Source · Select Committees · Education Committee
Recommendation 24
24
Rejected
Paragraph: 107
Prison Education is in a perilous state due to a continual decline in funding.
Conclusion
Prison Education is in a perilous state due to a continual decline in funding. The Government has not increased funding for prison education for the last five years. The current prison regime contains many barriers to the successful delivery of prison education. Without significant investment in the prison estate, in buildings, classrooms, equipment and technology, prisoners will not be able to get the skills and qualification that they need to find employment and turn their lives around. The Ministry of Justice must undertake an audit across the whole prison estate on the quality of physical infrastructure necessary to provide a high level of education, such as libraries, classrooms and workshops. The Ministry of Justice must establish clear guidelines about the minimum standards of provision for education across the prison estate.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government rejects the recommendation, stating that the Prisons Strategy White Paper sets out their 10-year vision to deliver a transformed Prisoner Education Service with a focus on giving prisoners the skills and opportunities to secure a job on release, with an injection of £550m over the next three years.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
107
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government · verbatim extract
Rejected
We accept this recommendation in principle. A programme of survey work is currently underway to assess the condition of the fabric and critical assets of prison buildings, including education and workshop facilities, within the next 12 to 18 months.
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