Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 13 October 2020 to Question 98913 on Prisons: Education, when he plans for Prison Education Framework providers to return to full delivery of their services.

While regimes have been restricted, we have been working with all Prison Education Framework (PEF) and Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) providers to support prisons. This has allowed us to help to enable learning to continue through a blend of in cell activity, distraction material and learning packs.

The information requested in relation to teaching hours is not collected as it is not a requirement of the current contracts to capture this information.

We recognise the impact restrictions brought in to control the spread of infection have on services in prisons and that these restrictions must be proportionate to the risk posed. We will continue to keep them under active review. Our National Framework, which sets out in detail how we will take decisions about managing coronavirus-related restrictions in prisons, was published on GOV.UK on 2 June: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-national-framework-for-prison-regimes-and-services

Our plan for easing restrictions in prisons, or re-introducing them where necessary, continues to be guided by public health advice alongside an operational assessment of what can be safely implemented, ensuring that we can keep staff and prisoners safe.