Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to improve the quality of (a) education, (b) skills and (c) work provision in prisons.

The Ministry of Justice and HMPPS are committed to improving the quality of education, skills and work provision in prisons to support rehabilitation and reduce reoffending. We have introduced key roles such as the Head of Education, Skills and Work, and Neurodiversity Support Managers.

We are supporting prisoners into skilled work while in custody through vocational training, complementing governor-commissioned vocational courses with an apprenticeship programme which can now be accessed in both the open and closed estates and a Future Skills Programme which provides sector specific training to prisoners nearing release resulting in guaranteed interviews with employers.

We continue to work closely with the New Futures Network, the prison service’s specialist employment team, to expand job and training opportunities both in custody and on release. We are also prototyping a new ‘working week’ initiative which aims to increase the volume of work in prisons and strengthen community business links to boost employability.