5 174.9 155.7 226.6 287.2
West Midlands 65.4 50.2 79.5 89.7 191.4 150.7 214.3 272.0
Yorkshire and the Humber 57.5 52.1 79.6 141.4 224.4 200.4 238.7 248.7
Total 555.4 591.0 799.7 989.9 1816.5 1585.7 2106.2 2687.7

For information on PFI projects I would refer you to the Signed Projects List, which can be found on the Treasury website: http://www.hm- treasury.gov.uk/documents/public private partnerships/ppp_pfi stats.cfm. This list, which can be searched by department and region, includes all PFI deals signed over the last 10 years. It contains information on the capital value of each project signed. The list is compiled from departmental returns to the Treasury and was last updated in July 2003.