First report - Not just another brick in the wall: why prisoners need an education to climb the ladder of opportunity

The government accepts the recommendation and is already strengthening performance measures for governors, including new KPIs for education. They are reviewing job descriptions, training, and assessment requirements for governors to ensure a high standard of education in prisons.

The government accepts the recommendation and plans to introduce a range of staff training, including relevant content on the importance of education, skills and work for prisoner rehabilitation within the new prison officer apprenticeship programme.

The government accepts this recommendation and is in the process of recruiting for the new senior role of Head of Education, Skills and Work who will have responsibility for overseeing prison and provider delivery of education, skills, and work.

The government rejects the recommendation, stating that governors already have the necessary freedom to set local pay rates and they do not propose to set additional rules on pay which governors must follow.

The government accepts the recommendation in principle and intends to consult practitioners on the implications of any change to the current approach and consider how they can develop a culture of learning in prisons. However, they do not commit to equal pay for education or directly linking educational attendance or achievement to temporary release as a reward.

The government will expand the use of CURIOUS to capture data on learning difficulties and disabilities, including in private prisons, and will capture assessment of prisoners identified as ESOL learners or bilingual.

The government accepts the recommendation; systems to screen for learning needs are in place, but they are reviewing and exploring improvements via a review of LDD assessment and screening tools.

The government states that new or amended legislation is not necessary and that data sharing is already permitted; they will invest in the digital and data platform needed to develop personal learning plans and existing data sharing powers are available.

The government accepts this recommendation in principle and is recruiting new support managers for prisoners with additional learning needs, working towards recruiting 61 in the first year and a further 61 in the second year, resulting in one support manager in every prison by 2024. These roles are not identical to SENCOs, who specifically focus on education needs.

The government accepts in principle and is exploring the best long-term arrangements for a future Careers Information, Advice and Guidance Service, which may not take the precise form of the National Careers Service. They are also developing Personal Learning Plans, and will introduce resettlement passports to bring together key information and services needed to resettle into society.

The government is developing Personal Learning Plans in line with the recommendations. The new digital system being designed will record initial assessments and record a learning plan to be followed throughout the sentence and will also introduce resettlement passports.

The government accepts this recommendation. They state that governors are now responsible for setting the curriculum, and, through the introduction of the Dynamic Purchasing System, they can purchase bespoke local provision and have local plans in place with providers. They are also introducing Heads of Education, Skills and Work to support Governors to deliver improvements in education with their providers.

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.

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.

The government rejects the recommendation, stating that extending DPS contracts beyond two years would limit Governor flexibility and undermine the aim of widening education provision.

The government rejects this recommendation, stating that the overall responsibility for the quality and effectiveness of education sits with the governor. Inspections already include an assessment of how well the curriculum promotes personal development that includes engagement with civil society.

The government accepts the need for KPIs to measure education and training, and HMPPS has introduced new KPIs, and Ofsted will have access to this data. However, they do not commit to specifically adding a criteria to the evaluation framework of Ofsted inspections to ensure that they examine how prisons engage with civil society.

The government rejects this recommendation, stating that education is an important function but not the sole function of prisons, and a prison’s overall performance needs to be considered in the round.

The government accepts the recommendation and states that the introduction of KPIs for governors will ensure they are incentivised to ensure more prisoners make progress and achieve qualifications, and that new contract service levels aim to incentivise providers and prisons to collaborate on learner allocation to courses.

The government rejects this recommendation and states that they are working to ensure prisons have the digital infrastructure they need to provide prisoners with a strategic, managed in-cell laptop service. Rolling this equipment out across the whole prison service is subject to continued and long-term resourcing so at present they cannot set a timetable for deployment across the whole estate.

The government teaches basic digital skills in all prisons, has introduced laptops in accelerator prisons, and is working to provide prisoners with a managed in-cell laptop service in 15 prisons by the end of September 2022, subject to continued resourcing.

The government accepts the recommendation in principle and will assess the condition of prison buildings, including education and workshop facilities, over the next 12-18 months.

The government is developing annual curriculum guidance to support governors in identifying the best curriculum for their prison population, and will focus on guiding prison course choices to get the most out of education provision.

The government accepts this recommendation and states that most courses on offer are already unit or module-based to allow ease of transfer.

The government rejects the recommendation to introduce modular courses, stating they want to prioritise initiatives that will make the greatest difference to rehabilitation and reducing reoffending - in particular, apprenticeships and skills bootcamps.

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.

The government accepts this recommendation. They are changing the legislation to enable apprenticeships for prisoners and will establish an Employability Innovation Fund for sector-specific skills training and work experience. They are also engaging with providers to broaden the curriculum and vocational qualifications.

By April 2023, all resettlement prisons will have an employment hub in place, providing prisoners with information about job opportunities and support with applications.

By April 2023, all resettlement prisons will have a Prison Employment Lead and Employment Advisory Board in place to link prisons and employers.

The government accepts the recommendation in principle but states that auditing the size of individual employers would be administratively challenging and that NFN is only one source of employment, but will explore ways to better demonstrate the work and impact of NFN.

The government accepts the recommendation and will work to maximise workplace ROTL in the open and female estate, requiring development of a strategy for reshaping the regime, primarily in open prisons.

The government accepts this recommendation. They will change the legislation to enable apprenticeships for prisoners to start in the autumn.

MoJ is setting up Employment Boards and an Employability Innovation Fund that will explore incentives for businesses to recruit prisoners, including tailoring training or setting up workshops within prisons, and will keep this area under review.

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.