Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department is taking steps to form partnerships with (a) external organisations and (b) volunteers to support literacy initiatives in prisons.

Reading is a priority for HMPPS, and improving prisoner literacy is a key aim of prison education and plays an important role in supporting rehabilitation and reducing reoffending. Formal literacy teaching follows national accredited qualifications, which must follow quality standards laid down by awarding organisations.

Education providers are also encouraged to embed learning in vocational training. Engagement is also supported through the delivery of Education for Speakers of other Languages (ESOL) and all learners are screened for neurodiversity needs and provided with support so that education is tailored, and adjustments (such as providing assistive technology or additional support) are made for those with additional learning needs and/or ESOL.

All prisons have reading strategies, and we have established a national reading panel with external experts to provide advice and challenge as we develop new work in this area. These include representatives from Department for Education, Ofsted, British Dyslexia Association and the National Association for Teaching English and Community Languages to Adults. Libraries support prisoners in their reading. We also have a long-standing National Reading Working Group that has members from Further Education and the Third Sector.

In terms of improving digital delivery, our in-cell technology programme, Launchpad, has now been provided in 17 prisons which gives prisoners access to resources that support reading and literacy in their cells. Launchpad will be delivered to a further 2 prisons by March 2025, increasing the total number of prisoners with access to around 12,900. Since the 1st of July 2024, the Shannon Trust, ‘Learn to Read’ content series has been accessed by Launchpad users over 5000 times.