Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of differential pay uplifts between teaching and non-teaching prion education staff on (a) recruitment, (b) retention, (c) morale, (d) industrial relations, and (e) the delivery of prison education.

We recognise the importance of a sustainable prison education workforce for the delivery of high-quality education and have amended the indexation of prison education contracts to support providers in maintaining pay parity between prison teachers and their colleagues in the community.

Prison education providers have not been directed to differentiate pay uplifts between teaching and non-teaching staff. Providers are responsible for the pay and conditions of the staff they employ, and for their recruitment and retention.