Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has had recent discussions with relevant stakeholders on moving the departmental responsibility for the provision of education within prisons from the Ministry of Justice to the Department for Education.

The Ministry of Justice works closely with the Department for Education and other stakeholders to support the delivery of education and skill provision in prisons.

Responsibility for prison education was moved from the Department for Education to the Ministry of Justice in 2016 to enable commissioning to be better informed by prisoner needs and the curriculum aligned with wider HMPPS skills and work. There are currently no plans to change departmental responsibilities.