Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many in-depth (a) learning difficulties and (b) disabilities assessments were carried out for prisoners who enrolled in an educational programme in the last 12 months for which data is available.

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.