Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of (a) male and (b) female offenders have (i) engaged and (ii) declined to engage in education in custody in the latest period for which figures are available.

Information on volumes in offender learning by gender is published in a supplementary table to a Statistical First Release (SFR):

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/354673/feandskills-OLASS-participation-and-achievement.xls.xls

Offender learning is recorded in the Individualised Learner Record (ILR). The ILR does not capture information on those who have declined education.

SFR data is not comparable with published prison population data in a way that would allow calculation of the proportion of offenders who engage in learning.