Prison Education

Education Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 19 Nov 2020 Closed: 20 Oct 2022 Parliament page
The inquiry is examining how current arrangements support learners in custody and how well prison education delivers the skills needed by employers. The inquiry is considering education for adults, young people and children in custody. It will look at what barriers exist, for instance, to delivering apprenticeships in a custodial … Read more
34 Recommendations
4 Conclusions
1 Report
7 Oral sessions
2 Letters
7 Events
Activity timeline 18 events
27 Sep
2022
Report published
18 May
2022
Report published
18 Jan
2022
Oral evidence
18 Jan
2022
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 15, Palace of Westminster
14 Dec
2021
Oral evidence
14 Dec
2021
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 15, Palace of Westminster
2 Nov
2021
Oral evidence
2 Nov
2021
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 15, Palace of Westminster
21 Sep
2021
Oral evidence
21 Sep
2021
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 16, Palace of Westminster
8 Jun
2021
Oral evidence
8 Jun
2021
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Virtual meeting
Oral evidence sessions 7 sessions
18 Jan 2022
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Prison Education: Ministerial session
Alex Burghart MP · Department for Education Louise Wright · Department for Education Phil Copple · HMPPS Victoria Atkins · Ministry of Justice
14 Dec 2021
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Prison Education
Darren Burns · Timpson Sasha Simmonds · O’Neill & Brennan Ted Rosner · Redemption Roasters Tony Hughes · Williams Homes
2 Nov 2021
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Prison Education
Ben Leapman David Breakspear Femi Laryea-Adekimi Jonathan Gilbert Kiri Jolliffe
21 Sep 2021
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Prison Education - Ofsted panel; Prison Education - Educational providers
Andrea Greer · Weston College Matthew Coffey · Ofsted Paul Joyce · Ofsted Peter Cox · Novus Sally Alexander · Milton Keynes College Sophie Sterling · People Plus
8 Jun 2021
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Prison Education
Francesca Cooney, Prisoner Learning Alliance Michala Robertson, Open University Peter Dawson, Prison Reform Trust Stephen Johnson, Prison Governors Association
25 May 2021
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Prison Education
David Hughes · Association of Colleges Julian Smith · Bounce Back Lisa Capper MBE · NACRO Shereen Lawrence · St Giles Trust Simon Ashworth · Association of Employment and Learning Providers
20 Apr 2021
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Prison Education
Dame Sally Coates DBE Peter Stanford · Coates Review Rod Clark · Coates Review
Title HC No. Published Items Response
First report - Not just another brick in the wall: why prisoner… HC 56 18 May 2022 38 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
4 results
Clear
14 Recommendation Acknowledged
First report - Not just another b…
The quality of prison education is of huge concern and has been deemed “inadequate”.
The quality of prison education is of huge concern and has been deemed “inadequate”. The vision of Governor autonomy, as set out by the Coates Review, has not been realised by the new contracts and we are disappointed that the … Read more
Government Response
The government accepts the need for a review of the prison education framework in principle, but it would not be feasible to complete this within the timescales provided; they are reviewing the contract management system and structure for the Prison Education Framework.
Department for Education
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15 Recommendation Acknowledged
First report - Not just another b…
We have concerns about whether the Prison Education Framework contracts are able to deliver the...
We have concerns about whether the Prison Education Framework contracts are able to deliver the improvement in prison education that is desperately needed. The Government must carry out a wholesale review of the current prison education framework by the end … Read more
Government Response
The government accepts the recommendation in principle and states that they want governors to be more involved in performance discussions with education providers, and specialist trained staff will support them in managing the prison education contracts.
Department for Education
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28 Recommendation Acknowledged
First report - Not just another b…
Reoffending is lower in prisoners who participate in higher education.
Reoffending is lower in prisoners who participate in higher education. The Government must remove the “six-year rule” so that prisoners on long sentences can apply for higher education courses earlier in their sentence. This would give them motivation during their … Read more
Government Response
The government accepts this recommendation and states that there are already good examples of partnerships between education and training providers and prisons and it will continue to build further relationships through our Employability Innovation Fund.
Department for Education
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37 Recommendation Acknowledged
First report - Not just another b…
Businesses may have some reservations about employing former prisoners, which the Government must work to...
Businesses may have some reservations about employing former prisoners, which the Government must work to overcome. The Government must introduce incentives to encourage businesses to employ former prisoners, such as national insurance holidays for the first year of employing former … Read more
Government Response
The government accepts this recommendation in principle and are developing personal learning plans for prisoners and developing measures of progress; they are considering their monitoring and evaluation strategy for planned initiatives such as the Employability Innovation Fund and will explore the potential for longitudinal research as part of this.
Department for Education
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Government Response AI assessment · 38 of 34 classified
Accepted 19
Accepted in Part 7
Acknowledged 4
Rejected 8
Total 34 recs + 4 conclusions
Correspondence 2 letters
19 May 2021 To committee Letter from the Chair to the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Justice, requesting prison education data for those in the adult estate, dated 18 May 2021
Parliament page
29 Apr 2021 To committee Letter from the Chair to the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Justice, requesting youth custody and educational data, dated 29 April 2021
Parliament page