Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Ministry of Justice

Oral Answers to Questions

Pauline Latham Excerpts
Tuesday 14th June 2016

(8 years, 6 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Lucy Frazer Portrait Lucy Frazer (South East Cambridgeshire) (Con)
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8. What steps his Department is taking to improve education in prisons.

Pauline Latham Portrait Pauline Latham (Mid Derbyshire) (Con)
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11. What steps his Department is taking to improve education in prisons.

Seema Kennedy Portrait Seema Kennedy (South Ribble) (Con)
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17. What steps his Department is taking to improve education in prisons.

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Andrew Selous Portrait Andrew Selous
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My hon. Friend makes a characteristically perceptive point, and I think a large part of the answer is to encourage more employers to follow the example of Max Spielmann and Greggs, who have set up academies at HMPs New Hall and Drake Hall. Those academies provide work in prison and ongoing support after release, and if more employers did that with women in mind we would have more success in this area.

Pauline Latham Portrait Pauline Latham
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Does my hon. Friend agree that it is often those who have struggled or dropped out of school and ended up in the criminal justice system whom we must ensure have the skills they need while in our care and afterwards?

Andrew Selous Portrait Andrew Selous
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Again, my hon. Friend is absolutely right. Giving prisoners a second chance to learn to read, become more numerate and get the skills to hold down a job is central to rehabilitation.