Prisons: Education

Lord Storey Excerpts

Tuesday 24th February 2026 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Storey]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the provision of education in prisons.

[The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Timpson) (Lab)]

The provision of prison education is not good enough and budgets have not kept pace with rising costs. I am determined to improve the quality of education by driving up classroom attendance, expanding access by embracing digital learning and strengthening partnerships with employers such as Morrisons, FirstGroup and Marston’s to provide training and jobs on release. Work to improve reading in prisons is a priority and I am pleased to let your Lordships know that Lee Child is our first prison reading laureate.

[Lord Storey (LD)]

My Lords, I am sure we can all agree that education will play a crucial part in trying to reduce the incredibly worrying reoffending rates. The Minister has been very kind in giving me detailed responses to Written Questions. I am sure Members will be concerned and worried, in relation to our education programme providers, that at Feltham 60.2% of education programming was not provided and at Wetherby 44.9% was not provided—and so it goes on. Can the Minister assure us that the programmes will be fully provided by the contracted provider? Will we get a rebate on the money that was not provided? Finally, do we have any means of inspecting the quality of provision and the quality of delivery?

[Lord Timpson (Lab)]

I thank the noble Lord. He is absolutely right and I am looking at this on a daily basis. I walk past too many classrooms in prisons that are not full. Some are only one-third full. If I owned an airline and my planes were one-third full, I would not be doing very well. Recent Ofsted inspections have been encouraging, but we need to make sure our prisons are far more stable. When they are 99.9% full, the priority is not education, unfortunately, but it should be. It is a combination of having more stable prisons, working with our education providers to create a more stable environment to get more men and women out of their cells into education, and developing in-cell digital learning.

“Hillsborough Law”

Lord Storey Excerpts

Thursday 24th July 2025 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Storey]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what progress they have made in introducing the proposed “Hillsborough Law”.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede) (Lab)]

My Lords, we remain committed to delivering a Hillsborough law, as set out in the manifesto. It is vital that we get this landmark legislation right and that, when introduced, the Bill achieves the change expected by those who have campaigned so hard for change. Since March we have listened to stakeholder feedback to ensure that we deliver the best Bill possible; this engagement has been constructive and progress has been made. Engagement is ongoing and will continue over the summer.

[Lord Storey (LD)]

My Lords, the tragic events at Hillsborough will always be etched on our minds, as will the appalling establishment cover-up that followed. The Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, when he came to Liverpool, promised that his Government would introduce draft legislation, including a duty of candour with criminal sanctions. This was published on 15 April, the anniversary of that fatal crowd crush at Hillsborough football stadium in Sheffield in 1989. The Minister rightly says that it is important to work with families to get this right. Will he give a clear commitment that there will be no watering down of that duty of candour intent when the Bill is published?

[Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Lab)]

I agree with the way that the noble Lord has framed his question. There was an establishment cover-up, which must never happen again. The Prime Minister has made a personal commitment to the affected families to work with them constructively to come up with an appropriate law. Regarding the duty of candour, the Government are clear that what happened following the Hillsborough disaster must never happen again. Under the Hillsborough law, public officials will be bound by a duty of candour with criminal and professional consequences. We are committed to achieving a true cultural change. The Bill cannot change culture on its own, but it can and should act as a catalyst, and we remain committed to launching a programme to encourage cultural change alongside the Bill.