Asked by: Matt Hancock (Independent - West Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) rapid learning difficulties and (b) disabilities assessments were conducted in (i) public and (ii) private sector prisons in 2022-23.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
64,008 initial screenings for Learning Difficulties and Disabilities (LDD) were carried out in 2022/2023, 57,535 in public sector prisons and 6,473 in private prisons.
31% of prisoners who took an initial screening for LDD in 2022/2023 had an LDD confirmed. It is not possible to split the above figures into disabilities and learning difficulties.
All screening results are stored digitally, and education providers are mandated to check whether a screen exists to avoid duplication.
The number of detailed screenings for learning difficulties and disabilities in 22-23 for prisoners who enrolled on a learning programme was 9,888.
Asked by: Matt Hancock (Independent - West Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prisoners have been recorded as having dyslexia in each year since 2005; what steps his Department is taking to help identify prisoners with dyslexia; and what steps he is taking to support prisoners with dyslexia.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
All prisons are required to have a library and prisoners are routinely offered a minimum of 30 minutes library access a week. We do not currently collect data on prisoner attendance and engagement with the library.
All prisons also offer literacy education as part of their core curriculum. Most education services are outsourced to education specialists (for example Further Education Colleges) and supplemented by bespoke partnership arrangements with third sector organisations who support the teaching of reading. HMPPS are also working to embed literacy skills in workshops and vocational training.
Reliable data from 2005-19 is not available due to changes in the way education provision has been contracted and provided although, since 2019, all prisoners have been screened for literacy, numeracy and Learning Difficulties and Disabilities (LDD) on entry. Prisons provide a range of support according to the needs of the individual and our main education providers are required to put in place provision for prisoners with additional learning needs such as dyslexia.
This table sets out the number of prisoners participating in English functional skills, taking English assessments and prisoners identified as likely to have LDD since 2019 under the current MoJ commissioned contracts. 2020-22 participation figures have been impacted by the reduction in classroom learning during the pandemic, but we are now building back to pre-pandemic levels of learning. Statistics for 2022-23 will be published later this year. Due to the dynamic nature of the prison population, it is also not possible to provide a percentage proportion of prisoners participating.
Year | Number of prisoners participating in functional skills English courses | Number of prisoners who have had an initial assessment in English | Prisoners participating in English and Maths Initial Assessments that have been identified as likely to have LDD | |
1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020 | 17,680 | 53,247 | 16,115 |
|
1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021*[1] | 3,697 | 28,969 | 8,103 |
|
1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022* | 8,367 | 53,787 | 14,833 |
|
[1] Levels of learning during April 2020-March 2022 were greatly impacted by the reduction in classroom learning necessary for mitigating the health impacts of the Covid pandemic
Asked by: Matt Hancock (Independent - West Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisons have provided specialist support for prisoners with dyslexia in each year since 2005; and how many and what proportion of prisoners have had a literacy assessment in each year since 2005.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
All prisons are required to have a library and prisoners are routinely offered a minimum of 30 minutes library access a week. We do not currently collect data on prisoner attendance and engagement with the library.
All prisons also offer literacy education as part of their core curriculum. Most education services are outsourced to education specialists (for example Further Education Colleges) and supplemented by bespoke partnership arrangements with third sector organisations who support the teaching of reading. HMPPS are also working to embed literacy skills in workshops and vocational training.
Reliable data from 2005-19 is not available due to changes in the way education provision has been contracted and provided although, since 2019, all prisoners have been screened for literacy, numeracy and Learning Difficulties and Disabilities (LDD) on entry. Prisons provide a range of support according to the needs of the individual and our main education providers are required to put in place provision for prisoners with additional learning needs such as dyslexia.
This table sets out the number of prisoners participating in English functional skills, taking English assessments and prisoners identified as likely to have LDD since 2019 under the current MoJ commissioned contracts. 2020-22 participation figures have been impacted by the reduction in classroom learning during the pandemic, but we are now building back to pre-pandemic levels of learning. Statistics for 2022-23 will be published later this year. Due to the dynamic nature of the prison population, it is also not possible to provide a percentage proportion of prisoners participating.
Year | Number of prisoners participating in functional skills English courses | Number of prisoners who have had an initial assessment in English | Prisoners participating in English and Maths Initial Assessments that have been identified as likely to have LDD | |
1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020 | 17,680 | 53,247 | 16,115 |
|
1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021*[1] | 3,697 | 28,969 | 8,103 |
|
1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022* | 8,367 | 53,787 | 14,833 |
|
[1] Levels of learning during April 2020-March 2022 were greatly impacted by the reduction in classroom learning necessary for mitigating the health impacts of the Covid pandemic
Asked by: Matt Hancock (Independent - West Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what education provision has been in place in each prison to support the literacy of prisoners in each year since 2005; how many hours on average each prisoner has been allowed to spend in a prison library in each year since 2005; and how many and what proportion of prisoners have been engaged in literacy programmes in each year since 2005.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
All prisons are required to have a library and prisoners are routinely offered a minimum of 30 minutes library access a week. We do not currently collect data on prisoner attendance and engagement with the library.
All prisons also offer literacy education as part of their core curriculum. Most education services are outsourced to education specialists (for example Further Education Colleges) and supplemented by bespoke partnership arrangements with third sector organisations who support the teaching of reading. HMPPS are also working to embed literacy skills in workshops and vocational training.
Reliable data from 2005-19 is not available due to changes in the way education provision has been contracted and provided although, since 2019, all prisoners have been screened for literacy, numeracy and Learning Difficulties and Disabilities (LDD) on entry. Prisons provide a range of support according to the needs of the individual and our main education providers are required to put in place provision for prisoners with additional learning needs such as dyslexia.
This table sets out the number of prisoners participating in English functional skills, taking English assessments and prisoners identified as likely to have LDD since 2019 under the current MoJ commissioned contracts. 2020-22 participation figures have been impacted by the reduction in classroom learning during the pandemic, but we are now building back to pre-pandemic levels of learning. Statistics for 2022-23 will be published later this year. Due to the dynamic nature of the prison population, it is also not possible to provide a percentage proportion of prisoners participating.
Year | Number of prisoners participating in functional skills English courses | Number of prisoners who have had an initial assessment in English | Prisoners participating in English and Maths Initial Assessments that have been identified as likely to have LDD | |
1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020 | 17,680 | 53,247 | 16,115 |
|
1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021*[1] | 3,697 | 28,969 | 8,103 |
|
1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022* | 8,367 | 53,787 | 14,833 |
|
[1] Levels of learning during April 2020-March 2022 were greatly impacted by the reduction in classroom learning necessary for mitigating the health impacts of the Covid pandemic
Asked by: Matt Hancock (Independent - West Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison libraries have been operating across the prison estate in each year since 2005; and what percentage of the prison population has had access to a prison library service in each year since 2005.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
All prisons are required to have a library and prisoners are routinely offered a minimum of 30 minutes library access a week. We do not currently collect data on prisoner attendance and engagement with the library.
All prisons also offer literacy education as part of their core curriculum. Most education services are outsourced to education specialists (for example Further Education Colleges) and supplemented by bespoke partnership arrangements with third sector organisations who support the teaching of reading. HMPPS are also working to embed literacy skills in workshops and vocational training.
Reliable data from 2005-19 is not available due to changes in the way education provision has been contracted and provided although, since 2019, all prisoners have been screened for literacy, numeracy and Learning Difficulties and Disabilities (LDD) on entry. Prisons provide a range of support according to the needs of the individual and our main education providers are required to put in place provision for prisoners with additional learning needs such as dyslexia.
This table sets out the number of prisoners participating in English functional skills, taking English assessments and prisoners identified as likely to have LDD since 2019 under the current MoJ commissioned contracts. 2020-22 participation figures have been impacted by the reduction in classroom learning during the pandemic, but we are now building back to pre-pandemic levels of learning. Statistics for 2022-23 will be published later this year. Due to the dynamic nature of the prison population, it is also not possible to provide a percentage proportion of prisoners participating.
Year | Number of prisoners participating in functional skills English courses | Number of prisoners who have had an initial assessment in English | Prisoners participating in English and Maths Initial Assessments that have been identified as likely to have LDD | |
1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020 | 17,680 | 53,247 | 16,115 |
|
1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021*[1] | 3,697 | 28,969 | 8,103 |
|
1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022* | 8,367 | 53,787 | 14,833 |
|
[1] Levels of learning during April 2020-March 2022 were greatly impacted by the reduction in classroom learning necessary for mitigating the health impacts of the Covid pandemic
Asked by: Matt Hancock (Independent - West Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to publish the neurodiversity strategy for the criminal justice system.
Answered by Simon Baynes
The Ministry of Justice is committed to improving support for neurodivergent people encountering the Criminal Justice System (CJS).
On 30 June we published a cross-government Action Plan in response to the Justice Inspectorates’ Evidence Review on Neurodiversity in the CJS. As the Action Plan shows, significant progress has already been made to increase support for neurodivergent people, including the introduction of neurodiversity support managers in prisons and the promotion of Autism Accreditation across the prison estate. We are leading a cross-government six-month exploratory phase to strengthen and increase the offer for neurodivergent people at all key stages of the CJS, which will further consider opportunities to improve screening, raise awareness, enhance training and share best practice. We will also use this exploratory phase to assess whether a Neurodiversity Strategy for just the CJS is the best way forward.
Further, the department continues to work closely with the Department for Health and Social Care to deliver the Autism Strategy Refresh (published July 2021) and the Building the Right Support Action Plan, which is due to be published shortly.
Asked by: Matt Hancock (Independent - West Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisons have (a) provision for and (b) operational in-cell devices provided by (i) Coracle and (ii) other providers, broken down by prison.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The total number of prison sites which have provision for, and operational in-cell devices provided by Coracle is currently 21. There will also be approximately 300 more devices being deployed across an additional 20 sites in total by the end of January 2022. The table below breaks down the figures for the number of these in-cell devices by prison.
HMP Belmarsh | 17 |
HMP Buckley Hall | 20 |
HMP Cardiff | 5 |
HMP Full Sutton | 15 |
HMP Guys Marsh | 8 |
HMP Highpoint (North and South) | 18 |
HMP Hollesley Bay | 11 |
HMP Hull | 12 |
HMP Hydebank Wood College | 16 |
HMP Isle of Wight | 20 |
HMP Isis | 15 |
HMP Kirklevington Grange | 10 |
HMP Northumberland | 8 |
HMP Parc | 5 |
HMP Pentonville | 11 |
HMP Prescoed | 2 |
HMP Stocken | 3 |
HMP Swaleside | 12 |
HMP Swansea | 5 |
HMP Warren Hill | 10 |
HMP Whitemoor | 15 |
Total | 238 |
The total number of prison sites which have provision for, and operational in-cell devices by other providers (MoJ D&T managed in-cell technology devices) is currently 8 with an additional 7 sites planned for deployment by the end of 2022. The table below breaks down the figures for the number of these in-cell devices by prison, currently deployed, together with the sites that have the infrastructure deployed, with device and digital services deployment planned for this year:
Site | No. of MoJ managed In-cell Tech Devices | Notes |
|
|
|
HMP Lindholme | 900 | Full deployment under In-Cell Tech Programme |
HM YOI Feltham | 260 | Full deployment under In-Cell Tech Programme |
HMP/YOI New Hall | 323 | Full deployment under In-Cell Tech Programme |
HM YOI Wetherby | 2 | Deployment in progress under in-cell tech programme |
HM YOI Cookham Wood | 106 | Full deployment under In-Cell Tech Programme |
HM YOI Werrington | 68 | Full deployment under In-Cell Tech Programme |
HMP Wayland | 923 | Full deployment in 2016 |
HMP Berwyn | 1810 | Full deployment in 2016 |
|
|
|
HMP The Mount |
| Deployments planned by end of 2022 under In-Cell Tech Programme |
HMP Ranby |
| Deployments planned by end of 2022 under In-Cell Tech Programme |
HMP Styal |
| Deployments planned by end of 2022 under In-Cell Tech Programme |
HMP Erlstoke |
| Deployments planned by end of 2022 under In-Cell Tech Programme |
HMP Stoke Heath |
| Deployments planned by end of 2022 under In-Cell Tech Programme |
HMP Garth |
| Deployments planned by end of 2022 under In-Cell Tech Programme |
HMP Swaleside |
| Deployments planned by end of 2022 under In-Cell Tech Programme |
|
|
|
Total devices deployed as of 6/1/2022 | 4392 |
|