Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of education programmes in prisons are funded by charitable sources.
The Department does not hold this information centrally, obtaining it would require contacting and collating information from all prisons in England and Wales, which could only be done at disproportionate cost. We very much value engagement by charities and social enterprises and expect both the opportunities for this key sector to engage with the prison education agenda, and the practical ability of it to do so, to increase significantly when our reforms come fully into effect from April 2019. These reforms are empowering governors to determine their curriculum, how it is organised and arranged, and who delivers it. Our new prison education Dynamic Purchasing System, which already contains more than 170 suppliers wishing to deliver education services in prisons, will help governors shape an education service that reflects the particular needs of their establishment. |